I've been trying to improve our home wifi
So I've embarked on a journey with open source modem/router software
We have a number of minor issues with our home wifi setup which I hope to overcome by installing OpenWRT.
My wifi layout consists of a Plusnet Hub One...
...and a Joowin repeater...
 |
Although we don't live in a large house, when the wifi signals have to travel through walls at an angle, the attenuation can be very high...
 |
| Simple 2D illustration of effect of walls on signal strength |
...and of course we live in a 3D house, so the problem has an extra dimension!
The Joowin repeater helps overcome the weak signal that we experience in some areas when just using the router.
why use OpenWRT?
I have a couple of annoying issues with the stock Plusnet software in the Hub One and the newer Plusnet Hub Two;
1) although I have a common access point name for both 2.4GHz & 5GHz bands, my devices cannot 'see' one another (e.g. can't reach the printer/scanner) if they are on different bands. These Plusnet routers have simplified user interfaces which do not include the ability to enable/disable device isolation.
2) this problem extends to difficulties in reaching my BirdNet-Pi system using the url: http://birdnetpi.local/
3) I can't select the higher 5GHz channels with the newer router.
So I hope to be able to fix these by installing OpenWRT software to the Plusnet Hub One (a router manufactured by Sagemcom) which is basically the same as the BT Home Hub 5.
I don't think the newer Hub Two can be flashed with OpenWRT, but its handy to keep that modem as supplied by Plusnet, just in case I have to call out Plusnet/Openreach to investigate some broadband related problem.
procedure
I basically followed the instructions here: https://www.linuxscrew.com/openwrt-bt-homehub-5-instructions
However, my initial attempts were not successful.
Then I took a look at these (official instructions) but still no joy: https://openwrt.org/toh/bt/homehub_v5a?s[]=plusnet&s[]=hub&s[]=one
So this, and my subsequent posts, will [hopefully] fill in some of the gaps that I fell into.
See also:-
No comments:
Post a Comment