WDS does not work correctly

1. Did you create the two VAPs with the parent MAC or with unique MACs? i.e. wlanconfig's -bssid flag?

2. Is there any other device on the bridge besides these two WDS links?

3. Did you try sending traffic all three directions, broadcast and unicast?

I also used -bssid flag without success. I tested several configurations. For example the following one:

wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode ap wlanconfig ath1 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta nosbeacon iwpriv ath1 wds 1 iwconfig ath0 essid "TestWDS" iwpriv ath0 wds 1 ifconfig ath0 0.0.0.0 up ifconfig ath1 0.0.0.0 up brctl addbr br0 brctl addif br0 ath0 brctl addif br0 ath1 echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward ifconfig br0 192.168.9.75 up iwconfig ath1 essid "Zeroshell"

My clients are able to be associated to the SSID TestWDS, but they never get an IP from the dhcp server available for the SSID Zeroshell. I have tried to assign to the client associated to TestWDS SSID an IP in the 192.168.9.0/24 subnet and I was able to ping the IP of the br0 (192.168.9.75) but not any other IP associated to the Zeroshell SSID

The result of the iwconfig command is the following:

ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"TestWDS" Nickname:""

Mode:Master Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:80:48:4F:03:20 Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power:23 dBm Sensitivity=1/1 Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Encryption key:off Power Management:off Link Quality=57/70 Signal level=-39 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm Rx invalid nwid:44 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0 Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

ath1 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"Zeroshell" Nickname:""

Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:30:96:A2:30:F1 Bit Rate:11 Mb/s Tx-Power:23 dBm Sensitivity=1/1 Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Encryption key:off Power Management:off Link Quality=57/70 Signal level=-39 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm Rx invalid nwid:68 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0 Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Sometimes, when I try WDS configuration, after 2-3 hours the system crash.

Replying to fulvio@zeroshell.net:

brctl addbr br0
brctl addif br0 ath0
brctl addif br0 ath1
echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

I'd say you should decide whether you want a node that acts as transparent bridge (then leave away the echo 1 >... stuff or a node that acts as router (then leave away the steps that build the bridge and enable 4-address-header support, assign IPs from different subnets to both VAPs and make sure your routes are set up correctly). Using both at the same time won't work as intended in almost all cases.

ath1 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"Zeroshell" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:30:96:A2:30:F1[[BR]] Bit Rate:11 Mb/s Tx-Power:23 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
...
Link Quality=57/70 Signal level=-39 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm

Increase the distance between the host this iwconfig output comes from and the AP that spans the Zeroshell SSID. The signal is too strong, which probably adds a good share to your issue.

I think that the problem is that the main Access Point (SSID Zeroshell) that is not a Madwifi AP does not manage WDS at all. As soon as possible I am going to test the situation in which any AP is builded with Atheros chipset and the Madwifi drivers a let you know the result.

Thanks Fulvio