PHYes, you heard it right! Using your dual (even triple) band wireless router, you can workaround the 6 device limit of the castrated wireless modem that Converge has the gall to forcibly sell to you so that they can further impose on your network design and use. They forgot that such devices are called CPE (customer premise equipment) for a reason! You can read more about CPEs here You do not have permission to view the full content of this post.
Log in or register now. (too bad the legislation regarding CPEs here in our country are not as strong nor as progressive as in other countries).
The RJ45 ports of the ISP-provided modem are disabled (who does stupid things like that? Well, they do!), and the only connection to the internet is provided wirelessly, which is limited to 6 devices connected at any time. You can't use a wi-fi repeater for the workaround because it only bridges the wireless network. Without administrative access, there is not much you can do to manage the modem. So what can we do about it? Read on.
We will need to setup a configuration called the Wireless WAN (wwan). Usually we connect the WAN port of the router to the LAN port of the modem using wired UTP cables. This is called the Wired WAN or WAN that we are so used to know. Because the wired ports are disabled, we can only use wireless connection to the modem. Thus, we will setup one of the wireless radios of the router to act as the WAN port and connect it wirelessly to the the modem.
Because we are not doing a wireless bridge like repeaters do, this means that we end up with two LAN networks (the modem LAN and the router LAN, each with its own unique LAN IP address and subnet mask) instead of one (the modem LAN) if a wireless bridge is used. We want the router to do the routing for our LAN and not the modem.
There are a LOT of wireless router brands and each have their own way of configuration. You need to consult with your router manual if it can setup one of the wireless radios as the wwan. For this workaround, I will be providing guides for OpenWrt and MikroTik routers.
Here are some things to consider before we begin:
Let's start:
Let me know if you have other questions and I'll help you as I can.
The RJ45 ports of the ISP-provided modem are disabled (who does stupid things like that? Well, they do!), and the only connection to the internet is provided wirelessly, which is limited to 6 devices connected at any time. You can't use a wi-fi repeater for the workaround because it only bridges the wireless network. Without administrative access, there is not much you can do to manage the modem. So what can we do about it? Read on.
We will need to setup a configuration called the Wireless WAN (wwan). Usually we connect the WAN port of the router to the LAN port of the modem using wired UTP cables. This is called the Wired WAN or WAN that we are so used to know. Because the wired ports are disabled, we can only use wireless connection to the modem. Thus, we will setup one of the wireless radios of the router to act as the WAN port and connect it wirelessly to the the modem.
Because we are not doing a wireless bridge like repeaters do, this means that we end up with two LAN networks (the modem LAN and the router LAN, each with its own unique LAN IP address and subnet mask) instead of one (the modem LAN) if a wireless bridge is used. We want the router to do the routing for our LAN and not the modem.
There are a LOT of wireless router brands and each have their own way of configuration. You need to consult with your router manual if it can setup one of the wireless radios as the wwan. For this workaround, I will be providing guides for OpenWrt and MikroTik routers.
Here are some things to consider before we begin:
- You should at least use a dual band wireless router. If it is only single band, then you can't connect wireless clients to the router, only wired ones.
- You will have to choose which wireless radio to convert, either the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band, for performance reasons. We want a dedicated radio that will serve as our WAN port. This means that you will lose wireless signal for the band on that radio. I recommend setting the 2.4GHz band as the WAN port, and using the 5GHz band for your LAN, assuming that all devices you will connect to the router support the 5GHz band.
- For the 2.4GHz band, turn off HT40 to minimize interference unless there isn't much other access points operating in your area.
- Set the wireless channel to auto if available and it works properly.
- DISCLAIMER: I don't have the service currently, but I'm considering it more and more, given that the other Telcos keep arbitrarily increasing their prepaid unli data promos. Hopefully this wouldn't be the case with S2S but it does carry the prepaid label in its subscription plan so who knows?
Let's start:
- For OpenWrt 22.03 or later, use this guide: You do not have permission to view the full content of this post.
Log in or register now.
- change 2.4GHz or 5GHz from the guide depending upon your chosen WAN port
- since I don't have the service yet, I cannot test if this is still needed. But if it is, then ssh into the router and run:
replace <radio_name> with the device of the chosen wireless radio as appropriateCode:
# echo 'nft add rule inet fw4 mangle_forward oifname <radio_name> ip ttl set 65 comment "WAN out: TTL fix"' >> /etc/firewall.user # service firewall reload
- For MikroTik, use this You do not have permission to view the full content of this post.
Log in or register now.
- again, if needed, ssh into the router and run:
replace <radio_name> with the interface name of the chosen wireless radio as appropriateCode:
/ip/firewall/mangle add action=change-ttl chain=postrouting comment="WAN out: TTL fix" new-ttl=set:65 out-interface=<radio_name> passthrough=yes
- again, if needed, ssh into the router and run:
Let me know if you have other questions and I'll help you as I can.
