Extending range with TP-LINK TL-WR702N

I bought a pair of TP-LINK TL-WR702N AP's awhile back expecting to run Piratebox on them but later realized I got the wrong model (not enough RAM or something).

Anyway, I have an MR3040-based Piratebox now, but I'm wondering if I can extend its coverage using the WR702N's? I'm pretty sure they have to keep the stock firmware (I don't think they can run OpenWrt) but I'm wondering if I can use WDS or something else to use them as range extenders?


- Jason

Hi Jason,
yes, you can't run OpenWrt on it

You can try to run in repeater mode using the SSID "PirateBox - Share freely"... but I'm not sure how to setup it up correctly on the TPLink firmware.. and whatelse is needed.

Do you want to have it in an local setup or as a mobile one?

Matthias

---

This is only my signature.

Thanks for the response Matthias!

I plan to use the setup in the field, likely housing the devices in something weather-resistant and solar powered

I'll play with the repeater mode stuff, I was wondering how it works (if it's WDS under the hood with a different name or something else). I'll let you know how it goes for future reference.

Thanks for building Piratebox, once I get some experience with it I definitely want to get involved in helping bring mesh functions, etc. to the device, but I figure I should get to know it first


- Jason

Just a quick update, setting up the 702N in "repeater mode" using the stock firmware was a piece of cake. Casual testing shows about double the range of the MR3040 alone (in the direction of the repeater of course .

I'm going to setup the second one and see if I can get another "hop" down the road and take some more precise measurements.