How to configure this extender to work with Pcwrt?

[akarchm01]

So I bought this extender:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N8ROH7G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can someone enlighten me how to configure this product so it will work nicely with the pcwrt’s parental controls?

[support]

@akarchm01 You can follow the instructions for the TP-Link to set up the extender as usual. After you get the TP-Link working, connect a device to the TP-Link. Then check for the device in the “Connected Devices” section of the pcWRT. If you see it there, then it’s all good.

There are no special requirements for parental control. As long as you can get the connection to work, the device shall be controlled either when it’s connected directly or through the TP-Link.

[akarchm01]

Yes, thank you. And that’s what I did. But one device is given two device names. One when it connects with the PCWRT and another when it connects with the TP-Link. Does that mean I have to add both to the parental controls?

[support]

@akarchm01 Can you please send screenshots of the Status page to [email protected]? Please send one for direct connection and one for connection via TP-Link. Let us know which device we should be looking at. Thanks!

[support]

@akarchm01 Thanks for providing the screenshots.

It looks like this extender mangles the MAC address of the device when a device connects through it. I.e., instead of sending the router the real MAC address, the RE305 sends a made up MAC address where the first three digits are taken from the repeater and the last three digits are taken from the device.

Since the router identifies devices by MAC addresses, you need to give the device two names in this case: one for connecting directly, another for connecting through the repeater. You can name them mypc and mypc-r, for example. When you assign the device to a profile, you need to assign both names at the same time so that the behavior is the same no matter where the device is connecting from.

[akarchm01]

Thanks for the reply. That’s unfortunate. Can you suggest an extender that is more compatible with the pcwrt and that doesn’t mangle or create a new mac address.

[support]

I’m hesitant to give any suggestions. It seems that more WiFi extenders are doing this nowadays. Even if you have an extender that works today, a firmware update for the extender might break it. So the safest bet for now is to have two names for each managed device.

In the meanwhile, we’ll see if there’s a way to make this work with a pcWRT firmware update. Thanks!

[akarchm01]

Thanks for the feedback. And yes, get that to work with a firmware update! That would be awesome!

[support]

In version v1.25, we added the ability to map two MAC addresses to one host name. A device may be initially identified as two devices – one when connected directly, another when connected via the WiFi extender. But now you can assign the same name to both. As a result, you only need to manage one name in parental control settings.

[akarchm01]

Has v1.25 been released? I’m looking for it because the feature you added is EXACTLY what I’ve been waiting for! Thanks! 🙂

[support]

It’s available now. Log on the router console, go to the System page, then click “Check for Updates”.

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