Getting 3rd Party Access Points to work

[virtuist]

Hello, I have your original pcWRT router, the WiFi was never that great, so I added 3 Ubiquiti APs I had. These did not play well with the built in WiFi of the router, so I ended up just setting up a second network using the same DHCP from the router. The problem with this is you can’t tell what devices are wired or wireless from within the firmware interface.

So I’m wondering if you have recommended AP’s that would work well with either of your routers? I would consider upgrading to your new dual band router but I’d still need 2 additional AP’s to cover other areas of my house.

[support]

If your AP is connected by wire, devices connected through the AP will be reported as Wired. Because the router does not know how the device is connected to the AP.

If your AP is a WiFi extender, then devices connected through the AP will be reported as wireless, even for devices wired to the AP.

Since there is no way to communicate the nature of the connection between the router and the AP, the router cannot report on how a device is connected to the AP. Nonetheless, parental control works the same for wired and wireless connections.

[virtuist]

Thank you, there are several reasons why I’d prefer to use your AP built into the Router, especially considering I’m looking at getting this newer one: https://www.amazon.com/pcWRT-802-11AC-Parental-SafeSearch-Management/dp/B0739MW8KJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513347782&sr=8-1&keywords=pcwrt.

1) It will save me from having to buy more access points
2) The biggest reason is I have several devices that are both wired and wireless, rather than disabling one or the other I would really like to see how each device is connecting.

So I’ll rephrase my original question: Do you have compatible access points that work with the new pcWRT router in the link I mentioned above that would work as access points only with this new router as the primary?

[virtuist]

I’d also like to take advantage of the guest network option built into your firmware. Currently the older Ubiquiti AP’s I have don’t work on a few newer devices such as Wi-Fi Printers, rather than upgrading those it would be nice to just replace them and have one set of AP’s that all work on the same connection.

[support]

@virtuist All APs or WiFi extenders we know are compatible with our routers (either the TORONTO-N or the newer TORONTO-AC). So I guess we need to understand a bit more about your specific concerns so that we can answer your questions more accurately. What needs do you have in mind? It would help if you could share some specific examples.

[virtuist]

Well that’s not quite accurate, the AP needs to be able to support connecting to other AP’s. Some vendors like Ubiquiti don’t play well with others, I just wanted to make sure if I get the new version and get some new AP’s that I’ll be able to extend the existing wireless network off of that TORONTO-AC router and not a completely separate Wi-Fi network. Can you confirm?

[support]

@virtuist Please give more details about the issues you are concerned with. I guess you are using the Ubiquiti as a WiFi extender. But what are the problems you were encountering? Were you not able to connect to the router using the same SSID on the Ubiquiti?

[rjager]

Did this issue get resolved? I have Toronto and looking to extend WiFi network to outside and looking for a solution to build more of a mesh network. What is compatible to wire up with Ethernet?

[support]

@rjager You may try the configuration shown here: https://www.pcwrt.com/forums/topic/connect-pcwrt-to-orbi/

[rjager]

so i don’t use the toronto as an AP – just as a router? couldn’t i just bridge to another AP using the lan port? what if i bought the cheaper $50 pcwrt AP?

[support]

@rjager You use the pcWRT as a router, and your mesh WiFi as AP in bridge mode. It should work for the cheaper pcwrt too, except that the speed tops at 100Mbps.

[Author]

Posts