GL MT300N - Seanmatthews/rowboat1 GitHub Wiki

The purpose of these instructions is to configure the GL-MT300N so that it piggybacks off of an existing wireless network and creates a local network that includes itself and any devices connected through the LAN and WAN ethernet ports. This configuration allows us to access the system's computers and devices, and use the external network's internet access to pull updates. During normal development, we need not change networks to access the sub. During field development, when the sub surfaces, the router can latch onto the mobile network without exposing the hull to moisture.

Two LAN Port Mode

The GL-MT300N has one default LAN port and one default WAN port. Through OpenWRT (which comes pre-installed on the router), we can configure the router so that both ports act as LAN ports.

On fresh reset:

  1. [Optional] Check & download current firmware version here.
  2. Connect device to computer via the device's labeled LAN port. This is easier on a PC with dual LAN ports because the default IP address will be 192.168.8.1.
  3. In a browser, go to 192.168.8.1. The default password is admin.
  4. In the router config page, go to Settings > WAN Settings > Repeater.
  5. Set the SSID to your wireless network, set your password, and use mode WISP.
  6. Go to Settings > Access port and password to set the Access Password for the next step.
  7. ssh [email protected]
  8. Edit /etc/config/network such the first line of config interface 'lan' is option ifname 'eth0.1 eth0.2'
  9. Under config interface 'wan' (and also config interface 'wan6' if it exists), delete the line starting with ifname
  10. Power-cycle your device

Now, both the LAN and WAN ethernet ports will act as LAN ports.

Client Bridge Using Relayd

When developing for a system that itself contains a router, it can be bothersome to switch between dev and regular networks. In my case, the GL-MT300N is the on-board sub router. Hence, it's not usually on, it has no connection to the internet, and its two LAN ports are occupied by the two on-board computers. By bridging the router to a primary router, it will automatically connect to that router and use the primary's DHCP and subnet, offering seamless access to all sub computers from the primary network.

Follow the instructions here, but apply the following changes:

  • Add the following command to the beginning of step 2: uci set wireless.@wifi-iface[0].wds=0
  • Also in step 2, change the encryption type to psk2
  • You may need to power-cycle the router between steps 2 and 3
  • Don't perform step 8. The router is not multi-SSID capable.

References