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ap: parallel 2.4GHz AP (hostapd-2g) on the Linksys WUSB6300v2 dongle

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Second radio (wlxd8ec5e2faa8c, RTL8822BU/rtw88), same VanLink SSID+PSK,
ch6 HT20, bridged into br0 next to the 5GHz AP. Runs as its own hostapd
instance + own watchdog so a USB wedge on one radio never darkens the
other; van-ap-watchdog now takes conf path + unit name as args (defaults
unchanged). rtw88.conf disables deep power-save (rtw89 gotcha analog)
and the driver's USB2->3 self-upgrade (USB3 noise in the 2.4GHz band —
note: dongle currently sits in a USB3 port, so it still enumerates
SuperSpeed; move to a USB2 port if 2.4GHz range disappoints).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Andreas Wrede
2026-07-06 10:03:16 -04:00
co-authored by Claude Fable 5
parent a7819edbc2
commit e652b0f7bd
9 changed files with 106 additions and 17 deletions
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README.md
+10 -5
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@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ This directory is the source of truth. The live system files live under `/etc`,
| Web UI | **Cockpit** + `vanrouter` plugin |
### Key network facts
- LAN: `10.42.0.0/24`, gateway `10.42.0.1`, DHCP `.10–.254` — shared by Wi-Fi (`VanLink`) and the wired port `enx00e04c331140`, both bridged into `br0`.
- LAN: `10.42.0.0/24`, gateway `10.42.0.1`, DHCP `.10–.254` — shared by Wi-Fi (`VanLink`, dual-band: 5GHz `wlxc83a35a4ee55` + 2.4GHz `wlxd8ec5e2faa8c`) and the wired port `enx00e04c331140`, all bridged into `br0`.
- WAN priority (metrics): **wifi 100 → eth/Starlink 200 → 4G 300** (lower = preferred).
- Management / recovery: ethernet `192.168.10.251`, wifi `192.168.10.27`, ZeroTier `192.168.196.22`.
- Cockpit: `https://192.168.10.251:9090` (or `.27`, or ZeroTier). Log in with a Unix account; enable *Administrative access* for action buttons.
@@ -73,7 +73,11 @@ This directory is the source of truth. The live system files live under `/etc`,
| `default-hostapd` | `/etc/default/hostapd` | `DAEMON_CONF=...` |
| `van-ap-dnsmasq.conf` | `/etc/van-ap/dnsmasq.conf` | DHCP/DNS bound to AP iface (`bind-dynamic`, so it does not clash with systemd-resolved) |
| `van-ap-dnsmasq.service` | `/etc/systemd/system/van-ap-dnsmasq.service` | dedicated dnsmasq unit (uses the `dnsmasq-base` binary; the distro dnsmasq service is NOT used) |
| `hostapd-2g.conf` | `/etc/hostapd/hostapd-2g.conf` | 2.4GHz AP (Linksys WUSB6300v2 / RTL8822BU): same SSID+PSK, ch6, HT20. Own hostapd instance so one radio wedging never kills the other. |
| `hostapd-2g.service` | `/etc/systemd/system/hostapd-2g.service` | dedicated unit for the 2.4GHz hostapd (same Restart=always / no-start-limit semantics as the 5GHz drop-in) |
| `van-ap-watchdog-2g.service` | `/etc/systemd/system/van-ap-watchdog-2g.service` | second watchdog instance: `van-ap-watchdog /etc/hostapd/hostapd-2g.conf hostapd-2g` |
| `10-van-ap.network` | `/etc/systemd/network/10-van-ap.network` | brings the AP wlan up with **no** IP (it's a `br0` member; hostapd enslaves it) |
| `11-van-ap-2g.network` | `/etc/systemd/network/11-van-ap-2g.network` | same, for the 2.4GHz wlan |
| `20-van-br0.netdev` | `/etc/systemd/network/20-van-br0.netdev` | creates the LAN bridge `br0` (STP off) |
| `21-van-br0.network` | `/etc/systemd/network/21-van-br0.network` | static `10.42.0.1/24` on `br0` (`ConfigureWithoutCarrier`) |
| `22-van-lan.network` | `/etc/systemd/network/22-van-lan.network` | enslaves the wired LAN port `enx00e04c331140` to `br0` |
@@ -82,6 +86,7 @@ This directory is the source of truth. The live system files live under `/etc`,
| `99-van-router.conf` | `/etc/sysctl.d/99-van-router.conf` | `net.ipv4.ip_forward=1` |
| `regdomain.service` | `/etc/systemd/system/regdomain.service` | `iw reg set CA` at boot, before NetworkManager |
| `rtw89.conf` | `/etc/modprobe.d/rtw89.conf` | `options rtw89_core disable_ps_mode=Y` (else AP drops beacon when idle) |
| `rtw88.conf` | `/etc/modprobe.d/rtw88.conf` | 2.4GHz dongle: `disable_lps_deep=Y` (same PS reasoning) + `switch_usb_mode=N` (don't self-upgrade to USB3 — it radiates into 2.4GHz) |
### `failover/` — multi-WAN
| file | → installs to | purpose |
@@ -141,12 +146,12 @@ Not touched by `deploy.sh` — the VM's LAN address/name come from `ap/van-ap-dn
## 3. Components & how to operate
### Access Point
- Change SSID / channel / password: edit `ap/hostapd.conf`, then `sudo cp` it to `/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf` (or `./deploy.sh`) and `sudo systemctl restart hostapd`.
- Width is 80MHz VHT + HE (WiFi-6). Channel 149 (UNII-3, non-DFS).
- **Dual band, one SSID**: 5GHz (`hostapd.conf` → unit `hostapd`, ch149 80MHz VHT+HE) and 2.4GHz (`hostapd-2g.conf` → unit `hostapd-2g`, ch6 HT20, for range + 2.4-only IoT). Same SSID/PSK — clients pick their band. Deliberately two hostapd processes: a USB wedge on one radio never takes the other down, and each has its own watchdog (`van-ap-watchdog`, `van-ap-watchdog-2g`).
- Change SSID / channel / password: edit `ap/hostapd.conf` and/or `ap/hostapd-2g.conf`, then `sudo cp` to `/etc/hostapd/` (or `./deploy.sh`) and restart the matching unit.
- DHCP range / DNS options: `ap/van-ap-dnsmasq.conf` + restart `van-ap-dnsmasq`.
- Services: `hostapd`, `van-ap-dnsmasq`, `systemd-networkd`, `nftables`, `regdomain`.
- Services: `hostapd`, `hostapd-2g`, `van-ap-dnsmasq`, `systemd-networkd`, `nftables`, `regdomain`.
- **Do not** add `noscan` to hostapd.conf — Ubuntu's hostapd rejects it and fails to start.
- Verify it's actually beaconing with `iw dev wlxc83a35a4ee55 info` (ssid+channel+width present), not just `systemctl is-active hostapd`.
- Verify each is actually beaconing with `iw dev wlxc83a35a4ee55 info` / `iw dev wlxd8ec5e2faa8c info` (ssid+channel+width present), not just `systemctl is-active`.
### Multi-WAN failover (`van-failover`)
- Probes each WAN's real internet every few seconds (HTTP-204 check, captive-portal-aware), demotes a failed WAN by raising its route-metric, fails back on recovery (hysteresis).