Using a USB wireless interface on Gargoyle router

[Shammikit]

Hello, i have managed to Install the x86/x86_64 version of Gargoyle on my old PC which I would like to use as a router. I have a wireless ISP router and I want gargoyle to access that through my USB WiFi adapter to get a working Internet connection ( i guess this is usually assigned as a WAN interface) and to use another WiFi adapter to use as an AP for wireless devices to connect ( i guess this is usually assigned as a LAN interface). I would like to know if this is possible and would like some guidance to set it up as this is my first ever Gargoyle setup. So far when i connect my USB interfaces they get detected as USB devices from the console as shown in the attached screenshots. They dont show up when i do the ifconfig or the ip addr command. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

If its anything like plain OpenWRT, you need to install the correct kernel modules using opkg or the GUI for your WiFi adapters before you can do anything with them.

 

You also need to be careful about which you pick up for the Access Point WiFi, plus would need three in total to replicate your average router.  One as the WiFi Client, one for 2.4Ghz AP and one for 5Ghz AP (that can be more tricky finding one that works properly).

There's a much wider range that can work as the WiFi client (WAN) whereas for transmitting WiFi (Access Point) you need to be much more careful about what you choose to find ones that support it and support it well (spoiler alert, none in my experience perform as well as something like an Ubiquiti nanoHD despite that too being based on OpenWRT).  Its generally advisable to use PCIe adapters at the very least for the Access Point devices as USB will have poorer range and can overheat.

At the end of the day though, for reliable WiFi I found you're still better off with a proper router than trying to cobble together a working PC for that purpose.  The reason being that 5Ghz support is tricky, routers are pre-calibrated and certified whereas you can get stuck with only the lower channels working when you try to do it on a PC.

Things might have improved, but these are the issues I stumbled with trying to do the same on OpenWRT.  I've ultimately given up and bought a Unifi nanoHD for broadcasting WiFi, its the first time I've had reliable WiFi, OpenWRT WiFi performance would get slower and slower as the drivers matured.

Overall a PC is great as a fast router, even as a WiFi Client, but not so great as a WiFi Access Point.