Cheap wifi repeater | solutions; not code

Written by marcelpetrick on March 17, 2021

Long time ago (see: https://marcelpetrick.bplaced.net/wp_solutionsnotcode/?p=1266 ) I announced the plan to set up one/some ESP8266 as wifi-repeater and after some tinkering I did.
The device was running during Summer 2020 until now in different locations.

Code comes from martin-ger – kudos to him. Flash the binary and you’re done. Used the ESP-download-tool, as far as I can remember.
The wrapping is quite makeshift, but works. The blinking LED is a bit annoying if used on the balcony at night. will fix the hole for the cable with hot glue. Can run from battery pack or via usb-charger. Ah, yes, the price for the full package is around 3 €.

Performance: throughput is 5 Mbps down and 2 Mbps upstream. Not really much, but better than the local 4G ..

If the ESP8266 is connected via USB to serial terminal (115.200 baud), the output at boot looks like this:

WiFi Repeater V1.2 starting

Config found and loaded
Starting Console TCP Server on 7777 port
mode : sta(3c:71:bf:3a:a2:74) + softAP(3e:71:bf:3a:a2:74)
add if0
add if1
dhcp server start:(ip:192.168.4.1,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.4.1)
bcn 100
shoscandone
state: 0 -&gt; 2 (b0)
STA: SSID:Katzengast24 PW: removed;) [AutoConnect:1]
AP: SSID:newGreen PW: removed;) IP:192.168.4.1/24
Clock speed: 80
CMD&gt;state: 2 -&gt; 3 (0)
state: 3 -&gt; 5 (10)
add 0
aid 1
cnt

connected with Katzengast24, channel 10
dhcp client start...
connect to ssid Katzengast24, channel 10

CMD&gt;
CMD&gt;
CMD&gt;
STA: SSID:Katzengast24 PW: ;) [AutoConnect:1]
AP: SSID:newGreen PW: ;) IP:192.168.4.1/24
Clock speed: 80
CMD&gt;ip:192.168.178.126,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.178.1
ip:192.168.178.126,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.178.1,dns:192.168.178.1
add 1
aid 1
station: a4:9b:4f:05:55:be join, AID = 1
station: a4:9b:4f:05:55:bejoin, AID = 1
LmacRxBlk:1
LmacRxBlk:1
LmacRxBlk:1
LmacRxBlk:1

WiFi Repeater V1.2 starting

Config found and loaded

Starting Console TCP Server on 7777 port

mode : sta(3c:71:bf:3a:a2:74) + softAP(3e:71:bf:3a:a2:74)

add if0

add if1

dhcp server start:(ip:192.168.4.1,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.4.1)

bcn 100

shoscandone

state: 0 -> 2 (b0)

STA: SSID:Katzengast24 PW: removed;) [AutoConnect:1]

AP: SSID:newGreen PW: removed;) IP:192.168.4.1/24

Clock speed: 80

CMD>state: 2 -> 3 (0)

state: 3 -> 5 (10)

add 0

aid 1

cnt

connected with Katzengast24, channel 10

dhcp client start...

connect to ssid Katzengast24, channel 10

CMD>

STA: SSID:Katzengast24 PW: ;) [AutoConnect:1]

AP: SSID:newGreen PW: ;) IP:192.168.4.1/24

Clock speed: 80

CMD>ip:192.168.178.126,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.178.1

ip:192.168.178.126,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.178.1,dns:192.168.178.1

add 1

aid 1

station: a4:9b:4f:05:55:be join, AID = 1

station: a4:9b:4f:05:55:bejoin, AID = 1

LmacRxBlk:1

Configure via serial by doing:

set ssid Katzengast24
set password removed;)
set ap_ssid newGreen
set ap_password removed;)
save

set ssid Katzengast24

set password removed;)

set ap_ssid newGreen

set ap_password removed;)

save