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Encryption - (i) repeater and (ii) AiMesh

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max789

Occasional Visitor
Hi, all

I remember reading years ago that, when using a second wireless router as a repeater, the connection between the main router and the repeater is not encrypted.

Am I mistaken or have things changed? Are the following two types of wireless connection encrypted via WPA2?

1 Between main router and repeater (with stock or Merlin firmware).

2 Between master and a node (both using AiMesh firmware).

Thanks in advance for any insight.
 
I remember reading years ago that, when using a second wireless router as a repeater, the connection between the main router and the repeater is not encrypted.

Am I mistaken or have things changed? Are the following two types of wireless connection encrypted via WPA2?

You are confusing WDS with Repeater. Repeater will use whichever crypto you have configured on your parent router (so, typically WPA2). WDS however can only use either Open (no crypto) or WEP (very weak crypto). WPA2 is not possible in part due to its need for a key rotation, something WDS cannot handle. Some manufacturer pretend to support WPA2, but I believe they do so by disabling key rotation, which severely reduces security anyway, so it's not really a solution.
 
You are confusing WDS with Repeater. Repeater will use whichever crypto you have configured on your parent router (so, typically WPA2). WDS however can only use either Open (no crypto) or WEP (very weak crypto). WPA2 is not possible in part due to its need for a key rotation, something WDS cannot handle. Some manufacturer pretend to support WPA2, but I believe they do so by disabling key rotation, which severely reduces security anyway, so it's not really a solution.

Many thanks, Merlin, for your helpful clarification.
 

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