BigFred event WiFi — mount and configure

Language: English | Polski

Related plans: topology, EAP613 settings

For a non-technical operator. Goal: low-latency WiFi for throttles (bigfred2, 2.4 GHz) and phones (bigfred5, 5 GHz).

What you need

• Raspberry Pi 3 + Ethernet = BigFred (server)
• Omada EAP610/613 × 3 (access points)
• Switch PoE TL-SF1006P (ports 1–4 PoE+, 5–6 plain)
• Omada OC200 is optional (central controller). Without it, configure each AP in standalone mode (same SSIDs/settings on every AP; only channels differ).
• 4–5 Ethernet cables, PSUs (Pi3, switch; OC200 if used), 3 stands at 2 m, laptop/phone for setup, optional UPS

How BigFred networking works

On boot, BigFred OS:

1. Brings Ethernet up (configure-ethernet).
2. Runs configure-dhcp, which probes the LAN for an event WiFi stack (today: Omada AP or OC200).
3. Only if Omada gear is detected does it set BigFred to 10.0.10.1/24 and start dnsmasq (pool 10.0.10.50–10.0.10.200, 7-day lease, gateway/DNS = BigFred). Detected Omada MACs get sticky DHCP reservations.
4. On a club LAN without Omada, DHCP is not started (no conflict with the club DHCP server).

You do not edit dnsmasq by hand for the event setup.

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1. Cabling (power off)

Switch port	Device	Notes
1	BigFred	Priority Mode
2	AP1	PoE
3	AP2	PoE
4	AP3	PoE
5	OC200 (optional)	Plain port; OC200 has its own PSU
6	free	Laptop for setup

• BigFred → port 1
• AP1 → 2, AP2 → 3, AP3 → 4
• OC200 → 5 (if used)
• Plug in switch, BigFred, and OC200 PSUs

2. Switch rear switches

• Priority Mode = ON (port 1 = BigFred)
• Extend Mode = OFF (otherwise ports drop to 10 Mb/s)

3. Power-on order

BigFred (DHCP) first:

• 1. Switch
• 2. BigFred — wait ~2 min (configure-dhcp detects Omada and starts DHCP)
• 3. OC200 (if used) — wait ~3 min
• 4. AP1/2/3 via PoE — wait ~3 min

4. Join the network with a laptop

• Ethernet to switch port 6 (laptop gets an address from BigFred, e.g. 10.0.10.51)

5. Configure WiFi — choose one path

Path A — with OC200 (controller)

• Find OC200 IP (TP-Link Omada Discovery, or on BigFred: configure-dhcp check)
• Open https://<oc200-ip>, accept the cert warning
• Login admin / admin, set a new admin password
• Wizard: region/timezone; skip creating SSIDs here
• Devices → Adopt all three APs → wait until Connected
• Create WLAN group + SSIDs (step 6) and radio tweaks (step 7) once in the controller

Path B — standalone (no OC200)

Do steps 6–7 on each AP (AP1, then AP2, then AP3). Default first access: join the sticker SSID or open https://tplinkeap.net / https://192.168.0.254, then set a management password and preferably a static/management IP once on the BigFred subnet. Channels differ per AP (step 7.1); SSIDs and passwords are identical.

6. SSIDs: bigfred2 and bigfred5

Same password for both.

bigfred2 (2.4 GHz only — throttles)

• SSID bigfred2, broadcast ON, band 2.4 GHz only
• WPA2-PSK, AES, your password
• VLAN 0, Portal OFF, SSID/Client Isolation OFF, Save

bigfred5 (5 GHz only — phones)

• SSID bigfred5, broadcast ON, band 5 GHz only
• Same security and password, VLAN 0, Portal OFF, Isolation OFF, Save

7. Low-latency radio tweaks

7.1 Channels (per AP)

2.4 GHz, 20 MHz, Manual:

AP	Channel	Width	Tx
AP1	1	20 MHz	Medium
AP2	6	20 MHz	Medium
AP3	11	20 MHz	Medium

5 GHz, 40 MHz, non-DFS:

AP	Channel	Width	Tx
AP1	36	40 MHz	Medium
AP2	149	40 MHz	Medium
AP3	44 (or 157)	40 MHz	Medium

• Channel selection = Manual (not Auto)
• Do not use DFS channels 52–144

7.2 Advanced

• Airtime Fairness ON, OFDMA ON, MU-MIMO ON
• Beacon 100, DTIM 1, min data rate 2.4 GHz = 6 Mbps (if available)
• Mesh OFF, Band Steering OFF

7.3 WMM / multicast / roaming

• WMM Enable on both SSIDs
• Multicast filter OFF (mDNS 224.0.0.251 must pass); IGMP snooping + multicast-to-unicast ON if available
• Client Isolation OFF
• Load balance 2.4 GHz: max ~18 clients; 802.11k/v/r ON

8. Validation

• Phone sees bigfred2 and bigfred5
• On bigfred5, open http://10.0.10.1 (BigFred UI)
• Throttle on bigfred2
• Ping to 10.0.10.1 < 25 ms
• RSSI at operator seats > −65 dBm

9. Event-day checklist

• Three APs at 2 m around operators (not behind the layout)
• BigFred on port 1 (Priority), DHCP running
• Spectrum check — adjust 1/6/11 if needed
• 3–5 test throttles OK
• Ask audience to disable personal hotspots
• Spare AP + PoE injector ready

Technical notes

• Tools (Rust workspace): crates/configure-dhcp, crates/configure-ethernet → /usr/sbin/ on BigFred OS (GitHub Actions artifacts / Releases)
• Shared CI: reusable workflows in dcc-bigfred/common (@v2); binary fetch via go run github.com/dcc-bigfred/common/cmd/fetch@latest
• Detailed EAP613 menu paths: plans/2026-07-14-eap613-konfiguracja.md.