[Networking] GalaxyA325G:
PSA:

There is a great (new?) option in Android 12 Developer option to get Wi-Fi debugging information.

It's called "Enable Wi-Fi Verbose Logging = ON"

I needed this option because I needed to debug the following scenario:

My upstairs desktop PC has no Wi-Fi card

So I flashed an old WRT54Gv8.1 router to dd-wrt

I then connected a CAT5 cable from the upstairs desktop RJ45 port to on of the four LAN ports of that dd-wrt router

Once I did that, I was able to log into the dd-wrt from the upstairs desktop PC to set up a wireless bridge to the downstairs router AP.

I first set that dd-wrt router to "wireless client bridge" mode

I then ran a dd-wrt "site survey" which found my 2.4GHz home router AP downstairs

I pressed the dd-wrt "join" button to wirelessly bridge to that downstairs 2.4GHz AP

Since it had encryption, I duplicated the 2.4Ghz home router SSID's authentication stuff

But I was initially having connection problems to the downstairs Netgear N router 2.4GHz access point...

At first I couldn't figure out why it didn't work (which is where the "Enable Wi-Fi Verbose Logging" debugging came in handy.

But after a few tests, I was able to get it to work by adding a powerful additional access point downstairs.

That powerful additional access point downstairs was a Ubiquti Rocket M2 radio I just happened to have lying around unused.

This gave me a LOT of networking power!

Particularly for my weak Android phone wi-fi connection!

By plugging the Rocket M2 into the downstairs router...

That instantly added another Wi-Fi access point downstairs

Which happened to be a far more powerful transmit power

And more importantly, it has far better receiver sensitivity

Overall, that connects the upstairs PC (which doesn't have Wi-Fi) via it's Ethernet port to the dd-wrt router which is then wirelessly bridged to the downstairs home router 2.4GHz SSID access point.

And, I can connect my Android phone when it's upstairs or downstairs to that powerful and sensitive new 2.4GHz access point.

The upstairs PC gets its Internet through the dd-wrt-to-downstairs-Rocket M2 AP client bridge

The Android phone upstairs can also connect wirelessly to that downstairs Rocket M2 access point

But the verbose wireless option showed me that the Android signal level isn't as good as it can be (given the weak WiFi of the Android phone).

But then I hit upon an idea...

... which gives the phone the PERFECT wi-fi connection upstairs!

Once I had the dd-wrt working in "Client Bridge Mode"/

I slightly modified the dd-wrt settings

I simply changed the dd-wrt "Wireless Client Bridge" selection to a wireless "Bridge Repeater"

And then I created a "virtual" SSID for that new wireless bridge repeater

Voila!

That accomplishes three things which pretty much make the entire setup almost perfect.

In fact, it's the best of all worlds when it works.

I converted the upstairs PC with only Ethernet, to a powerful Wi-Fi connection

At the same time, I added a "virtual access point" upstairs for the Android phone to connect to

Both the Android phone (when upstairs) & the upstairs PC have strong signal to the downstairs AP

And, best of all, when I go downstairs, the Android phone can still have strong signal because the phone can connect to the wireless client bridge that is downstairs wired to the home router (or it can connect to the home router original 2.4GHz & 5GHz access points).

It's perfect! (when it works).

And when it didn't work - I used the Android 12 Developer options "Wi-Fi verbose logging" to catch error messages.

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