AVM FRITZ!Box Tools: no Wifi on/off switches in Access Point mode about core HOT 8 OPEN

Hey there @mammuth, @AaronDavidSchneider, @chemelli74, @mib1185, mind taking a look at this issue as it has been labeled with an integration (fritz) you are listed as a code owner for? Thanks!

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from core.

Hi @fplanque, your device is in

"mesh_role": "slave",

this means that the on/off is created only for the master.

from core.

@chemelli74 thank you, do you know how to change from slave to master?

in the fritzbox UI I unchecked "Switching wireless devices automatically between the 2.4-GHz and the 5-GHz frequency bands and between multiple FRITZ! products in the Mesh" both on the router and on the AP, I then rebooted the AP and re-registered it anew in Home Assistant. The diagnostics file still shows mesh_role": "slave",. Can I switch it to master?

from core.

The status depends on the mesh configuration. Is not something you can manually change.

from core.

Ok, once I turned on WiFi radios, I did see the Mesh configuration (it is hidden when radios are off).
When I changed the Wifi Mesh UI setting to master, it reconfigured the whole FritzBox as an internet router and no longer a standalone access point.
So from the fritzbox UI, it seems the router/no router and the mesh master/slave configurations are interlinked...

Yet, from the Home Assistant Integration diagnostics file, there seem to be 2 distinct properties:

      "is_router": false,
      "mesh_role": "slave",

Can you shed some light on that?

Do you know if these two properties can be set independently somehow (so 4 states total, not just 2) ?

Thank you.

from core.

Hi @fplanque
i think these are question for the manufacturer AVM.
Nevertheless, as long as a fritzbox is a mesh slave, it is steered from the mesh master, therefore we do not create wifi switches for those devices in HA.

from core.

@mib1185 you say:

therefore we do not create wifi switches

So it is your decision -- when developing the integration -- to intentionally not create the switches?

I want to strongly make the case that, if those switches can be created, they definitely should be created. And this for the following reasons:

1. When I have my second fritzbox as a mesh slave, I still can manually turn the radios on/off in the (slave) fritzbox UI. (But I'd like to do this in in home assistant which is both more convenient and also allows to automate turning off when tasks that require wifi are finished for the day).
2. When I have my second fritzbox as a mesh slave (still) and I actually switch the radios on/off on my first (master) fritzbox, those master switches impact only the master. Those switches on the master do not control the radio on/off of the slave.

I think, this proves that, even if many wifi settings are steered by the mesh master, the fact that a slave has its radios on or off is not steered by the master.

I tested this again today. I could post a dozen screenshots but I don't think it brings much more than what I explain.

So, if you can create those switches also for the slave, please please do.

Now, if you can't, please confirm clearly that it is AVM who has chosen not to expose this function when the fritzbox is a slave. In that case I will definitely enquire by AVM (But at this point you seem to say it is you/devs of the integration who deciced to not create the swicthes.)

Thank you.

from core.

@mib1185

Can you please confirm that there is no point in me contacting AVM about exposing the wifi radio switches (in the context of fritzbox used as Access Point) because these switches are already exposed by the fritzbox and it's just the HA integration that is not "passing them through" to HA?

Also, if you do have a setup where the slave radios are actually controlled by the master whereas they are not for me, I believe there are actually 3 modes:

• Mesh Master
• Mesh Slave (as you describe it)
• Independent access point (as I have it setup)

I believe that 3rd "Access Point" mode is enabled through this screen:

Notice I have "other internet service provider" on my "slave/AP" fritzbox.
I (purposedly) did not select "existing connection over LAN".
In my config, the slave fritzbox "connects" to the master only by requesting a DHCP config. Very minimalistic.
In the other "existing connection" config (which I personally don't want), I understand there may be a PPPoE passthrough tunnel, which indeed would allow the master to control the slave in all sorts of ways...

There is definitely a setup possible where the master does not control the slave and where turning the master radios on/off does not impact the slave radios. There may be more master/slave things not working in this "AP mode" but it doesn't matter to me, it is really the scenario that I want to use my fritzboxes by: independently control which floors of the house have wifi on or off. For example: at night I like the wifi next to the bedrooms off while I still may need to use the wifi in the basement.

Can you please enable the missing switches somehow? (even if they have to be hidden under some advanced config option)

Thank you.

PS: all boxes on FRITZ!OS: 7.57

from core.