Basically we set this with the DHCP interface setting under Services > Hotspot > Hotspot system > DHCP interface. The interface here will transmit the hotspot signal. If you have just turned on Hotspot system it’s usually set to LAN, which means the LAN ports and the physical wireless interface bridged together. However, there can be cases, when this doesn’t work right away.

If you’re having problems getting a hotspot signal on the desired interface, then you may need to unbridge the physical wireless interface (or the virtual wireless interface you can additionally created) from the main bridge. You can do this by either clicking the Wireless tab > Basic settings > Wireless Physical interface or Virtual interface 0,1,2,3 etc. >Network configuration and clicking Unbridged or opening the Advanced settings checkbox further from the same place and clicking Unbridged. Click Apply settings. This will create a new interface index under Services > Hotspot > DHCP interface. If you’re having troubles finding it there, you may need to reboot your router.

The naming varies by router vendor, and can be any of the following:

Linksys / CISCO: LAN, eth1(physical wireless), wl0.1(virtual wireless)

Buffalo: LAN, ath0(physical wireless), ath0.1(virtual wireless)

TP-Link: LAN, ath0(physical wireless), ath0.1(virtual wireless)

D-Link: LAN, ra0(physical wireless), ra1(virtual wireless)

If you’ve set your interface to Unbridged network mode, you can assign the hotspot function to it under Services > Hotspot > Hotspot system > DHCP interface. After applying settings, this interface should transmit the hotspot signal. There can be cases, when your router requires a reboot.

With DD-WRT you can have multiple SSIDs, and this can be used to have a hotspot wireless interface and an additional free (preferably WPA/WPA2 protected) one for your staff, or guest, or family members. The LAN ports’ function can also be set with this method.

***Please note that the hotspot interface runs its own DHCP server and therefore it doesn’t need to be bridged to the main hub (which to DD-WRT’s own DHCP server is bound to) like a free physical wireless or free virtual interface does. If you use a free interface with your device and you don’t get a response, check if it’s set to Unbridged or Bridged mode under the Network configuration of the interface. These are set to Bridged by default, but in a troubleshooting situation one can of course leave them in an Unbridged setting by accident.

If you have set your interface attributes and assigned the hotspot DHCP interface to your desired network node, you should be getting the splash page on that interface if your internet connection is working.

However if you still don’t have it working, there can be a few settings, that can resolve your difficulties. Please go to Setup>Basic setup>Network setup>Router Ip>Local DNS and set 8.8.8.8 for Google’s public DNS server. You need to uncheck the following three settings under the Network address server settings(DHCP) there:

Use DNSMasq for DHCP

Use DNSMasq for DNS

DHCP-Authoritative

Remember to uncheck all of these.