Date: Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:48:15 -0500 From: CyberLeo Kitsana <cyberleo@cyberleo.net> To: Paul Beard <paulbeard@gmail.com> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: wireless access point in FreeBSD 8.2p2 Message-ID: <4E59BA7F.305@cyberleo.net> In-Reply-To: <51754C95-3688-4B33-BD98-7DED5F28DC0E@gmail.com> References: <51754C95-3688-4B33-BD98-7DED5F28DC0E@gmail.com>
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On 08/27/2011 11:21 AM, Paul Beard wrote: > I seem to be missing something, possibly from reading too many HOWTOs. What I am trying to do is get a system with a wireless card to stand in as a wireless AP should my aging LinkSys base station develop a tragic smoke leak. > > It's an ath0-based card and the following steps suggest it should work (it has HOSTAP capabilities and offering robust encryption). I just finished something almost exactly like this a little while ago. > But various permutations of rc.conf, hostap.conf and many iterations of /etc/rc.c/netif restart leave me with two ifconfig entries, one of the ath0 interface and one for wlan0. None of the examples show this so I suspect it's wrong. The IP address is pingable from the host it's installed in but not from anywhere else. And I can see the AP from another system and attach to it but it doesn't route any traffic. > > <snip> > > redacted results of ifconfig: > ath0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 2290 > ether 00:0d:88:93:21:3a > media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11g <hostap> > status: running > > wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500 > ether 00:0d:88:93:21:3a > inet 192.168.0.26 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255 > inet6 fe80::20d:88ff:fe93:213a%wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x7 > nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV> > media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11g <hostap> > status: running > ssid lower channel 8 (2447 MHz 11g) bssid 00:0d:88:93:21:3a > regdomain FCC indoor ecm authmode AUTO privacy OFF txpower 27 > scanvalid 60 protmode CTS wme burst dtimperiod 1 -dfs This looks correct so far, for an unsecured wireless access point. The wlan0 device is the interface you will use for communicating; the ath0 device exists solely as a target for wlan0 creation. Things to keep in mind: tcpdump(1) is your friend; it seems cryptic and obtuse at first glance, but it will help immensely wlan0 itself will not assign v4 addresses to clients; you need a DHCP server for that The hostap machine must be explicitly told to route packets, by setting gateway_enable="YES" in rc.conf and adding the appropriate routes If you're intending this to be a home gateway, you will likely also need NAT. > Yes, I am trying it without any encryption until I see some packets being passed. Good idea. Hope this helps! -- Fuzzy love, -CyberLeo Technical Administrator CyberLeo.Net Webhosting http://www.CyberLeo.Net <CyberLeo@CyberLeo.Net> Furry Peace! - http://wwww.fur.com/peace/
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