Adding wireless to my network - OpenWRT?
I've discussed my wireless needs on the list before - I'm thinking that the best solution would just be to buy a device that will take OpenWRT and serve as an 802.11n access point. My network configuration: Desktop Linux workstation with ADSL PCI card installed, also running DHCP, Bind, Postfix and radvd for IPv6 - native IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack connection to Internode and a static Ipv4 address. FreeSWITCH (for VoIP) is running directly on this machine so it isn't behind NAT. Gigabit switch -> printer, SIP phone, laptop on local LAN. Now I want to add 802.11 wireless for phones, tablets, etc., both IPv4 and IPv6. Given previous discussions and my research, I'm considering just buying a device that will take OpenWRT, attaching it to the Gigabit switch and either bridging the wired and wireless networks or routing the packets between separate networks. Hardware suggestions would be welcome, as would any alternative ideas on how best to proceed with this. One option would be the devices that the Buffer Bloat project is recommending - all of the drivers are open.
I've discussed my wireless needs on the list before - I'm thinking that the best solution would just be to buy a device that will take OpenWRT and serve as an 802.11n access point.
My network configuration:
Desktop Linux workstation with ADSL PCI card installed, also running DHCP, Bind, Postfix and radvd for IPv6 - native IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack connection to Internode and a static Ipv4 address. FreeSWITCH (for VoIP) is running directly on this machine so it isn't behind NAT.
Gigabit switch -> printer, SIP phone, laptop on local LAN.
Now I want to add 802.11 wireless for phones, tablets, etc., both IPv4 and IPv6. Given previous discussions and my research, I'm considering just buying a device that will take OpenWRT, attaching it to the Gigabit switch and either bridging the wired and wireless networks or routing the packets between separate networks.
Hardware suggestions would be welcome, as would any alternative ideas on how best to proceed with this. One option would be the devices that the Buffer Bloat project is recommending - all of the drivers are open.
I've been pretty happy with openwrt on the Netgear WNDR3800. It has dual band wireless (2.4 + 5), 4 x gigabit ports, or 5 if you don't need the WAN port, and seems to be able to move data between them pretty quickly. And plenty of flash and memory - I've run squid on one before (filtering proxy only - no cache). OpenWRT can set up the multiple SSID's easily too via the GUI. It should be able to run the sip proxy stuff too, if you wanted to route instead of bridge. James
James Harper <james.harper@bendigoit.com.au> wrote:
I've been pretty happy with openwrt on the Netgear WNDR3800. It has dual band wireless (2.4 + 5), 4 x gigabit ports, or 5 if you don't need the WAN port, and seems to be able to move data between them pretty quickly. And plenty of flash and memory - I've run squid on one before (filtering proxy only - no cache). OpenWRT can set up the multiple SSID's easily too via the GUI.
Or presumably via ssh, which is how I would prefer to access it. I think it's the WNDR3800 v2 that the BufferBloat project is using for experimentation as one of their preferred devices. That (and your recommendation above) is a good reason to place it top of my list.
On Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 12:00:38PM +1000, Jason White wrote:
I've discussed my wireless needs on the list before - I'm thinking that the best solution would just be to buy a device that will take OpenWRT and serve as an 802.11n access point.
here are two more alternative methods to consider, both involving use of the hostapd[1] package. 1. buy a USB/PCI/PCI-e wireless NIC and install it in your current gateway box. you already have dhcp, dns, iptables, and everything else configured and running, so you only need to configure hostapd. be careful when selecting a NIC, not all will work in Master aka AP or Access Point mode - although it's not uncommon for 802.11a/b/g. unfortunately, very few 802.11n NIC drivers support master mode in linux. NICs based on the ath9k[2] chip seem to be the best bet for 802.11n. The brcmsmac[3] driver also got AP mode support in March this year. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/MasterMode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open-source_wireless_drivers#Driv... 2. get a cheap old laptop with built-in wireless NIC. Again, make sure that the NIC supports Master mode under linux. Configure hostapd. if you use a separate IP subnet for the wireless LAN, you may also need to run a dhcp relay so that bootp packets get forwarded between the wlan and your dhcp server (alternatively, just run another dhcp server on the laptop, listening only on the wlan interface so it doesn't conflict with your main dhcp server) I use an old eeepc 701 for this job at home. the wifi chip in it only supports 802.11b and 802.11g, but it's adequate for my needs. if/when i need better/faster than that, i'll probably get a wifi nic for my gateway machine and retire the eeepc. there's an iphone, an android phone, two android tablets, a linux laptop that connect regularly to this, and occasionally other machines (including mac and windows laptops). I have it configured so that each machine that connects has a separate login and password, and dhcpd assigns each one a static IP addresses. [1] http://hostap.epitest.fi/hostapd/ debian package details: Package: hostapd Source: wpa (1.0-3) Version: 1:1.0-3+b2 Description-en: user space IEEE 802.11 AP and IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP Authenticator Originally, hostapd was an optional user space component for Host AP driver. It adds more features to the basic IEEE 802.11 management included in the kernel driver: using external RADIUS authentication server for MAC address based access control, IEEE 802.1X Authenticator and dynamic WEP keying, RADIUS accounting, WPA/WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i/RSN) Authenticator and dynamic TKIP/CCMP keying. . The current version includes support for other drivers, an integrated EAP authenticator (i.e., allow full authentication without requiring an external RADIUS authentication server), and RADIUS authentication server for EAP authentication. . hostapd works with the following drivers: . * mac80211 based drivers with support for master mode [linux] * Host AP driver for Prism2/2.5/3 [linux] * Driver interface for FreeBSD net80211 layer [kfreebsd] * Any wired Ethernet driver for wired IEEE 802.1X authentication. Homepage: http://w1.fi/wpa_supplicant/ [2] http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k/products [3] http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/brcm80211 craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>
Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au> wrote:
1. buy a USB/PCI/PCI-e wireless NIC and install it in your current gateway box.
you already have dhcp, dns, iptables, and everything else configured and running, so you only need to configure hostapd.
be careful when selecting a NIC, not all will work in Master aka AP or Access Point mode - although it's not uncommon for 802.11a/b/g. unfortunately, very few 802.11n NIC drivers support master mode in linux. NICs based on the ath9k[2] chip seem to be the best bet for 802.11n. The brcmsmac[3] driver also got AP mode support in March this year.
Thanks. In the end, I wasn't satisfied with the USB options available, but the other option - a PCI-Express card - is still possible if I can find one that I know for sure has a supported Atheros controller suitable for hostAP. There's one free PCI-Express slot left, specified as "x8 mechanical/x4 electrical", which I understand will take any lower (e.g., x2) card.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/MasterMode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open-source_wireless_drivers#Driv...
2. get a cheap old laptop with built-in wireless NIC. Again, make sure that the NIC supports Master mode under linux. Configure hostapd. if you use a separate IP subnet for the wireless LAN, you may also need to run a dhcp relay so that bootp packets get forwarded between the wlan and your dhcp server (alternatively, just run another dhcp server on the laptop, listening only on the wlan interface so it doesn't conflict with your main dhcp server)
It's unfortunate that my current laptop can't do this, even as a temporary solution, as the Intel wireless controller does not support master mode even under the most recent drivers.
On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 12:39:40PM +1000, Jason White wrote:
There's one free PCI-Express slot left, specified as "x8 mechanical/x4 electrical", which I understand will take any lower (e.g., x2) card.
yep, that's correct. given that it's physically x8, you could even plug in an 8x card (but bandwidth would be limited to 4x) - in fact, it's even possible to carefully cut the end off the slot so that a 16x card will fit, and it would still work (again, at 4x speed) some motherboards with 1x/2x/4x/8x physical slots even have open ends on the slot so that larger cards can fit - i recall seeing a photo of one a few years ago and thinking "(almost) useless, but cool" :) craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>
Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net> writes:
Now I want to add 802.11 wireless for phones, tablets, etc., both IPv4 and IPv6. Given previous discussions and my research, I'm considering just buying a device that will take OpenWRT, attaching it to the Gigabit switch and either bridging the wired and wireless networks or routing the packets between separate networks.
If you just want <what you have> + 802.11 AP, you can buy an AP-capabable PCIe wifi card, and run hostapd. There's a single git repo that turns into two separate source tarballs -- hostapd and wpa_supplicant. The former is the AP side of things, and IME getting it to run was reasonably straightforward. It's also what OpenWRT uses. I can't recommend any recent wifi cards - I've been using WNDR3700 and 1043ND with OpenWRT instead, for quite a while.
Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
I can't recommend any recent wifi cards - I've been using WNDR3700 and 1043ND with OpenWRT instead, for quite a while.
this looks like an option: https://plus.google.com/103751003220038380252/posts/27o5TfBxN9Y
On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 01:04:29PM +1000, Jason White wrote:
Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
I can't recommend any recent wifi cards - I've been using WNDR3700 and 1043ND with OpenWRT instead, for quite a while.
this looks like an option: https://plus.google.com/103751003220038380252/posts/27o5TfBxN9Y
nice. $45 from MSY $ msygrep WDN4800 45 TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Bad 450M Wireless N Dual Band PCI-Express Card craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>
Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au> wrote:
nice. $45 from MSY
$ msygrep WDN4800 45 TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Bad 450M Wireless N Dual Band PCI-Express Card
$45 from MSY it was. 80:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR93xx Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01) I'm about to start reading up on hostapd.
participants (4)
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trentbuck＠gmail.com