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English Forums => Hardware and Performance => Topic started by: thereaper on July 01, 2018, 11:17:02 am

Title: [Solved] Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: thereaper on July 01, 2018, 11:17:02 am

Hi.

I just installed 18.1 on my box with Intel mini PCI-e wifi card. I have iwn0 interface. I created clone of wireless interface iwn0_wlan1 in Wireless/Devices
In Assignments I assigned and enabled iwn0_wlan1 as WIFI.
In Interfaces/WIFI I see all the settings I need, but Mode has only 'Infrastructure (BSS)' and no 'Access Point' I need.
How can I enable Access Point, please?

Title: Re: Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: thereaper on July 01, 2018, 11:21:30 am

Updated to 18.7 Development. Further debug shows that my card misses HOSTAP capability. Is it fatal?

# ifconfig iwn0_wlan1 list caps
    drivercaps=581e201<STA,PMGT,TXPMGT,SHSLOT,SHPREAMBLE,MONITOR,WPA1,WPA2,WME>
    htcaps=5006e<CHWIDTH40,SHORTGI20,SHORTGI40>

Title: Re: Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: bartjsmit on July 01, 2018, 01:08:41 pm

Yes, more than likely. FreeBSD support for WiFi is not very good and tends to favour clients, rather than access points.

Bart...

Title: Re: Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: monstermania on July 02, 2018, 09:23:41 am

Quote from: thereaper on July 01, 2018, 11:21:30 am

Updated to 18.7 Development. Further debug shows that my card misses HOSTAP capability. Is it fatal?

The iwn-driver don't support hostap-mode. So you can't use such a card for an ap!
I also suggest you to use an external ap.

Title: Re: Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: thereaper on July 03, 2018, 12:18:54 pm

Yeah, right. This table (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11cF4UoNL68Me5ZC6qhjFPmzdW7mib56dBIAKz30Qpug) says so, linked from netgate docs (https://www.netgate.com/docs/pfsense/wireless/supported-wireless-cards.html)

Options are Atheros, Marvell, Ralink (mostly USB).
I'm using cheap dual-band, external WiFi AP thingy, connected via ethernet cable at the moment.
Somewhere I saw this (https://www.amazon.com/AR5BHB92-Dual-band-802-11a-Toshiba-Compatible/dp/B00JESLUWQ) may work, along with general advice to seek for AR9280.
What other mini PCI-e wifi module can be recommended for using as Access Point?

Title: Re: Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: monstermania on July 04, 2018, 09:13:16 am

Hi,
i've used ralink usb devices for about 1 year on my old box. Yes, it is working if you find a solid stick. I've tested ~ 10 different models with ralink chipsets. Some work for a short time only (run very hot  ;)). Some don't work as AP and very less work perfect!
But be aware they work only into 802.11g (54 Mbit).

With an new opnsense box i've changed to AR9280 cards (AzureWave AW-NE772).
This card works with 2,4 and 5 Ghz. But the wlan area was very bad overall. The wireless speed drops rapidly 5-10 meters away from the box. So I've changed to a cheap ap i found on ebay. This work perfect.

best regards
Dirk

Title: Re: Wi-Fi Access Point Mode unavailable for internal adapter
Post by: thereaper on December 12, 2018, 12:20:58 am

Quote from: monstermania on July 04, 2018, 09:13:16 am

(AzureWave AW-NE772).
This card works with 2,4 and 5 Ghz. But the wlan area was very bad overall. The wireless speed drops rapidly 5-10 meters away from the box.

Thanks Dirk.

I just configured AzureWave AW-NE772 as Access Point on my box, it seem to work perfectly so far. I get RSSI -55 dBm, MCS Index 15 in my Mac computers. I use 802.11na mode in Channel settings. Have you seen this FAQ?
https://forum.opnsense.org/index.php?topic=6886.msg30043#msg30043