arch xp wireless connection sharing

beagle2 · 2005-06-10 13:07:46

Ok, going nuts trying to connect two pcs via wireless ad-hoc network. Both pcs run xp and i can connect and share my adsl connection using the ralink application for my pci cards.
Im trying do do away with xp on my pc and just use arch which is just fantastic but the kids need xp on theirs for various stuff from school and games but until i get this wireless thing going im stuck.
I connect to the internet via speedtouch usb modem and thats the one i want to run arch on connecting via wireless to the xp one.
I have got my ralink card up and running at boot time thanks to this forum using ndiswrapper and the xp machine can connect but theres no transfer of data between the 2. I have read various threads about iptables,ipchains and the like but am totally bogged down. I set up a firewall using quicktables and i think its configured to allow wireless traffic thru wlan0 but what else do i need. Do i use ifconfig, iwconfig, both or something else? The modem is on ppp0 and the wireless is wlan0.Im running 2.6.11.10-ARCH #1 SMP kde/fluxbox. Are there any xp files i can copy settings from as i know the xp connection works. Thanks in advance and sorry if im asking the obvious

phrakture · 2005-06-10 14:57:22

I don't think it works the same with wireless as it does with ethernet.
In order to connect two wireless cards, you need to setup one as an access point. The hostAP drivers would work, but you mentioned you used ndiswrapper, so I don't know if hostAP is compatible.

edit:
after you get the hostAP working, you're going to have to then setup ip forwarding (google that, it's complicated)...

if you want the simplest/easiest way out... just buy a wireless router and plug your modem into that... they run about $40-80 at bestbuy

beagle2 · 2005-06-10 15:55:18

Thanks for that phrakture, some of your stuff has got me this far already. I was hoping not to have to invest in a router but that seems to be the way of it. Never ming, i,ll just keep googling.
Think i would need to set card iwconfig wlan0 mode master to do what i want it to - as you suspected this isnt supported by ndis so it looks like router is called for, but before that ill try and compile the latest RT2500-Linux-STA-1.4.6.0 driver and try that instead of ndiswrapper. Never got it to work before but ill try

phrakture · 2005-06-10 17:19:32

ah, mode=Master may work... good point

I'd try it if I had some additional hardware floating around

beagle2 · 2005-06-10 18:36:30

Well it may help - next problem is the sta 2500 module and utility im trying to configure - get a blizzard of errors but my main point is it requires the kernel source to compile. I see from the forums that there isnt such a package you can install with pacman......or am i dim? There are files in /usr/src/linux-xxx but they dont seem to be the whole thing. Ill move this to another forum since its now a compiling prob but if u can point me in the right direction i would be gratefull. Thnx

beagle2 · 2005-06-10 20:03:16

Not much point in continuing with the ralink driver as it doesnt support softap/hostap which i think is needed for master mode.
So, am i on the right lines with my quest to connect ie.will master mode enable my pcs to talk to each other? If so would getting a different nic with softap/hostap be an alternative to getting a router? Thing is an nic is only £10 but router compatible with speedtouch usb modem might be a bit costly. Thanks in advance

tomk · 2005-06-10 21:43:39

phrakture wrote:

In order to connect two wireless cards, you need to setup one as an access point.

You're forgetting ad-hoc, phrakture. Before you invest, beagle2, try this:

iwconfig wlan0 mode ad-hoc

In fact, give

iwconfig wlan0 mode auto

a go as well - might as well rule everything out before giving up.

phrakture · 2005-06-10 22:05:56

tomk wrote:

phrakture wrote:
In order to connect two wireless cards, you need to setup one as an access point.
You're forgetting ad-hoc, phrakture. Before you invest, beagle2, try this:

ah, that's another one.. I *never* touch the mode on mine... so I have no experience there

tomk · 2005-06-10 22:13:35

One more thing, in case you're not aware of it - there's an open source ralink driver in development. I don't have any relevant hardware here, but if I were you, I'd give it a try. There's even a PKGBUILD in the AUR.

beagle2 · 2005-06-10 22:25:43

Yeah, tried that and they do see each other in adhoc mode but from what i can tell via google to setup my pc as a router it should be in master mode - ie hostap/softap. Im pretty sure thats whats needed and there is a driver for rt2500 which supports this mode but only for 2.4.x kernels and im already losing the will to live over this so compiling the kernel for this aint worth it as far as i can see - my arch box is running just great as it is apart from this.
Of course i may be totally wrong in this but heres what i found re hostap driver http://hostap.epitest.fi/ so im now looking for an old nic with prism chipset. Even if i got the official driver compiled the utility thats comes with it is an absolute nightmare - you need to install qt-x11-free etc before you even start to compile it - this cards gotta go

beagle2 · 2005-08-13 00:40:18

Phrakture, progressed a bit from above - have d-link card with atheros chipset, got it up and running now just struggling with the config of my access point. In the wiki for setting up wireless it covers editing rc.conf and entering your interfaces. Are those settings just for incoming connections ie. im looking at broadcasting my internet connection on wlan0 so does that mean i use those netmask, broadcast dhcp or is that if you are connecting to a network. You can see how confused i am. Netmask, dhcp, masquerading are doing my head in and i fear that im overriding stuff with what i have in rc.conf. Ta for any thoughts you might have

Arch Linux

#1 2005-06-10 13:07:46

arch xp wireless connection sharing

#2 2005-06-10 14:57:22

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#3 2005-06-10 15:55:18

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#4 2005-06-10 17:19:32

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#5 2005-06-10 18:36:30

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#6 2005-06-10 20:03:16

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#7 2005-06-10 21:43:39

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#8 2005-06-10 22:05:56

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#9 2005-06-10 22:13:35

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#10 2005-06-10 22:25:43

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

#11 2005-08-13 00:40:18

Re: arch xp wireless connection sharing

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