Arch Linux

Tallix

Member

From: Arizona, USA

Registered: 2013-06-02

Posts: 20

Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

I am currently working on a project where I am trying to create a WiFi access point using a Rasperry Pi. They would be deployed to teachers across our school district for use in the classroom and easier adminstration and usage tracking by the administrators of the district. However, I was wondering what the ideal distribution for this would be. Here are some goals for the project:

-Have a web-based interface that the teacher can use to control the device while it is in use
-Have a web-based administration and management interface
-Report usage statistics, sites visited, devices connected, etc. to a central management server

The project leader suggested Arch, which would be possible with the Arch ARM project, but I do not think this is ideal seeing as these would be deployed and then would not receive much maintenance at all: maybe a package upgrade once every year. Thus, Arch is not really that ideal. Is there a distro that allows for the same flexibility, ease of configuration, and minimalism (KISS philosophy) as Arch which uses very stable and well-tested packages and does not require such a high degree of maintenace?

Head_on_a_Stick

Member

From: London

Registered: 2014-02-20

Posts: 7,732

Website

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

Debian is what you want.
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=raspbian

Maybe you should ask over at the Arch ARM forums and get their opinion though...
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/fo … pport_ONLY

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progandy

Member

Registered: 2012-05-17

Posts: 5,196

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

If you want to use Arch, I suggest you use a common image on all devices and simply add some extra per-device configuration.
When you want to upgrade the devices, create a new master image and copy that to all devices and restore device specific data like users and device id.

You might be better off with a slackware or debian derivate, though (e.g. minibian, raspbian or slrpi). Here are some other options: http://elinux.org/RPi_Distributions

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skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

OpenWRT may be a good option as well; at least for the access point part of it.

Tallix

Member

From: Arizona, USA

Registered: 2013-06-02

Posts: 20

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

Thanks for the replies. I was also thinking something like Debian would be best, probably Raspbian since it's optimized for the Pi, but all of the Raspbian images that I know of come with a GUI and a bunch of unnecessary packages like games and such...
Perhaps I can find a minimal image out there. Looking at elinux.org/RPi_Distributions (thanks for the link), Raspbian Server Edition or Raspberry Pi Thin Client might be the answer. Any other suggestions?

kokoko3k

Member

Registered: 2008-11-14

Posts: 2,394

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

...as you will administer a small number of packages, i don't think the rolling release concept will give you so much troubles.

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ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,793

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

I looked at doing this very thing.  I used Arch Arm.     Be Aware -- the Ras-pi was not designed to be a router and does not incorporate hardware network switches.  This means that functions such as NAT forwarding had to be implemented in firmware.  That, combined with the modest speed of the machine, resulted in some serious latency.  Beware of high bandwidth stuff or stuff that demands a low network latency.

Last edited by ewaller (2015-01-08 16:39:53)

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skottish

Forum Fellow

From: Here

Registered: 2006-06-16

Posts: 7,942

Re: Ideal Arch-like Distro for a RPi WiFi Access Point

Tallix,

Are you necessarily tied to the rasp-pi for this project? Distros like OpenWRT, DD-WRT, and tomato run on many routers and are designed for stuff like this. As ewaller pointed out, the rasp-pi isn't the best device for this use case, but you can easily get fully capable routers in the same price range.