Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

marxav · 2011-07-17 20:07:23

The piece of hardware in question is aD-Link DWA-160. It is a USB Adaptor.

iwconfig:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11abgn  Mode:Master  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          
mon.wlan0  IEEE 802.11abgn  Mode:Monitor  Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
wireless access point usb

ifconfig:

mon.wlan0 Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:2488 (2.4 Kb)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr XXXXXXXXXXXXX  
          inet addr:10.0.0.65  Bcast:10.0.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::16d6:4dff:fea8:400b/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:244 errors:0 dropped:9 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:50 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:27821 (27.1 Kb)  TX bytes:9221 (9.0 Kb)

For a starter, I set no encription, static IP.

I can see the wireless AP from my laptop with iwlist. When I try do iwconfig wlan0 essis "blackhole" nothing happens.

chapet · 2011-07-17 22:27:47

Assuming that your ESSID:"blackhole"

wpa_passphrase blackhole "your_password" > blackhole.passw
iwconfig mon.wlan0 essid blackhole
wpa_supplicant -B -imon.wlan0 -cblackhole.passw
dhcpcd mon.wlan0

Change blackhole.passw permissions accordingly to your security needs

Last edited by chapet (2011-07-17 22:29:28)

marxav · 2011-07-18 00:30:49

@chapet, as per the wiki, since I am not using encryption at the moment, I am using

iwconfig wlan0 essid "blackhole"

Yet, no SSID is assigned on my laptop

chapet · 2011-07-18 07:35:40

@marxav, you are right.
I've tried it this morning and it didn't work, it used to though. I just haven't had the need to use it in a long time.
Could anybody else confirm whether this is working or not.

marxav · 2011-07-18 23:35:10

Thanks @chapet.
I also read that if the AP does not broadcast the essid, of course you will not be able to associate to it. But I can see it on "iwlist scan".

Gusar · 2011-07-19 08:41:34

Of course you are able to associate to such an AP. What would be the point of a hidden ESSID if nothing could connect to it? That said, there actually isn't a point to a hidden ESSID. It's not *really* hidden, it contributes nothing to security. All it does is cause problems with flaky Linux drivers.

MoonSwan · 2011-07-19 18:35:14

I have the same USB dongle as you are using, and I installed arch yesterday. I got my usb nic to work with netcfg and the wireless-wep example config found in /etc/network.d/examples.

Short version, yes the nic works in linux very well. I suggest you try netcfg or wicd to get it working. As long as ifconfig -a shows you have wlan0 you're good to go.

Edit: forgot to say that a lot of nic's (usb ones especially in my experience) do not handle hidden ESSID's well. And the poster above me is, imo, right: they don't do much good as a security measure. You're better off configuring WPA2.

Last edited by MoonSwan (2011-07-19 18:36:42)

marxav · 2011-07-19 19:04:14

@moonswan.
Do you use that usb dongle to connect TO or to connect FROM?
I am confused. My laptop has wicd installed. I can connect no problem to my linksys router through wicd.
So with that same laptop, if I want to connect to my d-link usb access point (which is on my Arch Router), I would have to setup netcfg?? Why would wicd not work or even througn manual mode

ewaller · 2011-07-20 01:29:55

marxav wrote:

When I try do iwconfig wlan0 essis "blackhole" nothing happens.

As a sanity check, you might check two things.
1. There is a typo in that command. Is it verbatim, or is essis a typo when you posted?
2. ESSIDs are case sensitive. You might check against the actual ESSID reported by iwlist.

marxav · 2011-07-20 16:28:44

@ewaller. Thanks. I am not in front of my laptop at the moment, but I am convinced I used iwconfig wlan0 essid "blackhole". I would hope iwconfig would throw an error have I used "essis". To confirm, I shall try tonight.

In any case, I tried netcfg, now it connects. Or at least I get an essid, but I have no route to host.

There is at least this.

┌marst@myhost)───(13:21 Wednesday 20 - July 2011)
├─(~)
└──> iwconfig wlan0 essis blabla
iwconfig: unknown command "essis"

And the command iwconfig wlan0 essid myrouteressid definitely does nothing...

Last edited by marxav (2011-07-20 21:24:41)

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-17 20:07:23

Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#2 2011-07-17 22:27:47

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#3 2011-07-18 00:30:49

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#4 2011-07-18 07:35:40

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#5 2011-07-18 23:35:10

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#6 2011-07-19 08:41:34

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#7 2011-07-19 18:35:14

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#8 2011-07-19 19:04:14

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#9 2011-07-20 01:29:55

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

#10 2011-07-20 16:28:44

Re: Trying to set up a wireless Access Point.

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