Hi everyone,

Does anyone know if it's possible to mix access point and client modes in the Broadcom driver with "Virtual WLAN"?

***

I have a WL-500gP with 7.09, and I was wondering if could simultaneously:

a) Connect to an existing wireless network, "SSID A", using WPA-PSK.

b) Host its own separate wireless network, "SSID B", and act as an access point.

With SSIDs A & B running on the same channel.

... it seemed to me like the "Virtual WLAN" feature of the broadcom drivers might allow me to do this, but after messing around for a few hours I'm not able to get it working.

Cheers,

Angus

(Last edited by Gus929 on 12 Oct 2008, 01:36)

Doesn't look like anyone can really help me with this, and it pretty much looks like it's not possible.

I had an Asus WL-167G (ralink) usb wireless adapter sitting around, and this was surprisingly easy to set up w/ Kamikaze as a client. So now I'm dual radio!

I'll write up a quick howto on the Wiki if anyone is interested.

I was able to do it on a v3.1 wrt54g with the 7.09 kamikaze, but not the more recent snapshots (although I have not used wpa on the client side.)

config wifi-iface
    option device    wl0
    option mode    ap
    option ssid                    dlink
    option hidden    1
    option encryption    psk+psk2
    option network    lan
    option isolate    0
    option bgscan    0
    option wds                    0
    option key                    "xxxgggxx gggxxxgggxx ggg"

config wifi-iface
    option device             wl0
    option mode    sta
    option ssid                    linksys
    option hidden    1
    option encryption    wep
    option network    wan
    option isolate    0
    option bgscan    0
    option wds                    0
    option key                    1
    option key1    0123456789ABCDEF0123456789

Thanks heaps for the reply Belfry.

I was trying with WPA on both the client & AP side, although I thought I tried first without encryption. Hmmm. I did have some troubles getting two copies of 'nas' to run simultaneously, I thought I got it sorted but perhaps it was the problem all along.

I might have a go at fixing it, although the rt2570 was so easy to get up and running that I might just stick with dual radio - this way I can run the two networks on different channels so they don't interfere with each other.

Thanks again for the reply, though.

Gus929,

I'm interested in a howto.  This is exactly what I'm hoping to accomplish.  Actually, my end goal is to run 802.11A on the AP side.  I'd like to drop a single device into an existing frequency-saturated network that connects to the 802.11G and acts as a router to its own 802.11A network.

syn,

Turns out "easy t o get working" for rt2570 actually meant "Easy to get working with no WPA. With WPA, it works for ~ 10 seconds, and then it drops out." Going to try compiling a recent 2.6 kernel & module, when I get a chance.

If you don't need WPA, the howto is pretty straightforward, something like this:

1) Edit /etc/config/network to add a normal network definition (IP address, etc.) for interface rausb0.

As per http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Kam … 62177a7883

2)
ipkg install kmod-rt2570
insmod rt2570

3) Plug in usb device

4) Run "ifconfig rausb0" and ensure there's something there.

5) /etc/init.d/network restart

6)
ifconfig rausb0 down 
ifconfig rausb0 up 
iwconfig rausb0 mode managed 
iwconfig rausb0 essid blah

... probably want to put (6) into an init script and run it on reboot.

Details for some steps for (6) that -should- work with WPA. I've tried a lot of combinations of these, but the link won't stay up for > 10 seconds.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r195286 … y-hair-out

... this was all written from memory, but it should get you started. :-).

- Angus

(The person in that last link isn't me, I just found it googling for steps that should work.!)