[gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Fernando Meira]

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Hi,

I wanted to provide wireless connection to the internet for other laptops at 
home. 
To do this, one laptop is connected via eth0 and wlan0 should work as AP to 
all others.
I have been following the HOWTO:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Building_a_Wireless_Access_Point_With_Gentooand
trying to find solution in forums... but I can't get it working.
The wireless card is working with ndiswrapper.
When I try to set it to Master, I get this:
# iwconfig wlan0 mode Master
Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
 SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.

Does this means that the card is unable to perform the task I want, or what 
am I doing wrong?
Is there any other HOWTO with better instructions? Or anyone that can 
provide me a step-by-step configuration?

Thanks in advance.
Fernando.

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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Mauro Faccenda]

Fernando Meira wrote:

> Does this means that the card is unable to perform the task I want, or what 
> am I doing wrong?
> Is there any other HOWTO with better instructions? Or anyone that can 
> provide me a step-by-step configuration?

You should try to use a Ad-Hoc (point-to-point) wireless network.

[]'s
	Mauro
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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Eugene Rosenzweig]

Fernando Meira wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I wanted to provide wireless connection to the internet for other 
> laptops at home.
> To do this, one laptop is connected via eth0 and wlan0 should work as 
> AP to all others.
> I have been following the 
> HOWTO:http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Building_a_Wireless_Access_Point_With_Gentoo 
> and trying to find solution in forums... but I can't get it working.
> The wireless card is working with ndiswrapper.
> When I try to set it to Master, I get this:
> # iwconfig wlan0 mode Master
> Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
>     SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.
>
> Does this means that the card is unable to perform the task I want, or 
> what am I doing wrong?
> Is there any other HOWTO with better instructions? Or anyone that can 
> provide me a step-by-step configuration?
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Fernando.

The way I understand it, the ability to work in AP mode is determined by 
the drivers which must implement the SoftAP protocols (master mode). So, 
you need to know which chipset and which drivers you are using for your 
card (a lot of manufacturers, including Linksys, change their wireless 
chipsets often, without changing the product model). Then you can find 
out if the drivers support the master mode.

Eugene.

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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Craig Zeigler]

Eugene Rosenzweig wrote:

> Fernando Meira wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I wanted to provide wireless connection to the internet for other 
>> laptops at home.
>> To do this, one laptop is connected via eth0 and wlan0 should work as 
>> AP to all others.
>> I have been following the 
>> HOWTO:http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Building_a_Wireless_Access_Point_With_Gentoo 
>> and trying to find solution in forums... but I can't get it working.
>> The wireless card is working with ndiswrapper.
>> When I try to set it to Master, I get this:
>> # iwconfig wlan0 mode Master
>> Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
>>     SET failed on device wlan0 ; Invalid argument.
>>
>> Does this means that the card is unable to perform the task I want, 
>> or what am I doing wrong?
>> Is there any other HOWTO with better instructions? Or anyone that can 
>> provide me a step-by-step configuration?
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>> Fernando.
>
>
> The way I understand it, the ability to work in AP mode is determined 
> by the drivers which must implement the SoftAP protocols (master 
> mode). So, you need to know which chipset and which drivers you are 
> using for your card (a lot of manufacturers, including Linksys, change 
> their wireless chipsets often, without changing the product model). 
> Then you can find out if the drivers support the master mode.
>
> Eugene.
>
This is a pretty cool idea, but I wonder what the range on something 
like this is. Considering that the transmitting capability of a PCMCIA 
card isn't very high. Do you risk burning out the card or the slot by 
forcing more power to it? will the PCMCIA bus permit diverting more 
power to a card?
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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Hans-Werner Hilse]

Hi,

On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 07:21:25 -0400
Craig Zeigler <craig@cfrscca.net> wrote:

> This is a pretty cool idea, but I wonder what the range on something 
> like this is. Considering that the transmitting capability of a PCMCIA 
> card isn't very high. Do you risk burning out the card or the slot by 
> forcing more power to it? will the PCMCIA bus permit diverting more 
> power to a card?

Huh? "Forcing more power to the card"?!? You mean, increase the
current? Or how else do you want to archieve that? Nah, this wouldn't
work. You'd have to set up power level by means of the pcmcia card,
that is by using "iwconfig ... power ...", in most cases.

Well, and I know a few PCMCIA cards that do 100mWatts output. In fact,
a whole bunch of APs internally use standard WLAN cards that are just
flashed with a different Firmware.

-hwh
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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Craig Zeigler]

Hans-Werner Hilse wrote:

>Hi,
>
>On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 07:21:25 -0400
>Craig Zeigler <craig@cfrscca.net> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>This is a pretty cool idea, but I wonder what the range on something 
>>like this is. Considering that the transmitting capability of a PCMCIA 
>>card isn't very high. Do you risk burning out the card or the slot by 
>>forcing more power to it? will the PCMCIA bus permit diverting more 
>>power to a card?
>>    
>>
>
>Huh? "Forcing more power to the card"?!? You mean, increase the
>current? Or how else do you want to archieve that? Nah, this wouldn't
>work. You'd have to set up power level by means of the pcmcia card,
>that is by using "iwconfig ... power ...", in most cases.
>
>Well, and I know a few PCMCIA cards that do 100mWatts output. In fact,
>a whole bunch of APs internally use standard WLAN cards that are just
>flashed with a different Firmware.
>
>-hwh
>  
>
thats pretty cool to know. When I take a PCMCIA card out of my laptop 
its quite hot. I was just wondering if asking it to draw more power (in 
oncrease transmit power) would pose a cooling problem. The APs have the 
benefit of at least convection cooling. not to mention better antennas.
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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Fernando Meira]

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Does that mean that it is unadvised to use a PCMCIA card for AP functions?
I won't need a good range... something that works fine up to 8 meters 
(between 2 rooms) is enough.
I have to check if the driver I use allows Master mode.

# ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
lsbcmnds driver present, hardware present

Any idea?

Fernando.

On 8/4/05, Craig Zeigler <craig@cfrscca.net> wrote:
> 
> Hans-Werner Hilse wrote:
> 
> >Hi,
> >
> >On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 07:21:25 -0400
> >Craig Zeigler <craig@cfrscca.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>This is a pretty cool idea, but I wonder what the range on something
> >>like this is. Considering that the transmitting capability of a PCMCIA
> >>card isn't very high. Do you risk burning out the card or the slot by
> >>forcing more power to it? will the PCMCIA bus permit diverting more
> >>power to a card?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Huh? "Forcing more power to the card"?!? You mean, increase the
> >current? Or how else do you want to archieve that? Nah, this wouldn't
> >work. You'd have to set up power level by means of the pcmcia card,
> >that is by using "iwconfig ... power ...", in most cases.
> >
> >Well, and I know a few PCMCIA cards that do 100mWatts output. In fact,
> >a whole bunch of APs internally use standard WLAN cards that are just
> >flashed with a different Firmware.
> >
> >-hwh
> >
> >
> thats pretty cool to know. When I take a PCMCIA card out of my laptop
> its quite hot. I was just wondering if asking it to draw more power (in
> oncrease transmit power) would pose a cooling problem. The APs have the
> benefit of at least convection cooling. not to mention better antennas.
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
> 
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Craig Zeigler]

Fernando Meira wrote:

>Does that mean that it is unadvised to use a PCMCIA card for AP functions?
>I won't need a good range... something that works fine up to 8 meters 
>(between 2 rooms) is enough.
>I have to check if the driver I use allows Master mode.
>
># ndiswrapper -l
>Installed ndis drivers:
>lsbcmnds driver present, hardware present
>
>Any idea?
>
>Fernando.
>
>On 8/4/05, Craig Zeigler <craig@cfrscca.net> wrote:
>  
>
>>Hans-Werner Hilse wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>On Thu, 04 Aug 2005 07:21:25 -0400
>>>Craig Zeigler <craig@cfrscca.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>>>This is a pretty cool idea, but I wonder what the range on something
>>>>like this is. Considering that the transmitting capability of a PCMCIA
>>>>card isn't very high. Do you risk burning out the card or the slot by
>>>>forcing more power to it? will the PCMCIA bus permit diverting more
>>>>power to a card?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>Huh? "Forcing more power to the card"?!? You mean, increase the
>>>current? Or how else do you want to archieve that? Nah, this wouldn't
>>>work. You'd have to set up power level by means of the pcmcia card,
>>>that is by using "iwconfig ... power ...", in most cases.
>>>
>>>Well, and I know a few PCMCIA cards that do 100mWatts output. In fact,
>>>a whole bunch of APs internally use standard WLAN cards that are just
>>>flashed with a different Firmware.
>>>
>>>-hwh
>>>
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>thats pretty cool to know. When I take a PCMCIA card out of my laptop
>>its quite hot. I was just wondering if asking it to draw more power (in
>>oncrease transmit power) would pose a cooling problem. The APs have the
>>benefit of at least convection cooling. not to mention better antennas.
>>--
>>gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
>>
>>
>>    
>>
>
>  
>
I can't advise you on that at all, but when i read the original post, I 
was left with those questions. My inquiry was more out of curiosity.
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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Hans-Werner Hilse]

Hi,

On Thu, 4 Aug 2005 15:28:46 +0000
Fernando Meira <fmeira@gmail.com> wrote:

> Does that mean that it is unadvised to use a PCMCIA card for AP functions?
> I won't need a good range... something that works fine up to 8 meters 
> (between 2 rooms) is enough.
> I have to check if the driver I use allows Master mode.
> 
> # ndiswrapper -l
> Installed ndis drivers:
> lsbcmnds driver present, hardware present
> 
> Any idea?

ndiswrapper doesn't support master mode:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/FAQ#Is_master_mode_supported.3F

There would have to be a native linux driver, supporting soft-AP
facilities...

-hwh
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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Fernando Meira]

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hmm...
not nice...
There's no other way to work with my card unless with ndiswrapper... at 
least from what I read.
What about Ad-Hoc? Would it be possible to provide internet access to other 
pcs?

Fernando

On 8/5/05, Hans-Werner Hilse <hilse@web.de> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> On Thu, 4 Aug 2005 15:28:46 +0000
> Fernando Meira <fmeira@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Does that mean that it is unadvised to use a PCMCIA card for AP 
> functions?
> > I won't need a good range... something that works fine up to 8 meters
> > (between 2 rooms) is enough.
> > I have to check if the driver I use allows Master mode.
> >
> > # ndiswrapper -l
> > Installed ndis drivers:
> > lsbcmnds driver present, hardware present
> >
> > Any idea?
> 
> ndiswrapper doesn't support master mode:
> 
> http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/FAQ#Is_master_mode_supported.3F
> 
> There would have to be a native linux driver, supporting soft-AP
> facilities...
> 
> -hwh
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
> 
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] wpc54g card as AP -- works?

[Hans-Werner Hilse]

Hi,

On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 18:22:31 +0000
Fernando Meira <fmeira@gmail.com> wrote:

> hmm...
> not nice...
> There's no other way to work with my card unless with ndiswrapper... at 
> least from what I read.

Yep, that's what I read, too.

> What about Ad-Hoc? Would it be possible to provide internet access to other 
> pcs?

>From my experience, this is possible but may get a little flaky due to
adhoc mode and interoperability, but it should work.

-hwh
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