This kind of needs it own setting, because you can only set the MAC of the base device to affect the BSSIDs of the virtual wireless interfaces that are generated.  The driver will not host a wireless network with a BSSID that differs from the MAC of the base device other than certain bits it changes when you create more than one virtual device that runs on the same base device. There is no way to configure this through the GUI at the moment, since pfSense does not actually configure the ath0 device, instead creating ath0_wlan# devices to be configured.  FreeBSD 8 or higher, used by pfSense 2.0 or higher, actually stopped using the base device name directly, other than for querying some device details and creating virtual wireless interface that are what you actually configure with all the network settings.  pfSense 2.0.x and 2.1 internally convert the ath0 name to ath0_wlan0 instead, so that is why the MAC address setting does not affect the ath0 device. Just for reference to those who might want to work on this, adding a setting to change it is not as simple as just changing the MAC on the base wireless device.  As far as I know, any existing virtual devices for access points created before the MAC was changed need to be removed and recreated to generate a new BSSID based on the new MAC on the base device, since IIRC the BSSID cannot be changed once an access point virtual device is created.  On boot, this setting would need to be applied before any of the virtual wireless interfaces get created.  This is because the driver won't allow the BSSID to differ from the MAC you've configured for the base device (beyond certain bit fields it changes when you have multiple access points).

@hammerman: i followed your instructions from a previous thread to set up the wireless. it looks like the tp-link might not be fully supported. as for the openvpn, it appears to be working but the logs say there are problems. maybe just a couple of quick hints or should i just start from the beginning? thanks. More than a couple of quick hints: Not everything reported in the logs is a problem. What you have reported from the wireless log is normal behaviour, not a problem. On the other hand, you do seem to have problems with the AIRVPN gateway, squid apparently not starting and the openvpn client promptly disconnecting but they would be best addressed in separate topics. Answer my previous questions. Give evidence to support your suspicions and conclusions. I can think of a number of reasons why a WiFi adapter might appear to be silent. If I know the basis of your suspicion I might be able to eliminate some possibilities and so lead more quickly to a resolution.

@CyberTiVo: I want to have a wireless interface as my WAN connection that attaches to an iPhone hotspot running PDANet.  Which mode do I use on the wifi card?  Since some drivers do not support all modes, I need to know which mode to use so, I can get the right wifi chipset. Infrastructure mode in the pfSense GUI. @kejianshi: I'd use an AP in client mode.. I have come across at least a couple of commodity APs that don't seem to be able to be configured to client mode and don't document this restriction.

In addition to what kejianshi suggested above: Check that the subnet mask set in the AP matches what you have for the rest of your LAN, probably going to be 255.255.255.0 by default. Confirm you have it set to AP mode, page 27 in the English manual. At this point you should be able to reboot the AP, connect it to your LAN and access it by the IP you assigned. Once you have it working on your LAN and can access it for administration and connect to it wirelessly you can make any other changes that you might like. I do use DHCP to set my AP's IP address but have pfSense set to always assign it the same IP using the static mapping option on this page: pfsense/services_dhcp.php That makes it less hassle to connect to since you can then use the host name you assign instead of the IP and if you need to move the AP to a new IP all your bookmarks using the host name will continue to work. If you want to stay with a static IP then you can still assign a host name to the AP so you don't have to type in the IP address. Here: pfsense/services_dnsmasq.php

The reviews at amazon.com say that this device does not have an RT3070. In fact, almost all of the devices that advertise an RT3070 chipset DO NOT actually have that chipset. You have to dig through the reviews to find somebody that says it really does have an RT3070 before you can believe it.

Thanks! I will look on that link. But also I am looking for the technical set-up I mean the how to's to set up the radius.

can meanwhile recommend the mentioned edimax stick, see http://forum.pfsense.org/index.php/topic,65227.msg357548.html

Depends on how you are streaming the files.  If you are using some file transfer mechanism on port 80, could be HAPV but more likely snort if its anything at all.

The FreeBSD 802.11 driver page claims that it does support hardware offload for that, but it doesn't give details that I've spotted yet. It may be supported in 9-stable/10.x but not FreeBSD 8.3, but at the moment the only way to know would be to try.

@Arbiter: Would you advise two wifi networks, one that has access to the lan, and one that does not? Yep!  ;D

Check ARP.

@kejianshi: 15?  Well - Then I guess its good thing I didn't tell any bad jokes… I'm glad its working well.  You can learn alot playing with pfsense. Even more if you have a friend also using it.  Can practice setting up VPN clients and routes and all sorts of other more corporate stuff. I already have a VPN on my WHS running (But am looking forward to trying it on pfSense). And if you did tell bad jokes, I've probably heard them before… xD -Andrew

Uhm… FreeBSD-HEAD for some tiny amount of mostly Atheros chipsets, experimental and incomplete. https://wiki.freebsd.org/WiFi80211n https://wiki.freebsd.org/dev/ath(4)/80211n

Hello, Thanks for your answer, regarding the runfw_load parameter, I put it but since I forgot to install the 2.1RC, after reboot live cd was loosing it. It is now ok  :) I have tried with another AP and WEP is associated. But I don't get an IP in DHCP mode, well it is showing an ipv6 in status / interfaces but my AP doesn't support ipv6 so I don't know where it comes from. I have tried with two others USB cards (I have SMC, 3COM and Linksys) but I have same result with all of them. All have a ralink chip. I have to find another way to connect to my 3G card :(

@stan-qaz: I'd really lean to external wireless extenders. Cheap $60, not so fast: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127294 More $120 pretty fast: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0SF0BV4130 I use a 1525 in bridge mode to get my Ethernet to a printer and a backup drive sitting in a spot that it would be hard to get cables to. It runs for months on end with no hassles and recovers from power outages with no problems. Other brands might work better but I got the DAP really cheap. Thanks for the reply.  I'll check them out if we can't run the new cable right away.

I don't think any of the -N stuff works with FreeBSD. Also would strongly recommend sticking with Atheros. Using this one and it works great as an indoor AP.

IF you use a WNDR3700v1/v2 setup would change with firmware. in the last firmware 1.0.0.36 it moved AP mode uplink from the lan/switch ports to the WAN. This is described on the router AP setup page. however all other documentation on the netgear site shows the uplink on the lan, had me confused for a bit. I will also note at first i could only ping out through this setup had to factory reset it, and then move it to AP mode for it to work. I hope this helps! first time i have given an answer and not asked a question

I suspect I am not alone in needing more information before I can help. A god start would be to fill in the blanks: When I attempt to connect a … device running ... software to a ... WiFi Access Point I see ... but I expected to see ... . I am running pfSense build ... .

Yeah, same message.