Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    Unable to change mode to Access Point. The maximum number of wireless clones supported in this mode may have been reached.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
    18 Posts 5 Posters 1.8k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • NollipfSenseN
      NollipfSense @mikeptech
      last edited by

      @mikeptech I was wondering the same before John's response...but John masterful stated it, doesn't he?

      pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
      pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • M
        mikeptech @johnpoz
        last edited by

        @johnpoz how can wireless not be supported. ? its in the setup. This a lap and learning on my own.. using a spare laptop for the sake of it being a netgate device. and people wonder why i use untangle ... because it works, its not complicated and wireless is easy, you build the ssid and pair it to the DHCP server port that DHCP server is running on.. LAN1 or LAN2 or what have you....

        This interface is convoluted and not intuitive , if its not supported then why on earth would there be code to allow to setup?

        NollipfSenseN 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • M
          mikeptech @NollipfSense
          last edited by

          @NollipfSense He didnt answer the question, getting a REAL AC is not an option at this point. obviously there is a way to do it, it is recognized at a interface (opt1) with the wirelss section available to configure.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • NollipfSenseN
            NollipfSense @mikeptech
            last edited by

            @mikeptech said in Unable to change mode to Access Point. The maximum number of wireless clones supported in this mode may have been reached.:

            people wonder why i use untangle ... because it works,

            If I were you, I would stick to what you know with substantial certainty works...hands down. I have never used pfSense without a REAL AC...and would never think to do so since my setup has pfSense as an edge router and my AP attached to my Mikrotik, my LAN boss.

            pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
            pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

            M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • M
              mikeptech @NollipfSense
              last edited by

              @NollipfSense well unfortunately I dont have a choice, work says learn it, you learn it. thats what a lot of organization are going to , so i have to learn it. here is a laptop.. figure it out. hince the reason i am on here asking for help

              NollipfSenseN johnpozJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • NollipfSenseN
                NollipfSense @mikeptech
                last edited by NollipfSense

                @mikeptech said in Unable to change mode to Access Point. The maximum number of wireless clones supported in this mode may have been reached.:

                I dont have a choice, work says learn it,

                Okay, don't mention Untangle again and now the learning starts...please visit here, if you haven't: https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/wireless/configuration-ap.html

                Remember to post screen shot of configuration or logs to get better help.

                pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
                pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • johnpozJ
                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @mikeptech
                  last edited by johnpoz

                  @mikeptech said in Unable to change mode to Access Point. The maximum number of wireless clones supported in this mode may have been reached.:

                  so i have to learn it.

                  Lesson 1 - do not do wireless on psfense..

                  There you go that should be easy enough.. Now on to something you can actually use in a work setup.. Wireless is not something anyone would ever do..

                  it is a known fact that wireless and freebsd do not mix...

                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

                  M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • M
                    mikeptech @NollipfSense
                    last edited by

                    @NollipfSense ok so the issue really is that the Intel (Centrino Ultimate-N 6300) wireless adapter dont support HOSTAP mode? even though its part of intels 6000 series supported by BSD iwn(4) driver ?

                    johnpozJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • johnpozJ
                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @mikeptech
                      last edited by johnpoz

                      @mikeptech

                      https://docs.netgate.com/pfsense/en/latest/wireless/suitability.html

                      In general, the best practice is Using an External Wireless Access Point, especially if clients require 802.11ac or newer standards. Placing that burden on an external device and allowing pfSense software to focus on the firewall/routing/NAT/etc is simpler in the long run. An access point may still be connected to a dedicated interface or VLAN for isolation purposes.

                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

                      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        mikeptech @johnpoz
                        last edited by

                        @johnpoz So what i really need is a PC that i can add cards to, to include various wireless cards supported by freebsd drivers. Yes i read DONT USE pfsense for wireless, my boss in the other ear saying make it work... so i need a real pc that i can add adapter cards to that support this HOSTAP mode

                        johnpozJ NollipfSenseN 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • M
                          mikeptech @johnpoz
                          last edited by

                          @johnpoz I totally and 100% agree with you. That is how i have it setup in my home with (dont mention it) and seperate Netgear nighthawks acting as AP's So i dont disagree with that statement at all. But unfortunately I dont have one here.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • johnpozJ
                            johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator @mikeptech
                            last edited by

                            @mikeptech said in Unable to change mode to Access Point. The maximum number of wireless clones supported in this mode may have been reached.:

                            my boss in the other ear saying make it work

                            He is F'king with you.. Nobody that has been around freebsd for any amount of time would ever think its worthwhile to do wifi on it.. In what work setup would you ever run wifi on your router?

                            Get a real AP, you would be better off getting some 20$ N router and running openwrt or dd-wrt on it for your wifi then spending 2 minutes dicking with wifi on freebsd..

                            An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                            If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                            Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                            SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.7.2, 24.11

                            Cool_CoronaC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • Cool_CoronaC
                              Cool_Corona @johnpoz
                              last edited by

                              I use pfsense with Asus AX56's and use the pfsense as DHCP server and it works flawlessly.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • NollipfSenseN
                                NollipfSense @mikeptech
                                last edited by NollipfSense

                                @mikeptech said in Unable to change mode to Access Point. The maximum number of wireless clones supported in this mode may have been reached.:

                                So what i really need is a PC that i can add cards to

                                That could help your boss to have a change of mind as the cost would increase ten - twenty fold over the cost of getting a real access point. If cost is not an issue, your learning continues. Good luck!

                                pfSense+ 23.09 Lenovo Thinkcentre M93P SFF Quadcore i7 dual Raid-ZFS 128GB-SSD 32GB-RAM PCI-Intel i350-t4 NIC, -Intel QAT 8950.
                                pfSense+ 23.09 VM-Proxmox, Dell Precision Xeon-W2155 Nvme 500GB-ZFS 128GB-RAM PCIe-Intel i350-t4, Intel QAT-8950, P-cloud.

                                M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • M
                                  mikeptech @NollipfSense
                                  last edited by

                                  @NollipfSense oh snap.. i got the Wireless IBSS mode to work, was able to reach out to an existing SSID and get an IP/sub/gw from that AP.. ok sweet.. now how to I tell pfsense that this new interface is NOW the WAN?

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Yup iwn(4) does not support hostap mode:

                                           iwn  supports station and monitor mode operation.  Only one virtual interface may be configured at any time. 
                                    

                                    You can reassign the WAN to the wireless NIC. Or just rename the existing interface and set that as the default gateway in System > Routing.

                                    Steve

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • First post
                                      Last post
                                    Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.