My Wifi device isn't being detected
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The unifi stuff is very reasonable priced AP, that have many enterprise level features along with controller software. The AC lite model runs for $89, the older standard N AP is like $69..
The current PRO AC model is only $149..
These are all true AP with POE, designed to be mounted in ceiling/wall. I for sure would recommend this route vs some wifi card you put in pfsense and now limited to coverage on where pfsense is located, etc. etc..
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ac/
https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/
I would suggest you go with AC model even if you don't have any current AC devices..
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+1 for Ubiquity gear, and +1 for keeping the AP functions off the firewall.
Also, even if that Intel card is supported, it likely won't do hostap. Most of those Intel wireless cards only support working as a client. I don't see a man page for that card yet, even on 11-CURRENT, but most of its other incarnations do not allow hostap.
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Thank you both very much for all your help and the information you provided me. You guys have been very helpful.
I am going to try the whole system with an old Intel 4965AGN first just to have it up and running how i planned it and to keep the budget. (i get one from a friend in a couple of days … in exchange for a pizza :) )
But if the wifi signal is to weak (or weaker than that old crappy fritzbox) i am going to order a https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/ since it is probably strong enough for a home scenario.
This is a really nice forum and if i ever gain enough knowledge i will gladly contribute as much as i can.
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The 4965AGN uses the iwn(4) driver.
From the man page:
iwn supports station and monitor mode operation.
So it also doesn't support hostap mode to act like an access point.
There are hundreds of cheap Atheros-based cards that should work fine in that role, though you're still better off using an external AP. :-)
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Well damn that sucks.
The problem is the soc board im using only has one PCIe x1 slot and i wanted to keep that open for a sata controller to add more hdd's later on.
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While I don't know what kind of house you have, or its layout or where your wifi clients are going to be from where you would mount the AC lite.. Its coverage is going to be way better than any card you stick in a computer you have in some corner..
Make sure you mount it where it will best cover your house.. Keep in mind that 5ghz does not have the coverage that 2.4 does. I use to have a old AC model of theirs, while I could get signal everywhere even 5ghz… out on the patio is was a bit weak. So I mounted a AC -LR near my patio door... Now patio rocking full speed for my internet connection. And my kitchen has much better coverage as well ;)
I have since swapped out the older AC model with the AC Pro model... (center of house) I have a lite that I want to mount in the back of the house but just have not gotten around to it as of yet. I have coverage there, but since I have a the lite sitting there I want to mount it. I got a free LR and Lite model when they they first released... Active people on their forums got selected to test them before they shipped them production, etc.
If you want the old AC model, they still sell it for 300$ I can let you have it for $75 and whatever shipping you want to pay for. Have the original box, all the mounting hardware.. Even new screws I didn't need from the pro I just got couple of weeks ago. Or is just going to sit on my shelf as an emergency spare.. That I really don't need ;)
Just to be upfront if you were interested in buy the old model is as now they do not have support for band steering or ATF on the older model, they use to have it but current firmware doesn't have it in.. They pulled it out because it was buggy, they could add it back sometime soon I am sure. But also I don't think they ever plan on supporting 802.11v or k or r etc.. which they are working on in the new gen models and some beta code you can grab. This was reason I swapped out for the pro.. Wanted to play with this stuff and having all the same gen hardware is good idea when playing with this stuff, also more AP you have the better to test the stuff with. Part of the reason going to mount the lite even though don't really need it for coverage.
Can tell you one thing, I could never ever in a million years go back to the wifi that is the soho routers... And I don't even use wifi that much ;)
edit: "sata controller to add more hdd's later on" Why would your firewall need more HDD?? if what your looking for is all in one box that does everything.. File server, firewall, media server, wifi AP, etc. etc.. Pfsense might not be your best choice..
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Sounds awesome but … i live in Germany so about those shipping fees ... yeah that would be very expensive (i assume you are from the US) ... still i appreciate the offer. :)
Hmmm what OS should i put on the system instead?
I thought pfSense was the all round OS for all your network needs.
I'm building PC's for myself/family/friends/etc. for around 20 years now but custom network stuff is kinda new to me.
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Pfsense is a great firewall/router, and you can sure put some other networking/security stuff on it, proxy, ids/ips, vpn.. But not really meant to be your file server as well.. There are many a thread people asking about this - that is not the intended purpose of pfsense and doing such a thing would be a security issue to your firewall.
If you want a all in one sort of distro that acts as everything… You could look at
https://wiki.contribs.org/Main_Page
Or https://www.clearos.com/
Their goal is put everything in one box.. That is not the goal of pfsense..
Your other option which is the path I take for keeping all my needs in 1 box is to go VM route.. So have box that runs esxi, I have pfsense on their as my firewall/router. I then run a vm as my NAS/Storage box - this vm also does duplicate duty as PLEX server for my network.. Hey its already got the storage attached to it ;)
I then run other vms for the other things I want, my wifi controller, my linux box that I do most of my cmd line work in. A vm that monitors the ups connected to that box. I have prtg running on a vm to monitor stuff and alert me when down. Plus all my other play vms for testing other OSes and such.. So this is a way of having your cake and eating it too.. You have only 1 box, but can leverage that hardware to run whatever you want.. Be it your firewall/router, file server, web server, etc. while not having to load everything into 1 OS.. Some applications might run better under BSD or linux, while something you want to run you need windows box for, etc. etc.. To me VM host is the way to go if wanting to have 1 box that wears many different hats.
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That is an awesome idea.
I never thought about the VM route.
ClearOS sounds cool too.
I have so many things i have to try now.
Thank you.
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One thing to be sure if your going to build a esxi box, make sure you put extra nics in there if going to leverage as firewall/router as well.. You can get some 4 port nics that are very reasonable in price. Can never have too many nics in your firewall/router ;) And esxi like to have a vmkern interface as well. While you can share that with say the normal lan interface, I have noticed this is a performance hit on moving files to and from the esxi datastore (where your vms sit)
While you can boot esxi off a usb stick, etc.. And that runs fine once booted - it slow boot. I run mine off a SSD, its only like 8GB you loose for esxi, then the rest you can use a fast datastore for your vms… they boot super fast that way. then you can use normal disks for your storage vm you put on there. You can raw mount them to the OS of the vm so get better performance that way as well.
There are lots of VM options out there - I am a fan of esxi, simple easy, stable and FREE ;) and current version has even moved a web interface to be built in, so you don't even need the vclient to admin any more if you don't want too. You would be amazed at what you can do with even lower end hardware. I have a older HP N40L with 8GB ram... It is getting a little long in the tooth so prob update it next year or so. But it served me well for very very low cost..
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This is the hardware i bought a week ago which is now sitting here with pfSense on it and i can't do much with it because Wifi is the only option to connect it to the other devices in my house: https://geizhals.eu/?cat=WL-431615&wlkey=8dfad8e0c5e11920d5b1a8691c1b7823
I wish i could just use ethernet but opening all the walls and putting in some ethernetcables is not really possible in this house … stonewalls everywhere.
I downloaded clearOS and sme server yesterday and when i get the time i will try both and hope that i get some sort of Wifi going.
The manual download button on https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/evalcenter?p=free-esxi6 is not working for me ... i registered yesterday maybe i have to wait a couple days idk.
