Issues setting up Wi-Fi and dhcp

agusalexander · Mar 17, 2017, 2:45 AM

Hey! I got the basics working now my pc plugged into LAN gets internet just fine. I also found some PCIE wifi card lying around and it was detected by pfsense (it is not listed on compatibility list but it worked anyway), problem is I can't enable another DHCP server other than LAN, and since I wanted my guest WIFI to be in a separate subnet this is really inconvenient. I also tried just bridging the LAN and WIFI interfaces but to no avail(with some issues), DHCP refuses to work in other interface other than LAN.

I thought it was due to the Wifi NIC so I swapped it for the ethernet NIC but the same error persists, I cannot setup another DHCP server other than LAN.

So I opted for bridging my WIFI and LAN and the only way I can get it working is when I set a Firewall rule on LAN to allow all traffic, then I get the lan DHCP server to assign ips to my wifi devices, but weird stuff happens because even though on my phone I get wifi and internet access(I first disconnected cellular), my phone still says it has no internet connection and some things like speedtest wont work.

Here is my DHCP page, it only has the lan window.

And my firewall rules:

https://linustechtips.com/main/uploads/monthly_2017_03/58caeff65e446_pfsensefirewall.png.095216c1f1f7ae056f3098ae03073488.png

I would really like to avoid using a bridge as it defeats the purpose but I'm clueless here, I expected to just set another DHCP server separate from LAN add some firewall rules and call it a day but its really bugging me :|

Thanks in advance!

A Former User · Mar 17, 2017, 4:54 PM

In the Interfaces you have the General Configuration for the wireless nic. To get a DHCP Server you need to set the IPv4 Configuration Type to Static IPv4. Yeah I know it seems odd. The interface needs a static address…. ;)

agusalexander · Mar 18, 2017, 4:08 AM

@webtyro:

In the Interfaces you have the General Configuration for the wireless nic. To get a DHCP Server you need to set the IPv4 Configuration Type to Static IPv4. Yeah I know it seems odd. The interface needs a static address…. ;)

Done, still no success, I tried restoring factory defaults

A Former User · Mar 18, 2017, 4:11 PM

No problem, just have wrong subnet. Change /32 to /24
The /32 subnet is good for only one IP address, obviously not enough for your needs.
So the IP is 192.168.2.254/32 now and you want probably 192.168.2.254/24 but why have 192.168.2.1 added as gateway. Try to simplify that.
Just have the DHCP Server as 192.168.2.1/24 for your static IP.
I like to keep things simple. Then you can set the DHCP Server accordingly.
That way 192.168.2.1 is Interface DHCP Server IP along with NTP and DNS all at the same IP for your clients.

agusalexander · Mar 18, 2017, 5:27 AM

I worked!!! its been 4 days since I am trying to solve this thanks a lot! oh that gateway was me trying things I don't fully understand to make it work. I haven't done my Networking and OS's class yet so everything I now is from messing with stuff. Thanks a lot you saved my week!