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    how to connect pfsense to Wi-Fi?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • L Offline
      landmass
      last edited by landmass

      I installed pfsense on a laptop with 1 nic port and 1 and wi-fi card following this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z59_MWWPL-Q
      how do i connect to my home wi-fi with pfsense? My model is pfsense connected to wi-fi sharing open vpn connection via ethernet cable to another device

      GertjanG JKnottJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • GertjanG Offline
        Gertjan @landmass
        last edited by

        @landmass said in how to connect pfsense to Wi-Fi?:

        a laptop with 1 nic port and 1 and wi-fi card following this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z59_MWWPL-Q

        That video says : use one NIC, the 'cable' one and a smart switch and do some VLAN tricks.

        Because : he's not using the Wifi NIC.
        Because : FreeBSD su*cks when it comes to Wifi NIC (these are made for Windows type OS's and often do not have FreeBSD drivers because : who uses FreeBSD as a desktop PC ?)

        No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
        Edit : and where are the logs ??

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        • JKnottJ Offline
          JKnott @landmass
          last edited by

          @landmass

          Get a decent access point. I have a Unifi AC Lite.

          PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
          i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
          UniFi AC-Lite access point

          I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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          • stephenw10S Offline
            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
            last edited by

            With pfSense as a wifi client? There are more options if so.

            What wifi device do you have in the laptop?

            But, yeah, in general you will be better using an external device of some sort.

            Steve

            L 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • L Offline
              landmass @stephenw10
              last edited by

              @stephenw10 I have a Realtek chipset RTL8188EE but also usb adaptor alfa and tp link, but where is the menu for the wi-fi connection? sorry I'm totally noob to pfsense

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              • stephenw10S Offline
                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                last edited by

                If those devices are supported they will appear in Interfaces > Wireless > (Add button).

                They need to be added there first before assigning.

                You can also check the boot logs to see if they are detected and setup correctly.

                Steve

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                • AKEGECA Offline
                  AKEGEC
                  last edited by

                  @landmass for posting Youtube link instead embed it, that way the creator can gain something, really appreciated it. About wifi, I suggest you use semi-managed switcher for VLAN to separate your wifi network(WPA2 in 2 mnts hackable) from lan network.
                  @Gertjan a long time ago I used FreeBSD as my main os, now I am in love with macOS, hassle-free.

                  GertjanG JKnottJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • GertjanG Offline
                    Gertjan @AKEGEC
                    last edited by

                    @akegec said in how to connect pfsense to Wi-Fi?:

                    @Gertjan a long time ago I used FreeBSD as my main os, now I am in love with macOS, hassle-free.

                    😕 😵 You're right !

                    No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                    Edit : and where are the logs ??

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JKnottJ Offline
                      JKnott @AKEGEC
                      last edited by

                      @akegec said in how to connect pfsense to Wi-Fi?:

                      I used FreeBSD as my main os, now I am in love with macOS, hassle-free.

                      What do you think macOS is built on?

                      PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                      i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                      UniFi AC-Lite access point

                      I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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

                        @jknott said in how to connect pfsense to Wi-Fi?:

                        What do you think macOS is built on?

                        NeXTSTEP ;) which was based on the Mach (kernel), and sure had some source from unix BSD.. You seem to imply that it is freebsd derived from that statement.. ;)

                        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 2.8, 24.11

                        JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • JKnottJ Offline
                          JKnott @johnpoz
                          last edited by

                          @johnpoz said in how to connect pfsense to Wi-Fi?:

                          NeXTSTEP ;) which was based on the Mach (kernel), and sure had some source from unix BSD.. You seem to imply that it is freebsd derived from that statement.. ;)

                          The history of Unix is really messed up. I saw a diagram of the various Unix lineage and it was a real pile of spaghetti. This is due to the origins at AT&T and how they distributed it to colleges etc. for little more than the cost of a tape & shipping. One result was that everyone was borrowing from everyone, at least until SCO started claiming the others were stealing from them, including IBM's JFS, which was originally developed for OS/2 and ported to AIX. Since AIX was IBM's version of Unix, anything on it, including JFS, was "owned" by SCO.

                          The various BSDs evolved from the original Berkeley Software Division (BSD), which in turn started from what AT&T had provided. Sun also did a lot of development, based on BSD.

                          It's curious how just about the entire world, other than desktops, runs on some *nix version and most of that is now Linux, all the way from smart watches to the big supercomputers. One of my cousins is a nuclear physicist (he works with neutrinos) and runs Red Hat Linux on both his own notebook computer and on the supercomputer he uses in his work.

                          Even that helicopter on Mars runs Linux.

                          PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                          i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                          UniFi AC-Lite access point

                          I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

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