Using a WIFI connection for WAN interface
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I moved into an area that forced me to use the Clearwire ClearSPOT for my wireless connection. Although the ClearSPOT allows for me to connect 5 laptops to the connection, I have some real issues with the ClearSPOT. The biggest problem is the lack of QoS, which makes all of my connections dirt slow if I am downloading a torrent, while someone else is trying to browse the web or getting mail.
What I would like to do is install pfsense 1.2.3 using the prism2 device as the WAN interface, and connect the LAN wired to my WRT160nl to provide wired and wireless access to to my laptops and servers. When I load pfsense, it recognizes the wireless card (wi0) and I assign it to the WAN interface. I am lost on what I should add to config.xml to put the correct parameters in place so that wi0 will authenticate and enable itself as the the WAN interface.
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Also, I don't want to bridge the WRT160 and I noticed that it was bridging automatically.
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I am lost on what I should add to config.xml to put the correct parameters in place so that wi0 will authenticate and enable itself as the the WAN interface.
Don't add anything directly to config.xm, Use the web GUI to add the wi interface, assign it to WAN and set the parameters. Select Interfaces -> (assign) click on the Interface assignments tab and there should be a button with a "+" in it. Click on that to add a new interface to the pool pfSense can use. Then assign wi to WAN and then set the wireless parameters. Its a while since I've done this so I may not remember the details exactly. I had a bit of trouble figuring this out the first couple of times I needed to use a new interface.
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I am lost on what I should add to config.xml to put the correct parameters in place so that wi0 will authenticate and enable itself as the the WAN interface.
Don't add anything directly to config.xm, Use the web GUI to add the wi interface, assign it to WAN and set the parameters. Select Interfaces -> (assign) click on the Interface assignments tab and there should be a button with a "+" in it. Click on that to add a new interface to the pool pfSense can use. Then assign wi to WAN and then set the wireless parameters. Its a while since I've done this so I may not remember the details exactly. I had a bit of trouble figuring this out the first couple of times I needed to use a new interface.
Thanks for the suggestion… So, athough the wi0 interface is seen at boot time (from the console), there is still a need to add it via the web interface? I will give that a try as soon as I get home side. Does pfsense support USB devices, because I believe the build-in wireless interface is only doing 802.11b (although I might be wrong), so I wanted to see if that is true, might I be able to use on of my USB netgear devices for at least get 802.11g working.
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So, athough the wi0 interface is seen at boot time (from the console), there is still a need to add it via the web interface?
Yes, unless you reboot and do it from the startup menu (item 1).
pfSense supports a few different USB wireless devices but not all USB WiFi devices. Its reasonably likely your Netgear USB WiFi device is not supported. What model is it and what revision? (Or you could just plug it in and see if the kernel recognises it as a WiFi device.)
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So, athough the wi0 interface is seen at boot time (from the console), there is still a need to add it via the web interface?
Yes, unless you reboot and do it from the startup menu (item 1).
pfSense supports a few different USB wireless devices but not all USB WiFi devices. Its reasonably likely your Netgear USB WiFi device is not supported. What model is it and what revision? (Or you could just plug it in and see if the kernel recognises it as a WiFi device.)
I made my changes to the the WAN interface and the wireless information. When I reboot, the WAN never connects to the ClearSPOT. Furthermore, I keep getting a wi0: device timeout every couple of minutes. I tried to set the WAN to a static address and still no go… Looking at STATUS: Wireless, my SSID never shows up, although I do see a couple of wireless devices that show on ADDR section. I am at a loss...
--- As a side test, I decided to use pfsense little brother to see if I could get things working. So in went monowall 1.2.3-RELEASE, to see where things might go. After a 10 minute wait, I was connected to the ClearSPOT device as the WAN, and my Linksys WRT160nl for the LAN side. After a couple hiccups, life was once again pleasant. So I thought I could go back and just re-do everything that I did on monowall and do it on pfsense. Although pfsense can find the wireless card in my laptop (Lucent 802.11b card), I can never get it to associate. So after sitting around playing with it for a bit, I went back to monowall, and called it a day.