<![CDATA[PfSense VMware + USB Wireless AP]]>Hi,

I've been running pfSense 2.0 RC1 and subsequent updates under VMware Workstation 7.1 for a while now and not had any problems. Running on VMware as I don't have dedicated hardware at the moment.

Anyway, I purchased a edimax7711Uan wireless dongle in the hope I could use the as an wireless access point in pfSense. Initially I could not get the device recognised in pfSense, I would receive the error "uhub_reattach_port: port 1 reset failed, error=USB_ERR_TIMEOUT". I got around the by disabling USB 2 in the VMware settings. Out of interest I also tried FreeBSD 8.2 under VMware and got the same problem with VMware tools installed. Booting pfSense from a LiveCD on a laptop and testing the wireless dongle directly connected to the hardware worked fine. So I guess this is either a VMware issue or FreeBSD issue.

Back to the wireless AP.

So after getting the device correctly recognised in pfSense I proceeded to setup the new interface which correctly uses the RUN driver. I add the interface, setup the most basic wireless options, open network, broadcast SSID, added static ip 192.168.2.1/24 and configured a dhcp server for this subnet. My LAN subnet is 192.168.1.1/24. When I scan for networks I can see the SSID I setup but when I try to connect nothing happens, no errors. I've tried from 2 different laptops and my Android phone but nothing. As far as I can tell it's not even trying to get an IP address.

Now am I correct in thinking that regardless of whether I have setup a rule to allow traffic between the LAN and WLAN, clients should still be able to associate as the WLAN subnet is running a DHCP server?

I've attempted configuring a bridged network between LAN and WLAN but then I get an error run0 device timed out, also I don't seem to be able to configure wireless options in bridged mode?

Basically I'm looking for any pointers as to where I can poke around, the logs I've looked at so far have give me nothing to go on. And in theory am I setting it up correctly, new wireless interface vs bridged to LAN ?

I've checked out most of the "how-to setup wireless AP under pfSense" I could find but so far no joy.

Cheers,

Gareth.

]]>https://forum.netgate.com/topic/32713/pfsense-vmware-usb-wireless-apRSS for NodeSat, 18 Apr 2026 20:51:18 GMTWed, 13 Apr 2011 20:25:20 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to PfSense VMware + USB Wireless AP on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:33:03 GMT]]>For clarification, the problems I've been having with VMware have been for Workstation 7.1.4 (running on Windows 7 x64) I have just uninstalled this and installed VMware 6.5.5 and it looks to be working as it should, the wireless USB device also now connects correctly using USB 2.0.

Although I still need to do some more tests its looking promising  :)

Cheers,

Gareth

]]>https://forum.netgate.com/post/275083https://forum.netgate.com/post/275083Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:33:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to PfSense VMware + USB Wireless AP on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:22:19 GMT]]>Well I've narrowed the problem down.

I used the livecd to setup pfSense on my laptop configured everything and the wireless USB worked first time. I could see the AP and associate to it. I then installed VirtualBox on my PC and tried the same with that, again I get the problem with USB 2.0 so need to revert to USB1 but after that the device is seen and I can configure it and connect to it.  :)

So it must be a problem with the implementation of USB on VMware, although its strange I can see the device and the broadcasting of the access point but not connect.

Anyway I'm going to do some more digging around to see if I can get it working in VMware and log a bug report with them.

Also does anyone know if the following patches: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-current/2010-October/020504.html are in pfSense? I was just wondering if they would resolve the USB 2.0 issue that is present in both VMware and VirtualBox.

Gareth

]]>https://forum.netgate.com/post/275051https://forum.netgate.com/post/275051Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:22:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to PfSense VMware + USB Wireless AP on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:24:10 GMT]]>Just a bit more info.

In the interfaces page to device OPT1 (run0_wlan1) displays no packets in or out and performing a packet capture on the device OPT1 whilst trying to connect to the wireless device also displays no packets.  ???

Gareth

]]>https://forum.netgate.com/post/275005https://forum.netgate.com/post/275005Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:24:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to PfSense VMware + USB Wireless AP on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:12:26 GMT]]>wallabybob, thanks for the pointers.

Added a firewall rule for OPT1: Pass, Protocol 'Any', Source 'Any', Destination 'Any', Log packets enabled. So this should allow anything through on the wireless side. Tried connecting via a wireless client and same problem, tries to connect then disconnects. I've looked in the System Log, Firewall Log and DHCP log and I can't see anything relating to when I tried to connect.

I've since tried downloading the latest snapshot and doing a complete reinstall under VMware but the same thing happens. I did notice that if I set the Channel to 'Auto' in the wireless settings then I could not see the access point so I have since set this manually.

Here is the current config of my network devices


run0: flags=8a43 <up,broadcast,running,allmulti,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 2290
ether 00:1f:1f:2f:fd:55
media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11g <hostap>status:running

run0_wlan1: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
ether 00:1f:1f:2f:fd:55
inet6 fe80::21f:1fff:fe2f:fd55%run0_wlan1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x9
inet 192.168.2.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
nd6 options=3 <performnud,accept_rtadv>media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11g <hostap>status: running
ssid AP channel 11 (2462 Mhz 11g) bssid 00:1f:1f:2f:fd:55
regdomain xxx country xx indoor authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 30
scanvalid 60 protmode OFF -apbridge dtimperiod 1 -dfs</hostap></performnud,accept_rtadv></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></hostap></up,broadcast,running,allmulti,simplex,multicast>

I have the DHCP server setup on 192.168.2.1/24 subnet and it has a pool of addresses to handout. I have the above firewall setting to allow anything on OPT1 to go anywhere. The logs are giving me nothing to work with.

I occasionally get the following error but from what I have read this is nothing to worry about.


run0_wlan1: ieee80211_new_state_locked: pending RUN -> SCAN transition lost

For info here is the device information when I plug in the adapter

run0: MAC/BBP RT3070 (rev 0x0200), RF RT3020 (MIMO 1T1R), address 00:1f:1f:2f:fd:55
run0: firmware RT2870 loaded

Device labeled as Edimax EW-7711Uan v1.0b

Can I enable more verbose logging?

What I shall try in the meantime is setting this up on my laptop to ensure its nothing to do with VMware although it shouldn't be as it's just a USB hub allowing the device through.

Cheers,

Gareth.

]]>https://forum.netgate.com/post/274993https://forum.netgate.com/post/274993Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:12:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to PfSense VMware + USB Wireless AP on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:48:52 GMT]]>From the web GUI, Status -> Wireless will display associated clients.

You will need to put some firewall rules on the OPT1 interface to allow in the DHCP requests (Firewall -> Rules) and then normal traffic. (Default is to block everything from non-LAN interfaces.) While you are debugging you could use a "wide open" rule (allow anything from anywhere to anywhere) and tighten it up once you have it working.

Get a client to attempt to acquire an IP address through DHCP. A couple of minutes later take a look at least the system log, firewall log and dhcp log (Status -> System Logs, click on appropriate tab). Anything seemingly relevant to the DHCP requests?

]]>https://forum.netgate.com/post/274927https://forum.netgate.com/post/274927Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:48:52 GMT