Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    How do you set your WAN interface to connect wirellesly to a router.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
    12 Posts 3 Posters 7.1k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • G
      globexgr
      last edited by

      Hi is it possible set up your WAN interface to connect wirelessly to a router? If so how?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • W
        wallabybob
        last edited by

        @globexgr:

        Hi is it possible set up your WAN interface to connect wirelessly to a router?

        Yes, provided you have a wireless interface that is supported by FreeBSD.

        Which system is to act as the WiFi Access Point? If pfSense then you will need an interface which supports AP mode.

        @globexgr:

        If so how?

        Configure the WAN interface through the web GUI and put in the appropriate wireless configuration parameters.

        Note pfSense does not yet support 802.11N features though some 802.11N capable devices are supported in 802.11G compatible mode.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • G
          globexgr
          last edited by

          Yes, provided you have a wireless interface that is supported by FreeBSD.

          you mean like a wireless card? right? I already have this http://linkshop.gr/shop/wi-fi/minipci/mikrotik-r52-802.11a-b-g-mpci-adapter.html.

          What I need to do is to have my adsl router in a different room and pass all my internet traffic from pfsense through the wireless interface to the adsl router. I am not sure which interface must act as wifi access point. Can you help me with the configurations and what needs to be done?

          Tx.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • P
            podilarius
            last edited by

            According to http://www.wikidevi.com/wiki/MikroTik_RouterBOARD_R52, that is an Atheros based wireless. I would think that in this case the ADSL is the AP and you are hooking to it via the wireless in pfsense. So you just assign ath0 to WAN and configure the WAN to match your ADSL wireless settings. Seems like you will be doing double NAT so make sure that the LAN on pfSense is different from the WAN subnet.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • G
              globexgr
              last edited by

              configure the WAN to match your ADSL wireless settings

              How do i do that? How can i see the SSID of the ADSL AP and connect to it? Also what will my mode be? AP, Ad-Hoc or Infrastracture?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • W
                wallabybob
                last edited by

                @globexgr:

                How can i see the SSID of the ADSL AP and connect to it?

                I expect the router will have some sort of GUI or CLI for reporting such information. Alternatively, look at pfSense page Status -> Wireless which should report nearby APs and then guess.

                @globexgr:

                Also what will my mode be? AP, Ad-Hoc or Infrastracture?

                Two interfaces in ad-hoc mode can converse. A number of interfaces in Infrastructure mode can converse with a single interface in AP mode. (Thus if your wireless router connected to the internet is acting as AP then the corresponding pfSense interface needs to be in Infrastructure mode.)

                Some people have reported that enabling wireless interfaces in adhoc mode seems to crash the kernel so if you can, its probably better to stay away from adhoc mode.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • G
                  globexgr
                  last edited by

                  Alternatively, look at pfSense page Status -> Wireless which should report nearby APs and then guess.

                  Yes i can see my routers AP from there. But what i was really asking is how will i configure pfsense to send all my traffic to the router AP?
                  I need to somehow peak the wirelless network i need to connect to. How do i do that?

                  What do i need to change in the config page?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • W
                    wallabybob
                    last edited by

                    @globexgr:

                    But what i was really asking is how will i configure pfsense to send all my traffic to the router AP?

                    pfSense is preconfigured for the default route to be out the WAN interface.

                    @globexgr:

                    I need to somehow peak the wirelless network i need to connect to. How do i do that?

                    I don't know what you mean by "peak the wireless network".

                    @globexgr:

                    What do i need to change in the config page?

                    If the wireless router is acting as AP then you need to change the mode of the pfSense interface from Access Point to Infrastructure. You can't have BOTH pfSense AND the ADSL router acting as APs if they are to converse.

                    You will also need to configure encryption parameters in pfSense to match those in the router.

                    You will need to ensure the LAN interface on pfSense is on a different IP subnet from the WAN interface.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • G
                      globexgr
                      last edited by

                      I don't know what you mean by "peak the wireless network".

                      Sorry i meant pick as in choose. So how do i choose the wireless network i want to connect to from pfsense? You mean that if i set it to infrastracture mode and insert the SSID of the wireless router i will be able to connect to the ADSL router from my pfsense box?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • P
                        podilarius
                        last edited by

                        That is what he is saying.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • G
                          globexgr
                          last edited by

                          Tx i will try it tomorrow and send you feedback. I will keep this thread open until i know it works.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • G
                            globexgr
                            last edited by

                            Sorry…forgot to update the thread. Yes that totally works. thank you all for the feedback.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • First post
                              Last post
                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.