Feature #328
Wireless Network Interface supporting master mode
| Status: | Closed | Start date: | 03/17/2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Priority: | Normal | Due date: | ||
| Assignee: | - | % Done: | 0% |
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| Category: | - | |||
| Target version: | - |
Description
Hi,
I am working on a project to configure my laptop (running on Alpine Linux) as a wireless Access Point. My laptop has intel wireless chipset (3945ABG) which is not capable of running on master mode. I purchased a usb network adapter ([http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WUSB54GC Linksys WUSB54GC]) hoping that it might support master mode. But I could not get it to work on the first place. It uses a Ralink chipset (http://backtrack.offensive-security.com/index.php/HCL:Wireless#Linksys_WUSB54GC) and the driver for it is available here: http://www.ralink.com.tw/support.php?s=2 (RT2501USB. But the driver is not getting compiled as its built for previous versions of Linux and doesn't support kernel 2.6.31 onwards. Can you suggest a way to get it working? Do you think it would support master mode?
Do you know any other external network adapter (usb or pcmcia express) that works well on Alpine linux (with or without master mode)?
Sorry, some of my doubts might seem silly. Any hints / suggestions from your side would be very helpful.
History
Updated by Natanael Copa almost 2 years ago
I dont have much experience with wireless really, but... the the sources are included for the driver, then it is normally possible to patch the driver to work with newer kernels. There are hardware lists here:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Devices bu I'm not sure if they tell if master mode is supported or not.
Hum... after reading a bit there. looks like it might work with the rt73usb driver.
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/rt73usb
I think you need to download the drivers from http://www.ralink.com.tw/support.php?s=2 extract the firmware and put it in proper place, and then it should be a question of modprobe rt73usb.
Its worth a try.
Updated by Jeff Bilyk over 1 year ago
I've got a wireless desktop chip at home (a Linksys WMP54G) that uses a ralink 2500 chipset, and the rt2x00 driver, which does support master mode. I'll try to remember to test this at some point since I've got a some experience messing around with wireless under linux. Once I do, I'll try to whip up a tutorial, but as ncopa mentions above, it's more a matter of getting the driver to work, and that's chipset-specific.
Updated by Jeff Bilyk about 1 year ago
Finally got around to doing some wireless testing w/ rt2x00 (ra2500 desktop pci chipset). Looks like master mode cannot be set directly ATM in the driver. Since this is something that is being worked on upstream, I think this ticket can be closed, since the change will take effect in Alpine Linux once the driver has been fixed by rt2x00 devs.