From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Aug 29 00:28:01 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9DB5A106566B for ; Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:28:01 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5741F8FC12 for ; Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:28:00 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id p7T0S0lS039277; Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:28:00 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) with ESMTP id p7T0S0wT039274; Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:28:00 -0600 (MDT) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:28:00 -0600 (MDT) From: Warren Block To: Paul Beard In-Reply-To: <877ECE65-355E-4D06-BEB0-088DC56C84A1@gmail.com> Message-ID: References: <51754C95-3688-4B33-BD98-7DED5F28DC0E@gmail.com> <4E59BA7F.305@cyberleo.net> <4E5A4AEF.7050104@cyberleo.net> <6A3818F5-BF6D-4FEA-9B07-44E9C0F72438@gmail.com> <877ECE65-355E-4D06-BEB0-088DC56C84A1@gmail.com> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.7 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:28:00 -0600 (MDT) Cc: "freebsd-questions@FreeBSD. ORG" Subject: Re: wireless access point in FreeBSD 8.2p2 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:28:01 -0000 On Sun, 28 Aug 2011, Paul Beard wrote: > > On Aug 28, 2011, at 3:17 PM, Warren Block wrote: > >> In 8.x, a virtual wlan0 device is created to speak to the actual device, ath0 in this case. It's normal. > > > Maybe I'm just confused by normality. I guess what would help in the > Handbook, if nowhere else, is the *full* output of ifconfig(8) for > purposes of comparison and elucidation. I see it called with just one > interface but unless you're on the console, it's likely you're adding > the wlan interface to an existing wired interface. And at the risk of > stating the obvious, there has to be a wired interface for it to > actually work as an access point, no? I can only speculate why that's not shown, and I'd guess it's feared that it would further confuse the reader. IMO, the wireless section is already so stuffed full of detail that it obscures the basics. In fairness, it's a complicated topic. But I'd much rather see a simple setup for the 80% use case followed by another section with all the grimy details that most people won't need. That's why I did this: http://www.wonkity.com/~wblock/docs/html/wireless.html I haven't really had the hardware (PCI to mini-PCIe adapter, or PCI 802.11g card) to try a FreeBSD hostap. Now that I think about it, I guess it could be done on a notebook. I'll add that to my list of "things that I should do unless someone else does it first." Seeing what the pfsense.org guys do for AP setup might be helpful.