Request: a DUMB access point. (No DHCP.)

[HSF3232]

Okay, before i put start to write this up, i just want to throw this out there,
NO BLOGGERS APPROACH. So basically no copy-pasta allowed. What i am about to ask is a perfectly reasonable request and i will not tolerate anyone who trys to copy someone else's method. (Thank you google for being no help at all.)
If you can tell by my title, i want a ACCESS POINT! not a router, not a hotspot, a ACCESS POINT! And just in case you forgot, here is the CORRECT definition:

In computer networking, a wireless access point (WAP), or more generally just access point (AP), is a networking hardware device that allows a Wi-Fi device to connect to a wired network. The AP usually connects to a router (via a wired network) as a standalone device, but it can also be an integral component of the router itself.

Somewhere it got lost in translation, How did that happen? I don't know and i don't care.
So here is what is suppose to happen:
1. WiFI device connects to the AP. hostapd handles the connection and authenticates the device.
2. Device broadcasts DHCP request. The main router on the existing network. (I.E BT Home Hub 5 which handles my main network.) receives this request and gives the device a IP address. The device is now able to talk to the internet and other devices are able to talk to it.
The text i have highlighted in red, is the point of failure. The raspberry pi blocks the DHCP request from reaching the main network and every other guide does not tell me how to get around this. If someone can help me with this, i would be happy.

[W. H. Heydt]

Actually, what you want is a bridge. Granted, a bridge where one side is wireless, but that's still a bridge. That said, Adafruit has a tutorial for setting up a Pi as an access point. just omit any parts that talk about setting up DHCP and Robert is your avuncular relative.

[HSF3232]

Actually, what you want is a bridge. Granted, a bridge where one side is wireless, but that's still a bridge. That said, Adafruit has a tutorial for setting up a Pi as an access point. just omit any parts that talk about setting up DHCP and Robert is your avuncular relative.

I think i seen the guide you mean. However, this guide you are talking about is very similar to the setups i have tried before. So this wont work. If it helps, i already tried leaving out the DHCP thing and it still does not work. You still have the problem of the raspberry pi not forwarding the DHCP requests. And let me remind you (Not that you probably need reminding.) that these requests are mac addressed based (As far as the connecting device is concerned.)

As far as the bridging goes, (not breeding, thank you autocorrect) i seen people having problems before with that. Whats make this any diffrent?

[drgeoff]

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... et-sharing

[HSF3232]

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... et-sharing

This solved the problem. Maybe i will keep the bridging utils on there.

[SurferTim]

I tried that tutorial, and it did not work for me with Raspbian/Stretch/Pixel. When I tried to add interfaces to the bridge, I got a "can't add wlan0 to bridge br0: Operation not supported" error message.

[DougieLawson]

With Stretch you may find your wlan0 has been renamed to wlx???????????? (where ???????????? is the mac address) take a look with an ip addr command.

[epoch1970]

When I tried to add interfaces to the bridge, I got a "can't add wlan0 to bridge br0: Operation not supported" error message.

This happens when you add a wifi interface in client mode to a bridge. Client mode is the default mode.
Applying the tutorial top to bottom you would get that message.
However as soon as you'd start hostapd, it would turn the interface to AP mode and bridge it ok.
I suppose the tutorial could mention "you'll get an error, that's ok", but I'm not a tutorial writer.

(The interfaces file stanza "bridge-ports eth0 wlan0" will throw the same error at boot time. Writing it this way is readable, but indeed wrong until the interface is in AP mode)

[SurferTim]

Thanks. The tutorial is out of order, but if configured in the correct order, it works fine. Just ignore the dhcpcd fail during boot.

[jamesh]

When I tried to add interfaces to the bridge, I got a "can't add wlan0 to bridge br0: Operation not supported" error message.

This happens when you add a wifi interface in client mode to a bridge. Client mode is the default mode.
Applying the tutorial top to bottom you would get that message.
However as soon as you'd start hostapd, it would turn the interface to AP mode and bridge it ok.
I suppose the tutorial could mention "you'll get an error, that's ok", but I'm not a tutorial writer.

(The interfaces file stanza "bridge-ports eth0 wlan0" will throw the same error at boot time. Writing it this way is readable, but indeed wrong until the interface is in AP mode)

Ahh. I am actually the tutorial writer, and I've been wondering about that error. Some people sea it other didn't - thanks for the explanation. I need to start looking at the tutorials again now we have Stretch, as that requires some changes to be made, but I am a bit short of time right now with quite a few other tasks on the go.

EDIT: If someone else wants to update the docs, the process is fairly easy, The docs are all done via github and pull requests. see here https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentati ... -github.md

[SurferTim]

Before I would change the docs, I'd like to know if others can get my changes to work. I started from scratch with a fresh install of Raspbian Stretch.

Insure you have the latest updates.

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sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo rpi-update

If Stretch, then edit /boot/cmdline.txt and add this to the end. This allows you to use eth0 instead of enx12345

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net.ifnames=0

reboot

Install hostapd and bridge utilities.

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sudo apt-get install hostapd bridge-utils
sudo systemctl stop hostapd

Add bridge br0.

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sudo brctl addbr br0

Create file /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf

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interface=wlan0
bridge=br0
#driver=nl80211
ssid=RPiNet
hw_mode=g
channel=7
wmm_enabled=0
macaddr_acl=0
auth_algs=1
ignore_broadcast_ssid=0
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=mypassphrase
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP
rsn_pairwise=CCMP

Edit /etc/default/hostapd, uncomment and change this:

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DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf"

Add eth0 to br0

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sudo brctl addif br0 eth0

Edit /etc/network interfaces and add this

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allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet manual

auto br0
iface br0 inet dhcp
bridge_ports eth0 wlan0

Edit /etc/dhcpcd.conf and add this above other interfaces

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denyinterfaces wlan0
denyinterfaces eth0

reboot

[epoch1970]

Just curious, I can't test:
No eth0 declaration in interfaces? Doesn't look too kosher, but I am of the old school
No denyinterfaces br0 in dhcpcd.conf? Don't remember if I needed it under Jessie, but I thought it was safer to add it just in case.

[SurferTim]

Just curious, I can't test:
No eth0 declaration in interfaces? Doesn't look too kosher, but I am of the old school
No denyinterfaces br0 in dhcpcd.conf? Don't remember if I needed it under Jessie, but I thought it was safer to add it just in case.

I use Stretch.
There are no iface statements in /etc/network/interfaces by default. I added only what I posted.
No "denyinterfaces br0" in /etc/dhcpcd.conf. You want it to pick up network settings from the dhcp server.

[jamesh]

Just a head up on doc changes. What usually happens, a PR is received, then someone (usually me) does a technical check on it to make sure it works, then it get copy edited, then technical checked again (to make sure the copy edit hasn't changed something important), then it will get merged. However, I am quite busy at the moment, so changes may take a while to filter through.

[SurferTim]

@jamesh: No thing. I like to get feedback from the forums before i suggest changes. Let's see how the response goes.

[jamesh]

@jamesh: No thing. I like to get feedback from the forums before i suggest changes. Let's see how the response goes.

No worries. The more people who help with documentation the better - there is a limit to how much I can do!

[scruss]

…
Insure you have the latest updates.

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…
sudo rpi-update

Don't do rpi-update unless you need the bleeding edge kernel features. It shouldn't be required here.

[davidcoton]

Insure...

Who writes the insurance policy? What is the premium?
I think you mean "Ensure..." (But thanks for picking up the challenge anyway.)

[drgeoff]

Insure...

Who writes the insurance policy? What is the premium?
I think you mean "Ensure..." (But thanks for picking up the challenge anyway.)

That's just another one of the many instances where the people on the two sides of the pond use a different version of the same language. Unfortunately those on the wrong side are in the majority! And the spell checker in this forum's software is biased in their favour too.

[just-a-bird]

Before I would change the docs, I'd like to know if others can get my changes to work.
[...]

This worked perfectly for me. Thank you!

[balamk]

Before I would change the docs, I'd like to know if others can get my changes to work.
[...]

Can't get this to work. After reboot i get network error as

Connection to dhcpcd lost

. Can't connect to wifi, but ifconfig lists a bridge configuration br0. Any suggestion to fix the connection issue is much appreciated

[sparkie777]

(The interfaces file stanza "bridge-ports eth0 wlan0" will throw the same error at boot time. Writing it this way is readable, but indeed wrong until the interface is in AP mode)

why do you not just simply write
/etc/network/interfaces:

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[...]
auto br0
iface br0 inet dhcp
bridge_ports eth0
[...]

i.e. leave 'wlan0' away? You don't need to specify the bridge for 'wlan0' twice.
It is pretty much sufficient to mention the bridge for 'wlan0' in
/etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf:

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[...]
interface=wlan0
bridge=br0
[...]

with the advantage the wlan interface is not temporarily added in the wrong mode to the bridge. And no confusing error at boot time will be thrown.

[epoch1970]

why do you not just simply write ... with the advantage the wlan interface is not temporarily added in the wrong mode to the bridge. And no confusing error at boot time will be thrown.

Because /etc/network/interfaces is the place where I expect to see networking defined. I prefer to see all of it, even at the cost of a harmless error.
Arguably, a comment would do just as well.

Old age creeping. You need to jot down everything. And then you forget you did...

[sparkie777]

Because /etc/network/interfaces is the place where I expect to see networking defined. I prefer to see all of it, even at the cost of a harmless error.

I've heard in newer releases there even doesn't exist '/etc/network/interfaces' any longer at all

you get what you pay for.

[SurferTim]

I've heard in newer releases there even doesn't exist '/etc/network/interfaces' any longer at all

Not with Raspbian 2017-11-29. It still has /etc/network/interfaces.