This addon gives IPfire the ability to manage wireless 802.11 connections and is required if the Blue network is assigned to a wireless card.
Requires a compatible wireless card
Make sure you have installed a compatible wireless card before attempting to use this addon. See the Network Adapter Hardware Compatibility List page in the wiki and/or ask for help in the forum.
Warning
When the country code is set to "00", the 5GHz band is disabled. Set your country code to enable more channels.
If the blue network has not been created and linked to an actual wireless card you will have to do that first. This can be done during installation but can also be done in the console later on.
To setup the blue network from the console, login as "root" using your password. Then type:
setup
and navigate to "Network configuration".
Here you will need to modify "Network configuration type", "Drivers and card assignments" and "Address settings".
Important - It is important to give the blue network a different subnet than the other zones.
Important - IPfire treats the Blue network as a completely separate network. By default clients cannot connect with the Green network from it. If a client on the Blue network needs to communicate with a device on the Green network you must add a rule to the firewall allowing access. Alternatively you can bridge the two networks with Zone Configuration but this adds some security risk.
The blue interface needs a static IP address out of the blue network assigned to it. Make sure the green and blue are distinct.
For example if you have the green network setup using the 192.168.0.0/24 subnet, use the 192.168.1.0/24 subnet for the blue network.
Once a suitable IP address has been determined it should be assigned in the console under "Address settings".
It is common use, to choose the first or last client address in the subnet ( i.e. .1 or .254 in a /24 net ).
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is needed to pass out IP address to connecting clients. Chose a range of IP addresses that is from the same subnet as the blue network's default gateway address. The range cannot include the default gateways address. This range can then be set in the console or in the WUI under "network>DHCP server".
At this stage a blue network should have been created and configured. All that is left to do is to install the add-on using IPfire's package manager.
The package manager is called "pakfire" and can be invoked from the console as well as from the WUI.
To use the WUI navigate to ">> IPFire >> Pakfire". There is a section labeled "Available Addons:" where you can find "hostapd" amongst the various add-ons. Select "hostapd" and then click on the "+" sign below the add-on box. Confirm the installation.
When pakfire installs hostapd, it adds a new page to the WUI. Navigate to this page via ">> IPFire >> WLanAP". On this page the wireless network can be turned on and off and you can find all the settings for the initial configuration.
Warning! Disabling may violate regulatory rules!
Remember to save the settings by clicking the save icon below them.
Once the settings are configured and saved turn on the network by clicking on the green up arrow. If all went well it should look like this:
Wireless client filter
When clients first connect to IPFire they will be assigned an IP address from the blue interface's DHCP server. However they cannot access the internet until their MAC address is specifically allowed in the MAC address filter.
The MAC address filter is located under the firewall tab and is called "Blue Access". There is also a link at the bottom of the "WLanAP" page.
To activate a client, first have that client attempt to connect to the Access Point. This should fail but it will add that client's MAC address to the blue access page. To the right of the client's MAC address there is an icon for adding the device. Once added, IPFire should allow access to the Access Point.
See also the Access to Blue page, which also includes instructions for disabling MAC Address filtering, if desired.
Warning - Do NOT use the special character 'ยง' in the encryption key as it will not work.
Older Revisions • October 1 at 2:38 pm • cfusco