Making a Wi-Fi access point with a PCI card?

[benighted]

I have a PCI Wi-Fi card in my PC that I want to use as an access point on my LAN. Is this possible?

[Gizmo]

I've not tried this, but in theory I believe what you would need to do is set up the Wi-Fi card using Ad-Hoc mode rather than infrastructure mode. Any devices you want to connect with would have to be in Ad-Hoc mode as well.

[benighted]

I was hoping to be able to use it as a hotspot for the B&B. maybe there is a software out there that will do what I am looking for...

[Gizmo]

Ah, then you are looking to provide Internet access as well? That makes things a bit more complicated, because now you also have to enable Internet Connection Sharing.

Really, it would probably make more sense to just get a small router with Wi-Fi built in....I don't know how good it is (the reviews don't seem to think too much of the range), but you can get this router from NewEgg for $32. Or you could go for something a little better, like this Linksys for $75. If you are ok with 11 Mbs instead of 54 Mbs, then you could go with this router from Linksys for $50.

[benighted]

Wow, good find on the $32 router!
I actually have an extra Linksys WRT54G lying around, I was just wondering if my scenario would have been possible.
Thanks Gizmo.

[Aedan]

Originally Posted by benighted

I was hoping to be able to use it as a hotspot for the B&B. maybe there is a software out there that will do what I am looking for...

Depending on the card, it may be possible. I've not seen any software under Windows, but I'm aware that there is some software under linux (such as HostAP). Some cards are actually used in APs as well, but usually with slightly different firmware running on them.

[benighted]

Its an RT2600 chipset, native support in linux

Edit: Though I'm not running linux on this machine

[Aedan]

I've found nothing in terms of host mode under Windows. I get the impression it won't run in host mode under Linux either. OpenBSD might support it in host mode though.

Personally, I'd recommend something like an access point instead, as it'll be significantly less screwing around!

[benighted]

Originally Posted by Áedán

I've found nothing in terms of host mode under Windows. I get the impression it won't run in host mode under Linux either. OpenBSD might support it in host mode though.

Personally, I'd recommend something like an access point instead, as it'll be significantly less screwing around!

Yeah. I think I'll install Sveasoft or something on my spare router and use it for an AP.

[Aedan]

Before you install sveasoft, you might want to check out their background...

[benighted]

I know, they tried to sell a GPL'd firmware and what not. But so far they are the only firmware I've found that can do 251 mw

[benighted]

Also it seems that just this month OpenWRT terminated Sveasofts license finally.
notice here

[Aedan]

Sveasoft's license was terminated as soon as they failed to keep the conditions of the GPL.

It's a shame that the WiFi adapter used in the WRT54G gives an unclean signal when cranked up to 251mW though. Spectral purity goes out the window, as it broadcasts across neighbouring bands too.

The two images below were taken from explorer.cyberstreet.com (when it worked). The first is the output of the card at 50mW, and the second is the output of the card at 250mW. Note just how much it's smeared the output across the band, rather than staying on channel.

[benighted]

Thats interesting. So what do you think the optimal power setting is? Also, does DD-WRT support power boost?

[Aedan]

I believe that DD-WRT (and HyperWRT) supports the same power boost. As far as the optimal power output, I don't know what works best for the card. I believe the default for OpenWRT is set to somewhere around 80mW, but you'd need to verify that.

Certainly there's little actual in-band power increase going from 50mW to 250mW output, so it looks like most of the 200mW worth of extra output is ending up outside the useful band rather than inside it.

You might do better with a higher gain antenna than with boosting the power output. You'd increase the ERP (effective radiated power), as well as boosting the sensitivity of the receiver. It really depends on the shape of the area you want to cover, as well as the materials used in the building.

[MONKEYMAN]

I just set up my network card in Ad-Hoc mode and anything that gets near enough can connect to my network if it has the correct key. If I leave it unsecured all the neighbours can use it as well as I discovered to my delight when it was taking 2 mins to open a webpage, stuck WPA encrytion on there and havent had any bother since.

[benighted]

I'm not worried about neighbors, I only have 2 of them just out of effective range and don't mind if they are using a little bandwidth anyways... I don't think they even use computers.

I upgraded to the latest stable DD-WRT and can confirm it has the power boost. I have it set to 80mw, the default is 28mw. This is a nice firmware.