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Hello all,

I'm trying and, so far, failing, to get a wireless bridge setup working.

The setup is based on that in the FAQ:

http://openbsd.org/faq/faq6.html#Bridge

with these details on Box0:

/etc/hostname.rtw0:
dhcp NONE NONE NONE nwid MYSSID

/etc/hostname.fxp0:
up media autoselect

/etc/bridgename.bridge0:
add rtw0
add fxp0
up

Now rtw0 associates and gets an IP address (currently 192.168.1.19), and /
etc/resolv.conf is correctly generated, so from Box0 I can ping my
upstream router/DHCP server (on 192.168.1.1) and also access the rest of
the Internet.

From Box1 connected by wire to fxp0 I can ping 192.168.1.19, but not
192.168.1.1, and so Box1 does not acquire an IP address.

The FAQ seems straightforward on the subject, but following it has not
brought me total success yet, and googling for "openbsd how to setup
wireless bridge" has brought me little enlightenment.

I obviously have something wrong, so hints, suggestions, insults,
brickbats, clues, aspersions, and pointers to what I'm missing would
(mostly) be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Mark
--
The man with no .sig

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:49:10 +0100, marksouth wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I'm trying and, so far, failing, to get a wireless bridge setup working.
>
> The setup is based on that in the FAQ:
>
> http://openbsd.org/faq/faq6.html#Bridge
>
> with these details on Box0:
>
> /etc/hostname.rtw0:
> dhcp NONE NONE NONE nwid MYSSID
>
> /etc/hostname.fxp0:
> up media autoselect
>
> /etc/bridgename.bridge0:
> add rtw0
> add fxp0
> up
>
> Now rtw0 associates and gets an IP address (currently 192.168.1.19), and
> / etc/resolv.conf is correctly generated, so from Box0 I can ping my
> upstream router/DHCP server (on 192.168.1.1) and also access the rest of
> the Internet.
>
> From Box1 connected by wire to fxp0 I can ping 192.168.1.19, but not
> 192.168.1.1, and so Box1 does not acquire an IP address.
>
> The FAQ seems straightforward on the subject, but following it has not
> brought me total success yet, and googling for "openbsd how to setup
> wireless bridge" has brought me little enlightenment.
>
> I obviously have something wrong, so hints, suggestions, insults,
> brickbats, clues, aspersions, and pointers to what I'm missing would
> (mostly) be greatly appreciated.

Apologies for following up to myself, but there haven't been any replies
that I've seen so far.

Continued googling has led me to a mailing list archive where Theo De
Raadt says that wireless interfaces only bridge correctly in hostap mode.

What isn't clear to me is whether this means that I cannot do what I'm
trying to do, which is to use this OpenBSD box to bridge from one wired
zone to another wired zone. It appears that I would have to be able to
attach rtw0 to my other access point, but how to do that in hostap mode
is not clear to me. Any further explanation would be welcome.

Mark
--
!.sig

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:44:36 +0100, marksouth wrote:

> On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:49:10 +0100, marksouth wrote:
>
>> I'm trying and, so far, failing, to get a wireless bridge setup
>> working.

(...etc)

I posted this query several days back. Does anyone have any ideas at
all? Even a hint?

On Mar 14, 3:42 pm, marksouth <m...@really.invalid> wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:44:36 +0100, marksouth wrote:
> > On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:49:10 +0100, marksouth wrote:
>
> >> I'm trying and, so far, failing, to get a wireless bridge setup
> >> working.
>
> (...etc)
>
> I posted this query several days back. Does anyone have any ideas at
> all? Even a hint?

I'm trying to do the same thing to connect my entertainment center
boxes (TiVo and xboxes) to the existing wireless network. When I
connect using the standard client wireless configuration (non-hostap),
the wireless interface gets an IP address and I can ping through the
wired connection with no problem. However, trips through the bridge
fail.

If I configure the wireless interface for hostap mode, then I no
longer get an IP address across the wireless.

What's interesting is that I was able to create a bridge using Windows
XP Home and it worked fine. I needed to set the adapter to "Force
Compatibility Mode." The article (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/
library/bb457038.aspx) mentioned that some wireless NICs don't support
promiscuous mode. This may be the case with the NIC I'm using
(Linksys WUSB54GC using rum0).

I'll keep trying here, but I've never done this in OpenBSD and I have
to admit that I'm not a network guru.

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:42:11 -0700, bob wrote:

> On Mar 14, 3:42 pm, marksouth <m...@really.invalid> wrote:
>> On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:44:36 +0100, marksouth wrote:
>> > On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:49:10 +0100, marksouth wrote:
>>
>> >> I'm trying and, so far, failing, to get a wireless bridge setup
>> >> working.
>>
>> (...etc)
>>
>> I posted this query several days back. Does anyone have any ideas at
>> all? Even a hint?
>
> I'm trying to do the same thing to connect my entertainment center boxes
> (TiVo and xboxes) to the existing wireless network. When I connect
> using the standard client wireless configuration (non-hostap), the
> wireless interface gets an IP address and I can ping through the wired
> connection with no problem. However, trips through the bridge fail.

Yes, that's exactly the behaviour I have managed to see so far.

> If I configure the wireless interface for hostap mode, then I no longer
> get an IP address across the wireless.

Indeed. So either there is something that we are both missing, or what
we are trying to do simply cannot be done.

> What's interesting is that I was able to create a bridge using Windows
> XP Home and it worked fine. I needed to set the adapter to "Force
> Compatibility Mode." The article (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/
> library/bb457038.aspx) mentioned that some wireless NICs don't support
> promiscuous mode. This may be the case with the NIC I'm using (Linksys
> WUSB54GC using rum0).

I've managed to set up a wireless link like this before (not in bridge
mode) using Firestarter+DHCP on a Linux box, but I'd like to use OpenBSD
because the wireless driver for the PCI card I have is way superior.

> I'll keep trying here, but I've never done this in OpenBSD and I have to
> admit that I'm not a network guru.

I would like it if someone more knowledgeable would jump in and tell us
which it is: (a) can't be done or (b) we're doing it wrong. If (b), it
would also be nice to have a pointer to what we're doing wrong....

On Mar 15, 6:07 am, marksouth <m...@really.invalid> wrote:
> On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:42:11 -0700, bob wrote:
> > On Mar 14, 3:42 pm, marksouth <m...@really.invalid> wrote:
> >> On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:44:36 +0100, marksouth wrote:
> >> > On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:49:10 +0100, marksouth wrote:
>
> >> >> I'm trying and, so far, failing, to get a wireless bridge setup
> >> >> working.
>
> >> (...etc)
>
> >> I posted this query several days back. Does anyone have any ideas at
> >> all? Even a hint?
>
> > I'm trying to do the same thing to connect my entertainment center boxes
> > (TiVo and xboxes) to the existing wireless network. When I connect
> > using the standard client wireless configuration (non-hostap), the
> > wireless interface gets an IP address and I can ping through the wired
> > connection with no problem. However, trips through the bridge fail.
>
> Yes, that's exactly the behaviour I have managed to see so far.
>
> > If I configure the wireless interface for hostap mode, then I no longer
> > get an IP address across the wireless.
>
> Indeed. So either there is something that we are both missing, or what
> we are trying to do simply cannot be done.
>
> > What's interesting is that I was able to create a bridge using Windows
> > XP Home and it worked fine. I needed to set the adapter to "Force
> > Compatibility Mode." The article (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/
> > library/bb457038.aspx) mentioned that some wireless NICs don't support
> > promiscuous mode. This may be the case with the NIC I'm using (Linksys
> > WUSB54GC using rum0).
>
> I've managed to set up a wireless link like this before (not in bridge
> mode) using Firestarter+DHCP on a Linux box, but I'd like to use OpenBSD
> because the wireless driver for the PCI card I have is way superior.
>
> > I'll keep trying here, but I've never done this in OpenBSD and I have to
> > admit that I'm not a network guru.
>
> I would like it if someone more knowledgeable would jump in and tell us
> which it is: (a) can't be done or (b) we're doing it wrong. If (b), it
> would also be nice to have a pointer to what we're doing wrong....

I did some more searching and found an article about linux and
wireless bridging:
http://linux-net.osdl.org/index.php/...reless_card.21

It appears that the problem (at least in linux) is a limitation in the
interface firmware.