Wi-Fi

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русский

The Wi-Fi function in the Wiren Board controller can be configured to operate in one of two or three modes:

hotspot mode (enabled by default);
client mode;
simultaneous operation in both modes (only in some versions of the controller; see below for details).

First Wi-Fi connection

Wi-Fi (RP-SMA) and GSM (SMA) terminals comparasion
Connect antenna to the Wi-Fi connector.
The Wiren Board Wi-Fi is available at a distance of no more than one meter without the antenna.To get a standart Wi-Fi radius of operation, you need to connect antenna to the appropriate connector of the controller. If the controller is in the closet (especially in a metal one) or a separate room, it is better to use a remote antenna.

The antenna has standart Wi-Fi connector: RP-SMA (differs from SMA-connector for GSM antennas)RP-SMA
Wiren Board controller's WI-Fi works in hotspot mode by default:
- hotspot name: WirenBoard...
- password: none
- adress of the controller in the created network: 192.168.42.1

Setting up Wi-Fi in Linux

The setting up is usually proceed in a standart way for Linux Debian: via file /etc/network/interfaces. The following are brief instructions for common tasks on Linux Debian, there is a detailed documentation on the Linux site. detailed documentation.

Setting up in a hotspot mode

Access point mode is enabled by default. Operation in the access point mode is provided by the hostapd daemon.

Configuration process:

Enable access point mode. For this:

open file /etc/default/hostapd and uncomment the string(e.g.,remove the # at the beginning of the string)
```
DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd.conf"
```

edit the /etc/hostapd.conf file like in the example:

interface=wlan0
#driver=nl80211 # this line should stay commented
ssid=WirenBoard # you can substitute WirenBoard with a different name for the hotspot
channel=1
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=your_password # replace your_password with your own password
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP CCMP
rsn_pairwise=TKIP CCMP

Edit /etc/network/interfaces:

uncomment and edit the lines(or add them, if there were none) related to the hotspot settings:

iface wlan0 inet static
      address 192.168.42.1 # here 192.168.42.1  - is the address where the Wiren Board controller will be located in the new network; you can specify a different address
      netmask 255.255.255.0

comment out the lines related to the operating in client mode:

#auto wlan0
#iface wlan0 inet dhcp 
#                wpa-ssid {ssid}
#                wpa-psk  {password}

Run the command

/etc/init.d/hostapd restart

Setting up in client mode

Disable hotspot mode.
To do this, in the /etc/default/hostapd file, comment out the line (e.g., add the # sign at the beginning of the line)
```
#DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd.conf"
```

Edit /etc/network/interfaces:

comment out the lines related to the setting in access point mode:

#iface wlan0 inet static
#      address 192.168.42.1
#      netmask 255.255.255.0

uncomment and edit the lines (or add them if there were none):

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp 
                wpa-ssid {ssid} # replace {ssid} with the name of the hotspot
                wpa-psk  {password} # replace {password} with your own password

To apply the changes, run the following commands

ifdown wlan0
ifup wlan0

Setting up in hotspot and client mode simultaneously

The mode of simultaneous operation of the Wi-Fi module in both the hotspot mode and the client mode is called Concurrent Mode or STA+SoftAP, and is not supported by all Wi-Fi modules. It also does not work on all versions of the Wiren Board controllers. We've found out that it works out of the box on Wiren Board controllers with Realtek 8723BU chip and Linux kernel 4.1.15. To check that, run the following commands:

uname -a
lsmod | grep 8723bu

If the conditions are not met, you may still be able to configure Concurrent Mode on your Wiren Board. As a starting point, use the instructions(rus only).

The mode of simultaneous operation of the Wi-Fi module in both the hotspot mode and the client mode is called Concurrent Mode or STA+SoftAP, and is not supported by all Wi-Fi modules. It also does not work on all versions of the Wiren Board. We have found out that it works out of the box on Wiren Board with Realtek 8723BU chip and Linux kernel 4.1.15. To check that, run the following commands:

If conditions are met:

Run command
```
iwconfig
```
Its output should show two Wi-Fi interfaces: wlan0 и wlan1.

Use the previous two instructions to configure the client mode and the hotspot mode connection, but use different interfaces. For example, leave wlan0 for the hotspot and make the client on wlan1. The corresponding part of /etc/network/interfaces should look like this:

# Wireless interfaces
auto wlan1
iface wlan1 inet dhcp
    wpa-ssid {ssid} # replace {ssid} with the hotspot name
    wpa-psk {password} # replace {password} with your own password

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
  address 192.168.42.1
  netmask 255.255.255.0

Universal Wi-Fi settings file

Below is the text of the file, which shows the settings for connecting to networks with different encryption settings. The file is borrowed from here.

####################
#; start of wireless bits
#; this command stays for all configs
auto wlan0
###################
#; comments indicated by #;
#; commands indicated by #
#; remove the # to enable the command
####################
#; if using static IP then....#
#iface wlan0 inet static
# address UR_IP
#gateway UR_ROUTER_IP
#netmask 255.255.255.0
##################
#; otherwise use dhcp #
#iface wlan0 inet dhcp
###################
#; OPEN wireless config #
#wireless-essid UR_ESSID
#wireless-mode managed

###################
#; WEP wireless config #
#wireless-essid UR_ESSID
#wireless-key UR_KEY
#; end of WEP config

########################
#; WPA and WPA2 wireless config #
#; all command config lines above HERE to be #'ed except the entry auto wlan0
########################
wpa-driver wext
wpa-ssid UR_ESSID
#; wpa-ap-scan is 1 for visible and 2 for hidden hubs
wpa-ap-scan 1
#; wpa-proto is WPA for WPA1 (aka WPA) or RSN for WPA2
wpa-proto WPA
#; wpa-pairwise and wpa-group is TKIP for WPA1 or CCMP for WPA2
wpa-pairwise TKIP
wpa-group TKIP
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
#; use "wpa_passphrase UR_ESSID UR_KEY" to generate UR_HEX_KEY
#; enter the result below
wpa-psk UR_HEX_KEY
##########################
# end of wireless bits

Automatic reconnection in case of connection problems

The method is borrowed from here(ru): [1]

For example, the controller is connected to a router with the 192.168.0.1 address via the wlan1 interface. Then:

in /root folder create script wifi_autoconnect.sh as in the example below:

#!/bin/bash

# Substitute the name of the interface
WLANINTERFACE=wlan1
# Substitute the address of the router or server on the Internet, access to which will be checked
SERVER=192.168.0.1

# Only send two pings, sending output to /dev/null
ping -I ${WLANINTERFACE} -c2 ${SERVER} > /dev/null

# If the return code from ping ($?) is not 0 (meaning there was an error)
if [ $? != 0 ]
then
# Restart the wireless interface
ifdown --force ${WLANINTERFACE}
ifup ${WLANINTERFACE}
fi

Make file executable by running the command
```
chmod +x /root/wifi_autoconnect.sh
```

Schedule the script to run every minute. For this:

Install cron:
```
apt-get install cron
```

In the end of the/etc/crontab file add line

*  *	* * *	root	/root/wifi_autoconnect.sh
# be sure to add an empty line at the end of the file

Limits

Wi-Fi in Wiren Board controllers in hotspot mode is relatively slow. The speed is enough to work with the web interface, but do not use the Wiren Board as a replacement for a standart router.
In very rare cases, the Wi-Fi adapter on the Wiren Board controllers may not be compatible with some other Wi-Fi devices. This is a common problem of Wi-Fi implementations on chipsets from different manufacturers. If you encounter unexplained problems, we recommend to change the encryption settings, channel width, etc.

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