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Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

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Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#41
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it would need to spoof the same MAC as the original AP too.

No, the identification method of an extended service set is the SSID, aka the network name. Just set up the same SSID and password on both APs, and put them onto the same ip layer network. Your device will roam the networks automatically. Each AP should get its own MAC otherwise they will think packets sent to the other AP was meant for them. WiFi is robust enough to deal with noise like e.g. bluetooth, so it might s…

How do you do this with most consumer devices? The only AP I've seen do it successfully is the AsusWRT series - Media Extender mode seems to be transparent. If I try it with anything else I'll end up with two seperate networks, e.g. 192.168.8.0/24 connected to 10.1.1.0/24 (I actually have a GL.inet AR750S in this configuration right now)

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#42
post #14

A bit off topic: I'm looking for a project that starts with an AP. Once someone connected to it; it opens a web page to configure the client (choose which WIFI from a list, and type the password). It connects to the chosen WIFI and shuts down the AP. Anyone here did something similar to that?

WifiManager for the ESP8266/ESP32 will do that.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#43
post #29

I've looked at the links posted here and the repo but I fail to find what is the use case for this?

I use a pi this way so I can join my pi to hotel wifi (or similar) then join my iPad to the pi’s network - which lets me ssh into the pi to access software there while both devices have internet access.

I do the same with a pocket wifi router, and clone the mac address. So, nifty and interesting case for the pi too! Thanks!

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#44
post #9

Whatever happened to ad-hoc mode?

It's extremely rare that one gets to a working ad-hoc setup... it's a chicken-egg problem. Drivers, firmware, software and UI support are bad, so no one uses it, so development is an afterthought, rinse and repeat.

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#45
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the identification method of an extended service set is the SSID, aka the network name. Just set up the same SSID and password on both APs, and put them onto the same ip layer network. Your device will roam the networks automatically. Each AP should get its own MAC otherwise they will think packets sent to the other AP was meant for them. WiFi is robust enough to deal with noise like e.g. bluetooth, so it might s…

How do you do this with most consumer devices? The only AP I've seen do it successfully is the AsusWRT series - Media Extender mode seems to be transparent. If I try it with anything else I'll end up with two seperate networks, e.g. 192.168.8.0/24 connected to 10.1.1.0/24 (I actually have a GL.inet AR750S in this configuration right now)

I’d like to know this too please :)

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#47
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the identification method of an extended service set is the SSID, aka the network name. Just set up the same SSID and password on both APs, and put them onto the same ip layer network. Your device will roam the networks automatically. Each AP should get its own MAC otherwise they will think packets sent to the other AP was meant for them. WiFi is robust enough to deal with noise like e.g. bluetooth, so it might s…

How do you do this with most consumer devices? The only AP I've seen do it successfully is the AsusWRT series - Media Extender mode seems to be transparent. If I try it with anything else I'll end up with two seperate networks, e.g. 192.168.8.0/24 connected to 10.1.1.0/24 (I actually have a GL.inet AR750S in this configuration right now)

[deleted]

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#48
post #46

So in short a poor range extender or a way to do MitM.

The Offline Wikipedia/Stackexchange project (Kiwix) has similar devices for kids classrooms/libraries in rural areas with no internet - https://www.kiwix.org/en/downloads/kiwix-hotspot/

Re: Simultaneous AP and Client Mode Wi-Fi on Raspberry Pi Zero W

#50
post #2

The pithier article (linked to from the above) is at https://blog.thewalr.us/2017/09/26/raspberry-pi-zero-w-simul...

I noticed the script was using the same MAC address for the ap0 adapter. From that blog post...

> A number of tutorials I found claimed that the address for the virtual AP must be different from the primary MAC address. I found there to be no difference in behavior, but you should be able to change the last byte, for example, to give your client and AP different MACs.

huh ... You'd think this could cause interference, but I guess not if they have different SSIDs and passwords.

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