Wireless in FreeSBIE

Wireless Networking in FreeSBIE is very similar to wired networking with a few additions.

Wireless Quick Guide

Information Needed

• SSID Name
• Channel Number
• Media Type
• Station Name
• Encryption Key (If Used)

Setup

Step 1 #kldload bridge This command will tell the kernel to load the wireless bridge module.

For this example the following information will be used.

    SSID: FAKE
    Channel: 11
    Media Type: DS/11Mbps
    Station Name: FakeStation
    Encryption: Open
    Static IP: 192.168.0.100
    Gateway:192.168.0.1
    Domain Name Server: 192.168.0.2
    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Step 2 Now that we have this information we enter it in a shell

    #ifconfig wi0 ssid FAKE channel 11 media DS/11Mbps 192.168.0.100 192.168.0.255 255.255.255.0

Step 3 Next we are going to set the local network route

    #route add -net 192.168.0.0 -interface 192.168.0.1

Step 4 Next we set Default Gateway

    #route add -inet 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1

Step 5 Last but not least we set the DNS Name Server, First check to see if you have /etc/resolv.conf

    # cat /etc/resolv.conf 
      nameserver 192.168.0.1

If it is wrong simply edit /etc/resolv.conf and make the change to 192.168.0.2

    #vi /etc/resolv.conf
    nameserver 192.168.0.2

If you DO NOT have a resolv.conf , it is ok. We will simply create one with this command.

    # echo "nameserver 192.168.0.2" >> /etc/resolv.conf

Check Connectivity Now you should be all set and connect to the internet, but just to test issue:

    #ping -c 4 www.google.com

If you get replies it works great, If not time for some troubleshooting.

Wireless FreeSBIE Troubleshooting

First, Any problems that can be seen in wired network are also seen in wireless networking, therefore its a good idea to know the wired troubleshooting steps as well.

To See what your current Default Gateway is use this command:

    #route get 0.0.0.0

If for some reason an old or wrong route is returned from the previous command, delete the route and restart configuring from Step 1.

    #route delete -net 0.0.0.0

Another great way to find out about your default route info is to open to shells, In one:

    Shell1# ping www.google.com

In Shell two use command:

    Shell2# route -n monitor

This should give you some output now in Shell2, you can usually see something unordinary and fix it.

Wireless Specific Troubleshooting This command will give you a more in depth look at your wireless settings.

    #wicontrol

References

Wireless Man Page
FreeBSD Handbook on Wireless