Difference between revisions of "WLAN"

Revision as of 13:40, 12 January 2021

Important Notes

Avoid using WLAN if possible, it has several technical limitations making it not really suitable as single interface of a hyper-visor like PVE.

At least the following disadvantages apply:

Wi-Fi adapters can only be used as Linux bridge interface through workarounds, as most Access Points (APs) will reject frames that have a source address that didn’t authenticate with the AP.
compared to wired Ethernet connections you will experience more latency spikes, reduced bandwidth and depending on distance and barriers between host and the AP even spotty connections

Initial Setup

Setting up the Wi-Fi itself is not different in Proxmox VE than with a default Debian installation. But avoid installing advanced, network daemons like NetworkManager as those are normally suited for desktops only and may interfere with Proxmox VEs network requirements.

Checkout the following references for setting up the wireless connection:

Guest Network Setup

Masquerading (NAT)

See the Network_Configuration#_masquerading_nat_with_tt_span_class_monospaced_iptables_span_tt Masquerading (NAT) section of the Network Configuration article

Bridge Port

Note, as Access Points (APs) will reject frames that have a source address that didn’t authenticate with the AP. This is a problem with Linux Bridges as they transparently forward the network packets with the original source address of the CT or VM, but the AP only knows about the host source address, so it rejects those packets.

You can try to still add the wireless interface directly as bridge port by using extra ebtable rules to rewrite the source MAC address.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-= WLAN =
+== Important Notes ==
-This wiki page describes how to prepare and connect a wireless adapter for host use in Proxmox VE. Example connects to a WPA/WPA2 network
-== Setup ==
+Avoid using WLAN if possible, it has several technical limitations making it not really suitable as single interface of a hyper-visor like PVE.
-find adapter name:
-  $ ip addr
-bring interface down:
-  # ifdown $WLAN_NIC
-backup configuration:
-  # cp /etc/network/interfaces /etc/network/interfaces.bak
-restrict permissions:
-  # chmod 0600 /etc/network/interfaces
-calculate WPA PSK hash for wireless-network:
-  $ wpa_passphrase $NETWORK_name $SECRET_password
-* output:
-  network={
-          ssid="$NETWORK_name"
-          #psk="$SECRET_password"
-          psk=$HASHED_password
-  }
-* if no password included: you will be prompted '# reading passprhase from stdin' where you enter it there
+At least the following disadvantages apply:
-* use \ if $NETWORK_name has spaces
+* Wi-Fi adapters can only be used as Linux bridge interface through workarounds, as most Access Points (APs) will reject frames that have a source address that didn’t authenticate with the AP.
-** E.g: "My Home Network" would be "My\ Home\ Network" for $NETWORK_name
+* compared to wired Ethernet connections you will experience more latency spikes, reduced bandwidth and depending on distance and barriers between host and the AP even spotty connections
-copy '''$HASHED_password''' and choose a method:
+== Initial Setup ==
-== method 1 ==
+Setting up the Wi-Fi itself is not different in Proxmox VE than with a default Debian installation.
-'''/etc/network/interfaces'''
+But '''avoid''' installing advanced, network daemons like NetworkManager as those are normally suited for desktops only and may interfere with Proxmox VEs network requirements.
-* best for desktops with WLAN modules?
-add to /etc/network/interfaces:
-  ...
+Checkout the following references for setting up the wireless connection:
-  auto wlp3s0
-  iface wlp3s0 inet dhcp
-            wpa-ssid '''$NETWORK_name'''
-            wpa-psk '''$HASHED_password'''
-  ...
+* https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse
+* https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1238387
+* http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=17199
+* https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/WPA_supplicant#Configuration
+* https://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/plain/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
-== method 2 ==
+== Guest Network Setup ==
-'''/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf'''
-* best for roaming laptops?
-create file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf:
-  ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
-  ap_scan=1
-  network={
-          ## home settings
-          ssid='''$NETWORK_name'''
-          key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
-          psk='''$HASHED_password'''
-  }
-  network={
-          ssid="MyFriendsWirelessLAN"
-          key_mgmt=NONE
-          wep_key0="HerPasswd"
-          wep_tx_idx=0
-  }
-  network={
-          ssid="OpenHotSpotProvider"
-          key_mgmt=NONE
-  }
-  network={
-          scan_ssid=1
-          key_mgmt=NONE
-  }
-  network={
-          ssid="eduroam"
-          scan_ssid=1
-          key_mgmt=IEEE8021X
-          eap=TTLS
-          anonymous_identity="anonymous@your.school"
-          identity="yourID@your.school"
-          password="yourPassword"
-          phase2="auth=PAP"
-          ca_cert="/path/to/certificates/eduroam.der"
-          priority=2
-  }
-references
-* local: /usr/share/doc/wpa_supplicant/examples/
-* web: https://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/plain/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
-== cleaning up ==
+=== Masquerading (NAT) ===
-manually assign IP on router
-* consult your DHCP server
-change root adapter IP address:
-  # ifconfig $WLAN_NIC $IP_ADDRESS netmask $NETMASK
-if required, change Default Gateway:
-  # route add default gw $IP_GATEWAY $WLAN_NIC
-check settings on routing table:
-  $ route -n
-bring network adapter up:
-  $ ifup $WLAN_NIC
-check $IP_ADDRESS:
-  $ ip addr
-test:
-  $ ping -c 3 $SOME_HOST
+See the [[Network_Configuration#_masquerading_nat_with_tt_span_class_monospaced_iptables_span_tt Masquerading (NAT) section of the Network Configuration article]]
-== restarting network ==
+=== Bridge Port ===
-if a connection hasn't been made consider the following commands:
-  # /etc/init.d/networking restart
-  #wpa_action $WLAN_NIC reload
-  # /etc/init.d/network-manager restart
+Note, as Access Points (APs) will reject frames that have a source address that didn’t authenticate with the AP. This is a problem with Linux Bridges as they transparently forward the network packets with the original source address of the CT or VM, but the AP only knows about the host source address, so it rejects those packets.
-* full reboot consistently works
+You can try to still add the wireless interface directly as bridge port by [https://wiki.debian.org/BridgeNetworkConnections#Bridging_with_a_wireless_NIC using extra ebtable rules to rewrite the source MAC address].
-= references =
-* https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse
-* https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1238387
-* http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?t=17199
-* https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/WPA_supplicant#Configuration
-* https://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/plain/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf