On 2015-08-08 15:11, Quartz wrote: > You can't install much of anything on an access point, it's basically > just a bridge. They only have one ethernet port on the back and like > maybe a couple megs of ram if that, enough to handle basic > password/encryption and not much else. They have about the same > reliability issues as an unmanaged ethernet switch (ie; not a lot). [...] > Personally I wouldn't recommend buying a wifi router to turn it into a > wap, but that's because it's a waste of money. Repurposing an old one is > fine, as is buying a new wap. I've seen plenty of people do this and > these things have run flawlessly for years.
I have a few of these: http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/cat-5066_TL-WA901ND.html and these: http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/cat-5066_TL-WA801ND.html Super cheap access points (the 801 is virtually the same as the 901 except it's only got two antennas so isn't as good in noisy environments or at longer distances), but they work very well and have been extremely reliable. I use a couple as access points and some as wireless bridges between buildings using directional antennas. They've also got the cool feature to able to run up to four different network SSID:s, each getting their own VLAN out on the ethernet cable. I use that to have one network for my own handheld devices with full access to my servers, one for guests with limited access out to the Internet only and one open "honey pot" network that I'm having fun with to see who tries to get internet access with any open wlan they can find. Surprisingly many, in fact... but they're only greeted with a web page with bright red background that says "Hey, get your own net." :-) I have one hooked up to my home Soekris firewall (running OpenBSD of course), and it works perfectly. Only drawback is as someone mentioned that it's now two units with two power cables and one ethernet cable between the two (although the AP's do support PoE). A bit of a dust collecting arrangement, but apart from that I'm as happy as can be. You may not have exactly the same flexibility as when running a hostap enabled wlan interface directly in the OpenBSD machine, but it's certainly good enough for my use cases. Regards, /Benny -- internetlabbet.se / work: +46 8 551 124 80 / "Words must Benny Lofgren / mobile: +46 70 718 11 90 / be weighed, / fax: +46 8 551 124 89 / not counted." / email: benny -at- internetlabbet.se
