TuxMobil: Linux and Wireless LAN Access Points (Routers)

Access Point Applications

ezRadius

ezRadius is a Web-based management application for FreeRADIUS and chillispot. It's easy, simple, and expandable. The main aim is to provide a wireless administrator with a simple way to manage wireless clients. FreeRADIUS must be configured to use MySQL as a backend.

WEP Key Changer

WEP key changer (WepKC) is a client/server application to protect ad-hoc (point to point) wireless networks when no sophisticated protocols like WPA are available, due to software or hardware limitations. It simply and randomly changes the WEP key after a specified amount of time.

Wi-Viz

Running on a Linksys WRT54G or compatible router powered by the Linux firmware OpenWRT, Wi-viz places the wireless apparatus into a special monitor mode that doesn't interfere with the operation of the router. Here it sits, examining all wireless packets coming into the interface and extracting valuable information about the surrounding wireless infrastructure. With an intuitive Web interface, it exposes this information in a simple, easy-to-use, self-arranging graphical format.

ePoint HotSpot

ePoint HotSpot is a firmware for wireless routers based on OpenWRT with some ePointy extensions and an ePoint-branded UI theme. It is distributed as a stand-alone flashable firmware-image, as a set of extension packages for OpenWRT, pre-installed on wireless routers, and in source code. It is aimed primarily at catering businesses, Internet caf\303\251s, and medium-sized communities (e.g. residential co-ops) wishing to share their Internet connection on a fair basis. The primary target hardware is WRT54GL by Linksys.

OpenWrt

OpenWrt is a Linux distribution for wireless routers. Instead of trying to cram every possible feature into one firmware, it provides only a minimal firmware with support for add-on packages. For users, this means the ability to custom-tune features, removing unwanted packages to make room for other packages. For developers, it means being able to focus on packages without having to test and release an entire firmware.

FreeWRT

FreeWRT is a meta GNU/Linux distribution for embedded systems. In this context "meta" means, you can build the complete distribution from source. FreeWRT is meant to be an appliance development kit (ADK) especially designed for embedded system developers and advanced users.

X-wrt

X-wrt is a set of packages and patches to enhance the end user experience of OpenWrt. It is NOT a fork of OpenWrt.

Freetz

Freetz is a free firmware modification for the AVM Fritz!Box and similar devices, which provides additional features and individual configuration.

Fritz!WRT

Fritz!WRT is a set of patches to make the OpenWRT trunk run on AVMs Fritz!Box. Much progress has been made in recent OpenWRT revisions in the AR7 port, but it's still not running on the Fritz!Box. The patches also have the potential to make the T-Com SpeedPort run, because its hardware is very similar to that of the Fritz!Box. There are patches for the bootloader, LED support, and watchdog support, as well as KGDB support.

Zone-CD

Public IP's ZoneCD is freely distributed open source software that has been created to help implement safe, free, WiFi hotspots. The ZoneCD can be used by all levels of free WiFi providers, from experienced programmers to coffee house cashiers. Setting up a free WiFi Hotspot can be as easy as hooking up an access point, popping in a CD and rebooting.

cqure ap

cqure ap is a "one floppy" wireless access point. It supports Prism 2-based wireless adapters and most of the 10/100 ethernet PCMCIA and PCI adapters supported by Linux.

WISP-Dist

WISP-Dist is a modular embedded Linux distribution for wireless routers, but can be used for other purposes as well. The entire system fits in 8 MB flash/16 MB RAM. Highlights include an easy-to-use menu interface, commandline access, an Access Point mode (on selected cards), OSPF/RIPv2, bandwidth shaping, NAT, Layer 3 (proxy arp) bridging, and other goodies. The goal is to create an open, customizable, and easy-to-use solution for wireless routers. WISP-Dist is part of the LEAF project.

WLAN Guardian

WLAN Guardian is a wireless access point software based on OpenBSD.

HermesAP

HermesAP is a package containing Orinoco driver patches and tertiary firmware extraction/upload utilities to switch Hermes/Airport WaveLAN cards to BSS master (AccessPoint) mode under Linux.

hostap

hostap is a software access point driver for Prism2 based 802.11b cards . The driver supports a so called Host AP mode, i.e., it takes care of IEEE 802.11 management functions in the host computer and acts as an access point. This does not require any special firmware for the wireless LAN card. In addition to this, it has support for normal station operations in BSS and possible also in IBSS.

Wireless Access Point Utilites for Unix

Wireless Access Point Utilites for Unix a set of utilites to configure and monitor Wireless Access Points under Unix using SNMP protocol. Utilites knownly compiles by GCC and IBM C compiler and run under Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, MacOS-X, AIX, QNX, OpenBSD.

WAP11GUI

WAP11GUI is an SNMP management application for the Linksys WAP11 wireless access point. It provides a Unix/Linux user with a graphical, Qt-based interface with which to configure and manage a WAP11 AP over a LAN.

Access Point SNMP Config

Access Point SNMP Conf is an ncurses-based utility to configure Access Points based on Atmel chipset via the SNMP protocol (the case for most Intersil clone vendors).

gwap11

gwap11 manages your Linksys WAP11 Access Point.

airconf

airconf is a tool for configuring the Access Control Lists in several Apple Airport Base Stations at once. This means you can have a central file with all the MAC addresses which should be allowed on your wireless network and using a cronjob or a makefile you can keep the ACLs in your Airport Bases up do date with minimum hassle. airconf is also a Python framework for detecting Apple Airport Base Stations (White and Graphite), and reading, printing, and changing their configurtation (only Graphite).

Airport Control

Airport Control is a Unix command-line utility to control an Apple Airport.

AirPort Base Station / RG-1000 Configurator

AirPort Base Station / RG-1000 Configurator Modem Utility, Wireless Link Test Utility, Wireless Host Monitoring Utility, AirPort Port Inspector and AirPort IP Inspector.

AirReceiver

AirReceiver is a software implementation of the AirTunes/RAOP protocol used by iTunes and iOS to stream audio to AirPort Express access points and selected AirTunes-capable receivers.

RG1000 Dialer

rg1000 dialer is a command line utility for connecting or disconnecting an RG-1000 or Apple Airport from your ISP.

SNR Monitor

SNR monitor allows network administrators to collect, store in an RRDatabase, and view link quality gauges (packet-loss, signal and noice levels) from all wireless (802.11) links of their wireless access point devices.

WeWiMo (Web WiFi Monitor)

WeWiMo (Web WiFi Monitor) is a script for monitoring computers connected to access point running Linux and hostap WiFi card driver (ZCom XI-626).

Samsung 4510-Based APs

SlashDot reports: "Some Belgian linux hackers met this week-end to hack some wireless access points based on the samsung4510 chip . They have succeeded in compiling and booting a uClinux kernel on a Dlink 614ap+, which is equipped with the infamous acx100 wireless chipset . There's still some work to do, but if you want to help, open your 22mbps AP and try to built your own JTAG adaptor to get access to the flash..."

WifiCom SAB Gateway

SAB Gateway is a versatile WLAN access controller implemented in Perl and requires only a low-performance linux computer to run, which also makes it embeddable into small Internet access devices.

di624stats.pl

di624stats.pl is a script that screen-scrapes data transfer statistics from a D-Link DI-624 wireless router and updates an RRDtool database with the results. It includes a sample rrdcgi script for producing traffic graphs.

WLAN Cracking

Pyrit

Pyrit takes a step ahead in attacking WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK, the protocols that protect today's public WiFi-airspace. Pyrit's implementation allows you to create massive databases, pre-computing part of the WPA/WPA2-PSK authentication phase in a space-time-tradeoff. The performance gain for real-world-attacks is in the range of three orders of magnitude, which urges for re-consideration of the protocol's security. It exploits the computational power of multiple cores and other platforms through ATI-Stream, Nvidia CUDA, OpenCL, and VIA Padlock.

coWAPtty

coWPAtty is a Brute-force dictionary attack against WPA-PSK.

Linux Based Access Points

Sputnik AP220

LinuxDevices : "Sputnik is shipping a new wireless access point (AP) that runs Linux, and works with its carrier-class wireless network management software. The AP 220 is based on uClinux, and targets WISPs (wireless Internet service providers) with hotspots in motels, restaurants, and other public places. Find out all about the Sputnik AP 220 and Sputnik's Control Center software, in our complete Device Profile."

Possio PX30

The Possio PX30 is a programmable Linux-based wireless router featuring WLAN, Bluetooth, OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative), and Java support.

Wrap Multiradio Access Server

The Wrap Multiradio Access Server from Bluegiga Technologies is a Linux-based network bridge that connects bluetooth-enabled devices such as smartphones with GPRS networks and IP networks such as VoIP, corporate intranets, and/or the Internet.

LinkSys WRT54G

Linksys has released the GPLed source for Linux running on their WRT54G .

myWRT

myWRT is an OpenWR- based, highly configurable firmware build system for the Linksys WRT54G/GS and other routers that OpenWRT supports.

HyperWRT

HyperWRT is power-boosting firmware for the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS routers. Its goal is to add a limited set of features to the latest Linksys firmware, extending its possibilities but staying close to the official firmware.

Ewrt

Ewrt is a Linux distribution for the Linksys WRT54G that was forked from the Linksys and Sveasoft code bases. It is designed to meet the needs of open wireless network operators by providing a captive portal based on NoCatSplash and large-scale management functionality on a stable and low-cost platform.

wap54g-log

wap54g-log listens on the syslog port for communications from a Linksys WAP54G (and possibly other Linksys access points). The log data sent by the access point is currently logged to the console.

D-link DI-624 Wireless Router Syslog Utility

D-link DI-624 Wireless Router Syslog Utility pulls the log from a D-Link DI-624 Wireless Router, makes them prettier, and pushes them into the local syslog facility. This makes it easy to grep and manipulate the data to your needs.

D-Link ADSL Router

D-Link has released source code, under the GNU GPL license, for a MIPS-based ADSL router DSL-G604T with a built-in four-port switch and wireless 802.11g/b radio.

Access Point Distributions

wrt54g-linux

wrt54g-linux is a mini-distribution for the LinkSys WRT54G 802.11b/g access point and router. It includes basic tools such as sh, syslog, telnetd, httpd (with cgi-bin support), vi, snort, mount, insmod, rmmod, top, grep, find, nfs modules, etc. The installation script runs in about 20 seconds and installs strictly to the RAM disk. If you mess anything up, simply reset the box. After installing the distribution you'll be able to telnet in, add Web pages, change iptable rules, change routing, configure snort, etc.

WifiWare

WifiWare is a custom mini Slackware distribution intended for WiFi routers, VPN servers, and file servers. A full install will take about 490 MB of disk space. It includes the linux-wlan-ng package with support for major WiFi chipsets. Other utilities and drivers include rt2500 drivers, rt2400 drivers, rt2570 drivers, Unreal IRC server, bridge-utils, glftpd, kismet, webmin, and more.

SelfMade Access Points

"Using a Unix computer as a 802.11 wireless base station "If you have an Internet connection, and wish to access it using 802.11 wireless LAN cards, then one way to do this is to purchase a specialized 802.11 "Access Point" - e.g., Apple's "AirPort" - and connect this to your Internet connection. Alternatively, you can use a Unix computer as a base station. Using an open system for your base station gives you more flexibility in how you manage the network - for instance, you can also use the Unix system for specialized access control, statistics gathering, DNS, web caching, etc. etc. (Besides, if you already have a Unix system, then it's cheaper to use this, rather than buying a separate, dedicated Access Point.) This page summarizes the experience in getting a FreeBSD and Linux computer to act as a base station for a 802.11 wireless LAN. This should also be possible for other Unix systems (e.g., OpenBSD, Solaris). (It might also be possible with non-Unix systems such as Windows NT and Windows 2000, as they, too, can act as a router.) "

Configuring a FreeBSD Access Point for your Wireless Network "An access point is akin to a cell phone tower - it's a link from the wireless LAN to the wired network and the Internet beyond. Many commercial access points are available, even integrated with a cable modem or DSL router and firewall. ... This article describes how to configure a PC running FreeBSD to serve as an access point (AP) for your wireless network."

Honey Pots

Fake AP

Black Alchemy's Fake AP generates thousands of counterfeit 802.11b access points. It allows you to hide in plain sight amongst Fake AP's cacophony of beacon frames. As part of a honeypot or as an instrument of your site security plan, Fake AP confuses wardrivers, netstumblers, script kiddies, and other undesirables.

Raw Fake AP

Raw Fake AP is a program that emulates valid IEEE 802.11 access points using wireless raw injection. It aims to create both beacon and probe response frames and could be used to "hide" real networks from novice wardrivers or for testing wireless intrusion detection systems.

TorAP HOWTO

TOR accesspoint You have an open accesspoint but are worried that somehow the behaviour of guests can get in trouble. With TorAp whatever your guests does will not be traced back to you.

IPW2200/2915 AP

IPW2200/2915 AP for Linux is an open source 802.11 b/g access point driver for the ipw2200 and ipw2915.

Apps for Linux PDAs

OHS Mobile

OHS Mobile holds the complete database on your Palm so that you may find a HotSpot wherever you are... The key features are a search for HotSpot name and the city a HotSpot is located in and a "browse" mode that you already now from this website. The database contains all relevant information like the location, the network and WLAN settings. OHS Mobile also supports beaming the database to another PalmOS handheld so that you can beam it to your friends. Beside the own search OHS Mobile also supports the global search of the PalmOS. It is a little bit more inflexible than the search within the software itself (by using the standard Palm procedures it does only find the searchstring in the beginning of HotSpot names and cities. This is done to speedup global searches). Just download the software archive and install OHSmobile.prc with your favorite sync app (Windows/Mac users use Palm Desktop and Linux users may want to try "pilot-xfer -i OHSmobile.prc").

Linux and Wireless LAN Accesspoints - User Reports

ASUS WL-700gE

Apple AirPort Base Station - ABS	ucLinux
ASUS WL-500G	Linux
ASUS WL-500G Deluxe	OpenWRT
ASUS WL-700ge	Linux
Buffalo WHR-G54S	OpenWRT
D-Link DI-524 (DWL-922G Starter Kit)	Linux
D-Link DWL-2000AP Extreme-G	Linux
FON La Fonera	OpenWRT
LinkGear LG100	Linux
LinkSys WRT54G	DD-WRT
LinkSys WRT54G	DD-WRT 23
LinkSys WRT54G5 CFE	OpenWRT
LinkSys WRT54GL	Linux
LinkSys WRT54GS	OpenWRT	French
LinkSys WRT54GS	OpenWRT RC 5, 6
Netgear WGT634U	Debian Etch
Orinoco AP-500	Linux
SMC 2655	Linux, SNMP, MIB

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Free Applications for WireLess Portals

Linux LiveCD Hotspot Server

Linux LiveCD Hotspot Server is a live CD for WiFi hotspots that features auto-configuration of end users, a splash Web page, and commercial support. It supports both wired and wireless users, pre-paid cards with time limits and support for monthly users, an integrated firewall, and support for external APs or multiple PCI, PCMCIA, or USB WiFi cards per computer.

PayPal Wifi PrePaid

PayPal Wifi PrePaid integrates with Chillispot and FreeRADIUS and PayPal. This package allows the customer to choose how much time they wish to purchase, processes the payment with PayPal, then creates their username and password automatically, and updates the SQL radius tables with the proper credentials and time. This script is easy to setup, but the user must have knowledge of Chillispot, provide their own login page, have a PayPal account, and have FreeRADIUS setup to read from MySQL.

PlayBilling

PlayBilling is a billing system for internet cafes and wireless hotspot providers, mostly written in Java. It features tariff management, prepaid, postpaid, and discounts, user management, and an extensive reporting system.

Kismet on the Linksys WRT54G

This HOWTO explains using Kismet on the Linksys WRT54G WLAN Accesspoint .

Gargoyle Router Management Utility

Gargoyle is an interface for small, widely available routers such as the Linksys WRT54G series and the La Fonera. It provides functionality above and beyond what the default software provides including sophisticated dynamic DNS, quality of service, and bandwidth monitoring tools. The primary goal is to provide a polished interface for these advanced tools that is at least as easy to configure as any existing firmware. This project is based on top of OpenWrt, but unlike other Web interfaces for OpenWrt it places a strong focus an usability and is meant for average users, not just power users.

WiFi Scanners

"WiFi-Finder" OpenSource Replacement Firmware

This is an OpenSource replacement firmware for the WiFi-Finder (a.k.a. Wi-Fi Detector). The device is based on an Atmel Mega168 microcontroller and a ZyDAS (Atheros) ZD1211B wireless MAC chip. The In-System-Programming (ISP) data lines of the Mega168 are available at a standard 6-pin header on the microcontroller printed circuitry board.

Free Firmware for WireLess Routers

DD-WRT

DD-WRT is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many ieee802.11a/b/g/h/n wireless routers based on a Broadcom or Atheros chip reference design.

Tomato

Tomato is a small, lean and simple replacement firmware for Linksys' WRT54G/GL/GS, Buffalo WHR-G54S/WHR-HP-G54 and other Broadcom-based routers. It features a new easy to use GUI, a new bandwidth usage monitor, more advanced QOS and access restrictions, enables new wireless features such as WDS and wireless client modes, raises the limits on maximum connections for P2P, allows you to run your custom scripts or telnet/ssh in and do all sorts of things like re-program the SES/AOSS button, adds wireless site survey to see your wifi neighbors, and more.

Other Resources

Related Books

Mike Outmesguine: Wi-Fi Toys - 15 Cool Wireless Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment, 2004

Wi-Fi Toys From the Publisher: "This ultra-cool volume invites readers to tap into your inner geek and build seventeen ultra-cool wireless devices including a solar powered access point, a wireless picture frame that dynamically changes its own photos, and even a wireless car-to-car audio and video system * With a few simple tools, some off-the-shelf parts, and this book, readers will be creating wireless devices they never thought were possible-toys that certainly can't be found at the local computer store."

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Linux and Wireless LAN Access Points (Routers) - WLAN APs