Access point mode

Digi Embedded Yocto uses the hostapd package to manage the software access point (SoftAP) mode. When configured in this mode, client stations can connect to the device to communicate with other stations on the same Basic Service Set (BSS). The default configuration includes soft AP mode by adding a wlan1 entry in the /etc/network/interfaces. The hostapd daemon is started when the interface is brought up and stopped when it is brought down.

Digi Embedded Yocto provides a mechanism to support a different configuration file per wireless interface, allowing you to run multiple hostapd instances at the same time.

The init scrip /etc/init.d/hostapd automatically selects the appropriate configuration file /etc/hostapd_wlanX.conf (where X is the index of the wlan interface) to each interface.

Note The hostapd package provides a default configuration file /etc/hostapd.conf as a reference for the different available settings. This file is not used by Digi Embedded Yocto init scripts.

See http://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/tree/hostapd/hostapd.conf for a reference of all hostapd configuration options.

For example, a static wlan1 configuration entry configured in SoftAP mode would be:

/etc/network/interfaces 
auto wlan1
iface wlan1 inet static
        address 192.168.46.30
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        post-up /etc/init.d/hostapd start
        pre-down /etc/init.d/hostapd stop

This configures wlan1 to run the init script /etc/init.d/hostapd. This script launches the hostapd daemon using the configuration file /etc/hostapd_wlan1.conf. SoftAP configuration examples are described below.

802.11a/n/ac WPA2-PSK authentication with CCMP/AES encryption

This is the default configuration used by Digi Embedded Yocto.

/etc/hostapd_wlan1.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
ctrl_interface_group=0                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
interface=wlan1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
driver=nl80211                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
# WPA2-AES encryption                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
ssid=ap-wlan1-wpa2aes-a                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
auth_algs=1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
wpa=2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
wpa_pairwise=CCMP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
wpa_passphrase=password-wpa2aes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
# IEEE 802.11ac channel 36                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
hw_mode=a                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
channel=36                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
ieee80211ac=1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
ieee80211n=1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

802.11b/g/n WPA2-PSK authentication with CCMP/AES encryption

/etc/hostapd_wlan1.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
ctrl_interface_group=0                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
interface=wlan1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
driver=nl80211                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
# WPA2-AES encryption                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
ssid=ap-wlan1-wpa2aes-n                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
auth_algs=1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
wpa=2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
wpa_pairwise=CCMP                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
wpa_passphrase=password-wpa2aes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
# IEEE 802.11n auto channel                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
hw_mode=g                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
channel=10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
ieee80211n=1