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Connect to home broadband router with a Nanobridge M2 radio & Linux laptop

This works: laptop wlan0 --> open guest SSID of router This fails: laptop eth0 --> Nanobridge radio --> guest SSID of router

Q: What DNS/Gateway/DHCP settings on a linux laptop are needed to connect to a home broadband router via a Nanobridge M2 radio?

Details:

Inside the house, I can easily connect from my Linux laptop wlan0 to either my 5Ghz or 2.5Ghz open "guest" network (Netgear 600N router) serving DHCP addresses. All I have to do is click on the guest SSID that shows up in the laptop GUI, and I associate, and can get on the web. a) "ifconfig" shows DHCP working 'cuz the wlan0 port is 192.168.1.# b) "route -n" shows the "gateway" is working as 192.168.1.1 c) "ping google.com" shows DNS is working, essentially by 'magic'

However, outside the house, the laptop signal on its own is too weak, but I get a whopping -46dBm from a spare Nanobridge M2 pointing at the home broadband router!

But, with the Nanobridge pointed at the house and with the laptop connected to the Nanobridge via the laptop eth0 ethernet port, I can't get the gateway to the very same network working right, nor does DNS seem to work.

I can only 'associate' with the router SSID (see screenshot here):

formatting link
DHCP, the gateway, and DNS appear to not work for some reason.

Here's what I did to get DHCP/gateway/DNS working: a) DHCP ==> $ sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.254 sudo route add default gw 192.168.1.1 eth0 c) DNS ==> sudo vi /etc/resolv.conf nameserver 8.8.8.8 nameserver 4.2.2.2 nameserver 4.2.2.30

I must be missing something obvious because:

  1. I shouldn't have to set all these things manually
  2. I don't really know WHAT I need to set on Linux to get on the net
  3. I don't understand why the nanobridge can associate but the laptop won't be on the net

PS: The home broadband router has NAT enabled but I wasn't sure if the nanobridge NAT needed to be on so I tried both ways but I'm confused if I want NAT enabled or disabled on the radio for a connection to the net to work.

Any advice?

Reply to
James Gagney
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It's difficult to answer with knowing the topology of the Nanobridge. The name suggests that it bridges everything together, in which case you would be transparently connected to your home broadband router. However it doesn't sound like it is bridged if you can't see your home router network through it.

Actually I've just looked at your screenshot and it says "Network mode: router" which explains why it isn't working how you think it should be working.

Reply to
alexd

This Nanobridge M2 is an 18dBi parabolic antenna & a 200mW (I think) transceiver which I previously used to connect to a WISP.

Connected to the WISP, it was set up in router mode (to protect the WISP's network), so I figured it should be in router mode when connected to my home broadband router.

But, if it needs to be set up in bridge mode, that's OK too. The only problem I have is that I 'think' it 'should' work in router mode also.

Maybe not. Maybe that's the problem.

In router mode it easily associates with my broadband router SSID - but it doesn't get on the net.

So I guess the first advice is the generic simple question:

QUESTION: Q: What is the recommended way to set up this radio?

Reply to
James Gagney

I understand I need to set the radio as a "Bridge" because:

- The bridge makes everything one network

- The bridge uses the upstream dhcp server & dns server

- The bridge sends all packets through

Setting the radio as a router separates networks & requires its own configuration of dhcp server/dns servers, which didn't work for me.

I think both use the same gateway setting, so now I have to figure out how to set up the laptop to talk to the bridge.

Reply to
James Gagney

Station WDS for a transparent bridge.

Reply to
mcrose

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