Suse 11 as a router

[Rune]

Hi

I'm trying to set up a suse 11 box as a router using a usb wi-fi adaptor for it's internet connection and an ethernet for the actual routing

I won't type a long list of everything I've tried yet but just ask if there's anyone here who has used a suse box a router before and be willing to help me get mine working first

If there is anyone that can help I'll post what I have so far and someone may be able to tell me where I'm going wrong

Cheers

Rune

[gogalthorp]

This article is dated but should give you a general direction

Cool Solutions: HOW-TO: Set Up a SUSE 10 Machine As a Router

[Rune]

Thanks for replying gogalthorp

I had previously looked at that howto and it fails at the very first hurdle, here's why

It starts out by telling you to set the two adaptors to get their addresses from dhcp, and the one that grabs the internet connection is then used as your external card

My problem here is that the net connection has to be handled by wi-fi and the only device I have available to use for this is a usb one, and try as I might I cannot get that device to connect to the net using dhcp

I am using ifup as well as wpa and it connects fine using static addressing, but with dhcp it connects to the wireless network but doesn't get an ip and hence no internet, see the output below:

On restarting the network after applying dhcp:

    eth0      device: ADMtek NC100 Network Everywhere Fast Ethernet 10/100 (rev 11)                                                                  done
    wlan0                                                            done
Shutting down service network  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . done.
Hint: you may set mandatory devices in /etc/sysconfig/network/config
Setting up network interfaces:
    lo
    lo        IP address: 127.0.0.1/8
              IP address: 127.0.0.2/8                                done
    eth0      device: ADMtek NC100 Network Everywhere Fast Ethernet 10/100 (rev 11)                                                                  done
    wlan0
    wlan0     warning: WPA configured but may be unsupported
    wlan0     warning: by this device
    wlan0     starting wpa_supplicant
WEXT auth param 4 value 0x0 - ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
dhclient is already running for some interface. Stop it first.
If you want to run dhcp on several  interfaces, please use dhcpcd.   done
Setting up service network  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . done.
SuSEfirewall2: Setting up rules from /etc/sysconfig/SuSEfirewall2 ...
SuSEfirewall2: using default zone 'ext' for interface wmaster0
SuSEfirewall2: batch committing...
SuSEfirewall2: Firewall rules successfully set

Ping the netgear router supplying the internet connection and:

ping 192.168.0.1
connect: Network is unreachable


The output iwconfig gives for the device:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"RuneWraith"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:1F:33:83:E9:C0
          Bit Rate=12 Mb/s   Tx-Power=27 dBm
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B
          Encryption key:5055-CC15-505F-0ADA-BA3A-D64D-C67A-A499-9785-F987-7DEB-B644-9942-6F58-C97D-9192 [2]
          Link Quality=73/100  Signal level=-42 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

The output from ifconfig:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:04:5A:74:B7:CF
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1492  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:5 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:10
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:16 Base address:0xec00

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:42 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:42 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:2708 (2.6 Kb)  TX bytes:2708 (2.6 Kb)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0E:2E:47:E1:BC
          inet6 addr: fe80::20e:2eff:fe47:e1bc/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1492  Metric:1
          RX packets:9 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1178 (1.1 Kb)  TX bytes:2040 (1.9 Kb)

wmaster0  Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-0E-2E-47-E1-BC-31-62-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

The entry for wlanmaster0 I suspect comes from an old pci wi-fi device in there that I can't find a working driver for

A little extra info:

The router handling the net connection is a netgear rangemax at 192.168.0.1

There used to be another rangemax at 192.168.0.2 but this has been removed and the box I'm trying to set up is meant to replace it

There's another suse 11 box at 192.168.0.3 running a few server apps including bind for dns which handles dns for local machines (those that stay on the lan permanently at least) as well a few http domains and subdomains

There are a number of other machines, but none of them are running anything of consequence for the purposes of this and they all connect statically using addresses outside the range the rangemax can supply as dhcp

[Rune]

Oh well

Don't seem to be any ideas forthcoming and I'm fresh out of them myself

Think the only answer might be to try another distro

Does anyone know of any good ones that are specifically meant to be used as a firewall/router?

[whych]

Have a look at smoothwall.org. It should allow wifi and will runas a firewall router on an old pentium machine with a small hdd. (I use a 2 gb flash drive in mine)

[Rune]

I looked at smoothwall yesterday mate

Doesn't detect any of the wi-fi devices I have available and because of this the installion process won't allow me to progress past the network setup section

Their documentation as good as says they don't like wi-fi, so I'm not expecting them to bundle much wi-fi firmware anytime soon ... nor make any other kind of allowances for anyone wanting to supply the net connection anytime soon

quote 'linux support for wireless is crap anyway' unquote ... strangely I have around half a dozen wireless devices here that I've had working flawlessly on numerous linux boxes with wpa encryption and without having to resort to using ndiswrapper ... maybe I've just been lucky

The thing is if I can't supply the internet connection to the box with wi-fi it makes the whole exercise pointless, and I've been able to find virtually no information on using wi-fi as the external adaptor

If it were feasible to use a cable for the external connection I wouldn't need to set up the machine as a router in the first place, I could just use the same cable for the hub I would be connecting to the router in the first place, or simply use a spare netgear rangemax I have to 'extend' the network

It's damned annoying ... but I ain't giving up yet!

[saivin]

Oh well

Don't seem to be any ideas forthcoming and I'm fresh out of them myself

Think the only answer might be to try another distro

Does anyone know of any good ones that are specifically meant to be used as a firewall/router?

I don't know the answer to your question but would like you to stick with suse. Not that I like it very much but it would be more gratifying to get work done by the current distro than to go behind that elusive 'best' distro.

Did you try with opensuse's official forum? Somebody there may help you. Read this thread: Setting up a router on suse 11 - openSUSE Forums.

[Rune]

Saivin I posted here mate after a lack of useful responses on forums.opensuse.org

I'm quite a regular poster on there, helped out many a person over the years, not as this username though because someone who never posts already has it registered

The most prolific responder on my thread there was someone insisting his internet connection works fine ... don't think he understood the issue

I'm just thinkin that a router/firewall dedicated distro may have a better chance of handling what I'm trying to do than a more general one ... or at least take the configuration better

Nothing I've tried so far seems to like using wi-fi for the external net connection though, it's a bit frustrating because I really can't see why it shouldn't be 'doable'

I have debian installing with two ethernet cards at the minute, am gonna try it with those cards and bring the wi-fi in later

There is a possibility it's something I need to change in the netgear router, though I've been through everything and nothing jumps out at me

If it works with two nic cards I'll put it down to wi-fi, if it doesn't I'll be posting a support ticket with netgear to see if they know anything that needs changing in the particular router model I have

Ideally an adsl modem would be the thing to test with but I don't have one here at the moment

I'm afraid it's a case of plugging away until I either get it working or accept it just isn't gonna work with the equipment I have available

[whych]

Rune
I know you pooh-poohed my idea of using smoothwall, but what are you wanting to do with the setup?
If you add a networrk card, smoothwall will work, and complete installation.
Since you know that you can add the drivers for the wireless net, install first and then add the drivers.. Now go back and reconfigure the network.
Smoothwall don't want to support wireless because they want a rock solid firewall that is easily installable and securre. The average joe doesn't know that much about routing and firewalls and wants an easy and secure setup.
I have used smoothwall since its first release and never had a problem. The plus side is thaat it doesn't need all the extra horsepower and will run on an old pc.
Add a couple of network card to an old pc and install. Then add the wifi drivers and reconfigure.
Smoothwall relies on at least 2 network cards to work - one makes the internet connection, the other for internal.
(quick thought - this may be your problem: you need to either assign 2 separate addresses to the present setup or, preferably supply 2 network cards on separate networks for the routing to work.

[Rune]

whych if I sounded like I was pooh-poohing smoothwall it was unintentional

I know it's an excellent piece of software

The problem for my purposes is it refuses to install using one nic card and one wi-fi card, so I can't install it and then set up wireless later as you suggest

As for what I'm trying to do, perhaps a little explanation of the environment would make it clearer


My house is considerably larger than average and also had an old shop attached, there is much building work in the process of being done, and to be done before it will properly suit the purposes for which I bought it

There are two rooms needing internet access which are A too far apart for running cables and B the nature of the building work prohibits the use of a cable to link the two at this present time anyway

To get around this I want to connect a computer (or any other device that can handle it) in the room without the internet connection to the netgear router providing the internet connection in the other room using wi-fi

This computer (or other device) then needs to act as a router to supply both net and lan connections to whatever other computers I may be working on in the room without the net connection

That room will eventually be a shop with it's own connection, so this is an interim measure

At present I am having to use usb wi-fi adaptors on every computer I work on in there which means a lot of installing an uninstalling devices for temporary usage

For simplicity and time-saving I want to be able to just plug a cable into any computers I'm working on and let them connect via dhcp and the only way I can see to do this is to connect a computer to the existing network via wi-fi and have that machine supply routing for any other computers in there through a hub

Something like this

Netgear router - wi-fi - linux box as router - hub - any other machines

I do already have a suse box running things like application, backup, dns, ftp, mail, samba and web servers and if I can get the router box setup as I need it I may even move all these over so it's all on the one machine

But I have to get over the hurdle of wi-fi for the external internet connection first, I don't have a spare pci ethernet card to use for installation purposes then reverting to wi-fi later