Tutorial: Configuring pfSense as a WiFi Access Point

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  • Опубліковано 11 лют 2025
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    #pfsense #Firewalls

КОМЕНТАРІ • 50

  • @augurseer
    @augurseer 4 роки тому +9

    Tom. I was brought in by the title. Stayed for the humour. Great video as always. I have learned so much from you.

  • @williamhill7999
    @williamhill7999 2 роки тому

    BAM!! I'm in!! You have the freedom to set this wifi network with NO password. Perfection. Great Video thank you.

  • @thelonegunmanpb5273
    @thelonegunmanpb5273 4 роки тому +2

    Awsome videos. Created a pfsense with an hp t610 a few days ago with the help of the videos here. I was disapointed when the wifi card that came with it wanst compatible, untill i found out the one in my laptop was an atheros so i swapped them out for fun and worked like a charm. Altought performance isnt super. I find its great to have a second wifi. One with VPN connection and one without. I mostly use it for connecting my laptop within the same room.

  • @khalidloukili8069
    @khalidloukili8069 4 роки тому +9

    EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR !!! THANK YOU

    • @eastcoastmodz5195
      @eastcoastmodz5195 4 роки тому +1

      Agreed... I am buidling a PfSense router and wanted to use a Fenvi wifi card with other network cards in the build. Perfect! Thanks TOM!

    • @Temido2222
      @Temido2222 4 роки тому +2

      Please don't do this. Range is bad, support is nonexistant. Just pick up a cheap Ubiquiti AP or if you're strapped for cash slap wrt on an old router.

  • @dfitzy
    @dfitzy 4 роки тому +30

    Was expecting a very short video simply saying "don't" 😀

  • @MAbdilahi
    @MAbdilahi 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks Tom I have used TP-link pci e it worked perfectly

    • @te26706
      @te26706 2 роки тому

      which chipset you used skewer recognizes the interface but doesn't list like the others, can you tell me

  • @andarvidavohits4962
    @andarvidavohits4962 4 роки тому +7

    pfSense can make a decent AP if you can manage without 802.11ac. It is picky when it comes to the choice of card though - my best experience was with an Atheros AR9380. The 9380 is a 450Mbps beast which seems to be capable of 30dBm in the 2.4Ghz spectrum and 22 or 23 in 5Ghz. The pfSense wireless AP solution does require some patience and testing to set up and - truth be told - can't match the WRT1900ACS I'm using today, but It can be done. I've done way too much AP configuring on pfSense to learn anything new here, but I still appreciate the video, Tom! I see you haven't yet done a video on PPPoE on pfSense; It's not all that exciting a subject, but hey, I'd love to see a video about it!

    • @wiziek
      @wiziek 4 роки тому

      Then what is the point? 2,4gh/N is already borderline unusable in urban, dense populated areas, we already have Wifi 6/AX incoming or Wifi6E with 6ghz in the future.

    • @AFiB1999
      @AFiB1999 4 роки тому

      hey @andarvid Avohits, I have a quick question for you since you are kinda ninja on the AP Configuration on pf sense. Im trying to get an old Asus router rt-ac87r as a AP but I need more than one ssid for 4vlans I have. The only solution I have is to use this asus router and double net on pfsense. I dont want to go to unifi since it will require a controller to manage and create the vlans (yes I can run it on a vmware but I rather not) any pro advice you might have? Appreciate man

    • @andarvidavohits4962
      @andarvidavohits4962 4 роки тому +2

      @@AFiB1999 I appreciate the compliment but I'm no pro. An AP is like a wireless switch and there is a way to make hostapd show multiple SSIDs w/ different VLANs if there is h/w support, but the APs must all share the same channel. "In essence, each SSID needs a BSSID. In a standard single-SSID configuration, the BSSID of your wireless card is the same hex value as the burned-in MAC address of the card. Every SSID requires its own BSSID, so hostapd needs to be told how these should be generated." "[In the end] you'll have new interfaces like wlan0_0, wlan0_1 which correspond to each SSID. These can be assigned IP addresses and routed or masqueraded with iptables - whatever you wish."

    • @andarvidavohits4962
      @andarvidavohits4962 4 роки тому +1

      @@AFiB1999 "Optionally, the local MAC ACL list (accept_mac_file) can be used to set static client MAC address to VLAN ID mapping." The quoted text is obviously not my own - Googling it should reveal the sources so I'd rather not post the giant URLs. Another source you will find useful is "Setup a Virtual SSID with hostapd by Renaud Cerrato". Since pfSense uses hostapd, the above trickery should be doable within pfSense's shell (w/ the right h/w) but I'd suggest a separate Linux/BSD host none the less.

    • @bcboncs
      @bcboncs Рік тому

      @@andarvidavohits4962 how's your diy AP going these days? I'm looking to do this with opnsense and I believe I first must find a NIC that supports AP - the one you posted is a bit outdated and only supports AP on 2.4 GHz according to one review, I was hoping for a Main SSID and Guest SSID. Any hardware recommendations or pointers to get me in the right direction? Thank you sir!

  • @marianistefanoj
    @marianistefanoj 2 роки тому

    Guests Wifi at home or just something fun to bother the neighbor while sometimes they try go 'earn free wifi' with a 'free bad wifi connection', thanks for the video, :D, greetings and best wishes from Brazil.

  • @jonathangrande6840
    @jonathangrande6840 4 роки тому

    I managed to get it working in client mode. Took a while using trial and error for find settings would automatically reconnect after a reboot. Using it to wifi tether to my cell phone makes a decent backup connection. That said, I'd only recommend doing this if you already have a wifi card in your pfsense box.

  • @henninb
    @henninb 3 роки тому

    I was able to get a wifi working. Thanks for the video.

  • @Barnacules
    @Barnacules Рік тому

    Is it best to buy Access Points and throw them in gateway mode and attach them to an RJ45 or just buy USB 3.0 WiFi cards and configure all the WiFi stuff under PFSense iyho?

    • @LAWRENCESYSTEMS
      @LAWRENCESYSTEMS  Рік тому +1

      UniFi Access points are relatively inexpensive and would be an even better option.

  • @CheekyMiner
    @CheekyMiner 11 місяців тому

    If you installed PFSENSE on a Sophos XG device with wifi, are you able to to add more than one SSID?

  • @Namoor4
    @Namoor4 3 роки тому

    As my pfsense Box is based in the cellar, which is actutally a dead zone for WiFi and comes with 2 Antennas already installed... this could may be used for connecting WiFi devices in the cellar to some other devices like for homa automatization or so...

  • @AntonioGarcia-gi7sm
    @AntonioGarcia-gi7sm 3 роки тому

    Is it possible to link the guest vlan to the pfsense as a wifi access point?

  • @jerrycrumety1571
    @jerrycrumety1571 4 роки тому +1

    Interesting, I wonder if I can just block all access to Pfsense on the LAN ports and just use this as a management connection from the laptop

  • @rcdenis1
    @rcdenis1 4 роки тому +4

    "... because you can." The only reason!

  • @waqasbabar4899
    @waqasbabar4899 4 роки тому +1

    Sir I've a question you use external wireless card as internal in PCI slot .. can it work when I use usb wireless.... Because I try but when I go to wireless tab then they show not available

  • @DTech101
    @DTech101 4 роки тому

    Great video’s, can you use an Sfp quad nics and a copper nics and let 2 sfp ports talk with the copper nics ie 192.168.1.1?

  • @CaptRadar101
    @CaptRadar101 4 роки тому

    is MikroTik cAP ac Dual-band 802.11ac Wireless Access Point compatible with pfSense

  • @AburaGamer
    @AburaGamer 10 місяців тому

    Is this still the case 3 years later? I just want a simple network for some of my IoT devices (lights/switches etc) not on my main wifi network

  • @nidoh
    @nidoh 4 роки тому

    Is it possible that in Dual WAN Connection the other ISP can assign dedicated to UA-cam browsing only?

  • @d.s.5157
    @d.s.5157 2 роки тому

    Is there anyway I can set wan to use the wireless interface of machine ?

  • @JuanLopez-db4cc
    @JuanLopez-db4cc 4 роки тому

    Great Tom! Thanks!

  • @reneb5222
    @reneb5222 2 роки тому

    Can PfSense work as a Mesh Master? If so how do I set this up?

  • @farhanfadhlurrohman4962
    @farhanfadhlurrohman4962 2 роки тому

    i try to use realtek wlan not support access point mode

  • @TheGeekSheek
    @TheGeekSheek 8 місяців тому

    in pfsense 2.7+ i had to manually put dns servers for the wifi to connect to internet, just in case anyone has that problem

  • @EmilePolka
    @EmilePolka 4 роки тому +1

    the absolute headache when dealing with freebsd in general.

  • @kkowarkar
    @kkowarkar 4 роки тому

    Any suggestions on ad blocker without leaving blank ad spaces on the website???

    • @whizatit
      @whizatit 4 роки тому

      search for "Adblock for youtube" in the chrome app store

  • @martingregson7136
    @martingregson7136 4 роки тому +1

    Again far to fast ... assumed too much could you please give a diagram which explains what you are doing. Show you type stuff into an interface is not happening for me.

  • @yaarravi
    @yaarravi 4 роки тому

    HI Lawrence team, I have tried to contact you for Pfsense help, But still got no resposne

  • @NagySallam
    @NagySallam 3 роки тому

    how to block youtube on pfsense ??!!

  • @pepeshopping
    @pepeshopping 4 роки тому

    It has never been recommended by the pfsense team.

    • @AsciiWolf
      @AsciiWolf 4 роки тому

      Which is sad and is the reason why I still use Mikrotik or OpenWRT instead of pfSense.