Intel Ultimate-N 6300 and Ubuntu 10.04 Running in Wireless Access Point mode

I need to make an Intel D945GSEJT mini-ITX mainboard into a wireless access point for outdoor applications using Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS. Intel's literature for their Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 PCIe mini-card seems to say they have "My WiFi" capability that turns a notebook into a wireless access point for nearby WiFi devices.

I've seen lots of posts on using the 6300 as a client, but I need to use it as a wireless access point.

Does anyone have experience with this ? Are there any driver issues under Ubuntu ? What kind of range can I get ? How many antennas do I need and where do I place them with respect to one another ?

Thank you in advance.

 

The iwlagn driver doesn't support AP mode unfortunately.

You'd probably want an atheros card, since they are pretty common in access points.

For reference here's a list of the drivers and whether they support AP mode or not: Drivers - Linux Wireless

You can share the connection using ad-hoc mode, but I'm not sure what your requirements are.

 

Mywifi and similar stuff seen on Win7 is basically just client + adhoc at the same time, not a real AP.

I'll save you the trouble of dissecting the list linked above, you want a recent atheros card. You might run into 10.04 needing some updated packages though.

As for "what kind of range can I get" that is almost entirely a function of the type of antennas, noise on the channel, radio power and location. "How much do you want to spend" is a prerequisite question.

I'm guessing you just want a regular card and some omnis, in which the answer would be fairly cheap and as good or better than a consumer AP.

 

TO: ALLurGroceries and Aluminum

Thank you both for your comments. My application is solar-powered and requires the smallest possible size and power dissipation. That's why I just want to plug a mini-PCIe card into the slot in my low power, mini-ITX mainboard instead of using a standalone router.

It's an outdoor application. I'd like a payload speed of at least several Mbps for EACH of at least two 2.4 GHz WiFi clients that are in opposite directions, and 100 yards, from my central machine.

I found a number of Atheros mini-PCIe cards, the AR5B93 and AR9287. I gather the ath9K driver supports the latter, and the ath5K the former. Is this correct ? But I'm confused about a comment that I saw that these drivers have been native to Ubuntu for a while, but they have to be enabled and configured. Can someone shine some light on this ?

Is there any way to support multiple PCIe cards in a single mainboard so I can use different channels for different clients to avoid problems of large distances between them ?

Thank you.

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Both ath9k and ath5k should work out of the box. ath9k is for the newer 802.11n cards. I'm not sure about mini-pcie cards that have multiple radios on them.

You've said 100 yards, but is there anything in the way?