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pfSense and Wireless Adapter

E

ElvisG

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Messages
326
I think I'm going to install pfSense in as a VM and use VMware. From my research, VMware is compatible with any wireless adapter as long as it has a USB connection. Correct me if I'm wrong on that part. So I'm in need of a high-gain G / N USB wireless adapter. I'll use that as my access point for pfSense.

What I was wondering before I start to look around for USB wireless adapter is if anyone has setup pfSense like this? Because of how picky VMware is with wired adapters I would rather pick-up a device someone has already tested then take a chance.
 
I would tell you to go look at VMware's HCL (hardware compatibility list) and see what they say as far as support for wireless devices. That would be the easiest place to go; straight to the horse.
 
You're certainly not limited to a USB adapter only. PCI interfaces work just fine. I've used VMware with many pci adapters over the years.

pfsense runs pretty well with VMware. pfsense.org even has a VMware image that you can download. Makes it really easy.

Are you using this as a real router or just for testing purposes?
 
Testing / home use. I'd like to take my SOHO router off-line and setup a CATCHA for my wireless networks. The computer I'm using only has PCI e slots and the only 2 free slots are being used with Intel PCI e nics. I'm sorta forced to use USB which is fine.

There is nothing here on wireless network adapter on the HCL. Searching google only came back with universal USB support. That's why I'm asking if anyone has done this.

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php
 
I've never used VMware with USB nic's.

One thing to make sure though. If you are going to use this as an actual router you have to disable all services on the host bridged NIC. Otherwise the host operating system will try to grab an ip address from the ISP instead of the virtual nic doing so.

I can't speak for VMware, but I did this with Hyper-V. Contrary to logical belief Verizon knew when I was using the virtual pfsense and blocked every port. Sounds wild doesnt it? But they did. Other routers worked fine. Its an anomaly.
 
Just to give anyone who reads this an update. VMware ESXi only supports USB devices when the BIOS has this option Intel Directed I/O or AMD IOMMU to enable. The "Configure Passthrough..." will be greyed (located Configuration -> Hardware -> Advance Settings) out until the Intel Directed I/O or AMD IOMMU is enabled. But I did read that ESXi 4.1 will support USB natively.

http://www.vm-help.com/esx40i/VMDirectPath/USB_Setup.php
 
jadams said:
I've never used VMware with USB nic's.

One thing to make sure though. If you are going to use this as an actual router you have to disable all services on the host bridged NIC. Otherwise the host operating system will try to grab an ip address from the ISP instead of the virtual nic doing so.

I can't speak for VMware, but I did this with Hyper-V. Contrary to logical belief Verizon knew when I was using the virtual pfsense and blocked every port. Sounds wild doesnt it? But they did. Other routers worked fine. Its an anomaly.
Click to expand...

I'm using pfSense with Verizon FIOS on a 50/20 line perfectly fine. Have you tried spoofing the MAC address from your Verizon-issued router? I had to do that in order to get pfSense to cooperate.
 
Flank3r said:
I'm using pfSense with Verizon FIOS on a 50/20 line perfectly fine. Have you tried spoofing the MAC address from your Verizon-issued router? I had to do that in order to get pfSense to cooperate.
Click to expand...

You don't even have to spoof it... Just call them up and ask them to release the IP, then connect with whatever native MAC pfsense has.

To the OP, have you thought about just getting a standalone access point? That way you know for sure it will work.
 
Bviper said:
You don't even have to spoof it... Just call them up and ask them to release the IP, then connect with whatever native MAC pfsense has.

To the OP, have you thought about just getting a standalone access point? That way you know for sure it will work.
Click to expand...

I can release my IP and get a new one after waiting a few minutes. However, successfully pulling an IP from Verizon only works if the router(pfsense or verizon issue) has the original MAC from the router you had when you first subscribed. The default pfSense MAC is refused an IP by Verizon. This pissed me off to no end when I was first configuring pfSense and trying to figure out why I could release my IP on my old router but could not renew it on my pfSense router.
 
Flank3r said:
I can release my IP and get a new one after waiting a few minutes. However, successfully pulling an IP from Verizon only works if the router(pfsense or verizon issue) has the original MAC from the router you had when you first subscribed. The default pfSense MAC is refused an IP by Verizon. This pissed me off to no end when I was first configuring pfSense and trying to figure out why I could release my IP on my old router but could not renew it on my pfSense router.
Click to expand...

I did not say release the IP yourself. I said call them and ask them to do it. Somehow the ONT remembers the MAC address and for security reasons will only allow one to connect. Releasing your IP yourself has no effect on the ONT. They are not specifically blocking MAC addresses even if it appears they are. I've been using pfsense without spoofing a MAC address for the past year with FiOS.

If you still do not want to call, you can apparently (I have not tried this) release your IP, unplug the ONT, disconnect the battery backup, wait a couple minutes, plug everything back together and try grabbing a new IP. Calling them in easier in my opinion.

You can continue to spoof if you wish. It will not effect anything, but Verizon does not require the original router's MAC.
 
Bviper said:
I did not say release the IP yourself. I said call them and ask them to do it. Somehow the ONT remembers the MAC address and for security reasons will only allow one to connect. Releasing your IP yourself has no effect on the ONT. They are not specifically blocking MAC addresses even if it appears they are. I've been using pfsense without spoofing a MAC address for the past year with FiOS.

If you still do not want to call, you can apparently (I have not tried this) release your IP, unplug the ONT, disconnect the battery backup, wait a couple minutes, plug everything back together and try grabbing a new IP. Calling them in easier in my opinion.

You can continue to spoof if you wish. It will not effect anything, but Verizon does not require the original router's MAC.
Click to expand...

Ah gotcha. Thanks for clearing that up, it's useful to know in case that option is needed in the future.
 
Bviper said:
To the OP, have you thought about just getting a standalone access point? That way you know for sure it will work.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. I'll keep that in mind if I want to pursue this farther.
 
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