WifiNigel

I thought it would be worth recording a video showing how to get on to the CLI of the WLAN Pi. I've been asked a few times how people can get in to the WLAN Pi that they've just purchased, so thought that a demonstration of a few different ways of gaining access to it would be a worthwhile exercise. You can access the video here or using the embedded video widget below: In the video, I discuss how to access the WLAN Pi using:  USB/OTG from a local laptop Via a network connection using the WLAN Pi Ethernet port By configuring the WLAN Pi as a wireless client to join a Wi-Fi network Using the WLAN Pi's Hostpot feature I hope you enjoy the video!

The WLAN Pi is a community project that has created and pulled together a number of networking tools in a single, small-form-factor Linux-based device. It contains many industry-standard tools such as iperf, includes open source networking toolsets such as Kismet and has a small number of home-grown utilities. The tools available may accessed via a variety of methods. Services such as iperf are always available, as they are activated at boot time. Others are activated via the front panel menu system that is operated via the 3 buttons on the front panel of the unit. Others require a little more of a deep dive in to the world of Linux and are accessed via the command line of the WLAN Pi's OS. This variety of tools is both a benefit and a curse to those trying to use the WLAN Pi for the first time. While the range of tools is very interesting, it can be overwhelming. For those less familiar with Linux, it can be difficult to access some of the CLI-based tools or configuration req

Designing WLAN's is a pretty tricky business at the best of times, but trying to design a WLAN that works well for all clients is hard as they vary so wildly in terms of form-factor, wireless chip-sets, antenna counts and a plethora of other factors that mean they all see the wireless world in their own annoyingly unique way. The upshot of this is that when designing a WLAN we have to spend time trying to figure out how well (or badly) each client-type we need to support in our design sees our proposed wireless network. In simple terms, some will "hear" it more clearly than others due to their better antennas, build and sensitivity. A wise man once said that we should design our networks for our "most important, least capable" devices (...don't let him hug you, he WILL squish you). Once we've figured this device out, we have to work out the offset between our client of choice and our survey equipment or RF modelling software. To get this "offs