JoBlo69

OK, so i would like to find some sort of software thing that i can use to distribute wifi to anyone who wants it, from my apartment...

For sake of learning how this type of thing works, i would like to offer my internet to the world for free, so billing topics aren't necessary. What i want to do, is to be able to monitor who is connected to my network, and for how long. Maybe incorporate some feature that will let me set download limits and bandwidth usage...

Anyone have any ideas on software packages that would allow me to do this? I have been all over DD-WRT and haven't found anything about wifi distrobution...

I know that DD-WRT has fetures within thier firmware that will allow a person to monitor people connected to that AP, but for some reason that doesnt sound like what im going for...

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GH0

You could use tor... though it distributes more then just wireless, and is a proxy.

You want to be able to monitor MAC address that are connected via Wireless , correct?
DD-WRT does that...

How long they are connected for via Wireless
DD-WRT: How Long, if they are still connected, you can determine that too. Only if they are still connected.

Set bandwidth/download/upload limits.
DD-WRT definitely does that.

____

Really, I have never seen anything about WiFi Distribution. I think what you prolly would want is a linux box with a wireless card that is sending the transmission signal. Or have it set up between the Modem and the Router. That way it could monitor all packets, and connections and such.

Not really sure what you are getting at, and am still sorta confused at what you want.

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Hersha

ya you can do this with their chillispot functionality. http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Chillispot

HatesFury

The way this would normally be done (from a business standpoint) is with a domain controller. You leave the wifi AP completely open, but it connects directly to the domain controller before it gets on the internet. You use the domain controller to authentiacte the users MAC address. Domain controllers have built in logging which will track logins, session lengths, etc.

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JoBlo69

all good info, and things i already know to some extent...

What i am looking for is a package software thing that i can run on a server in house, that i control...

And, this wifi network would need to be able to connect AP's to the source wifi... Kind of like a milti tiered wlan. But with login requirements so people have to have an account of some sort to gain access to the network.

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HatesFury

Domain Controller is already built into Windows Server (all editions after NT SP4). Pretty much any mid-high end AP will be able to bridge to other AP's, so again, same setup as before.

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JoBlo69

ok, so i have been doing a lot of reading on what i want to do, and i think i found what I'm looking for...

There is a project called "the whole enchilada" or now its called "wifigator" that is Linux based that has all the functionality i am looking for in this setup. Even though this software package seems to be a little overkill for what i am looking to do...

I've been floating around their forum for awhile, trying to learn about it, and find something else that can do the job just as well, but i keep going back to this idea thinking that it would be the ultimate solution...

The wifigator software package installes onto a PC, and becomes the centralized server to distribute wifi. It also has custom DD-WRT firmwares that it spits out after you config the server side so that your routers will phone home to autenticate the router (AP) Kinda cool stuff. It's a pretty decent sized learning curve to set up, but it is well worth it. I think anyways...

PS. I'm not sure what the rules are on linking to things like this, so for now, I'll leave that part out. If your interested in the project, i have given you the things to google... I'll wait for a mod to jump in to say if its alright or not...

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