Hi- My request takes me way outside my knowledge area so please pardon my poor vocabulary. I'm working on a headless wireless Apache server device (no mouse, keyboard, or display). I need a way to externally make it join a network. Externally means some software entity that does not initiate the connection process from within the device. That software entity could be a phone or PC app. I'm looking for a way that a first time user of the device can get it connected to his WiFi network. I suppose that would have to be the process of identifying the network to join and then entering the network password. Can anyone think of some ways it can be achieved? Thanks - John
How to get a headless Apache server to join a wireless network
Started by ●October 3, 2017
Reply by ●October 3, 20172017-10-03
On 10/03/2017 01:39 PM, John Speth wrote:> Hi- > > My request takes me way outside my knowledge area so please pardon my > poor vocabulary. > > I'm working on a headless wireless Apache server device (no mouse, > keyboard, or display). I need a way to externally make it join a > network. Externally means some software entity that does not initiate > the connection process from within the device. That software entity > could be a phone or PC app. > > I'm looking for a way that a first time user of the device can get it > connected to his WiFi network. I suppose that would have to be the > process of identifying the network to join and then entering the network > password. > > Can anyone think of some ways it can be achieved? > > Thanks - JohnCould you use a WPS pushbutton? -- Rob Gaddi, Highland Technology -- www.highlandtechnology.com Email address domain is currently out of order. See above to fix.
Reply by ●October 3, 20172017-10-03
On 10/3/2017 2:42 PM, Rob Gaddi wrote:> On 10/03/2017 01:39 PM, John Speth wrote: >> I'm working on a headless wireless Apache server device (no mouse, >> keyboard, or display). I need a way to externally make it join a >> network. Externally means some software entity that does not initiate >> the connection process from within the device. That software entity >> could be a phone or PC app. >> >> I'm looking for a way that a first time user of the device can get it >> connected to his WiFi network. I suppose that would have to be the >> process of identifying the network to join and then entering the >> network password. >> >> Can anyone think of some ways it can be achieved? >> >> Thanks - John > > Could you use a WPS pushbutton?That's a worthy suggestion. I never heard of that before. It's definitely worth looking into. Thanks. An idea I had that involves some additional cost is using BLE to advertise the device. A phone app could pick up the advertisement and relay the network name and network password back to the device. I like it all except for the extra HW needed. I wish WiFi had such a mechanism. Another 2.4 GHz radio seems wasteful and I wonder about interference between co-located radios. John
Reply by ●October 3, 20172017-10-03
On Tue, 3 Oct 2017 13:39:06 -0700, John Speth <johnspeth@yahoo.com> wrote:>Hi- > >My request takes me way outside my knowledge area so please pardon my >poor vocabulary. > >I'm working on a headless wireless Apache server device (no mouse, >keyboard, or display). I need a way to externally make it join a >network. Externally means some software entity that does not initiate >the connection process from within the device. That software entity >could be a phone or PC app. > >I'm looking for a way that a first time user of the device can get it >connected to his WiFi network. I suppose that would have to be the >process of identifying the network to join and then entering the network >password. > >Can anyone think of some ways it can be achieved?Put a (text) configuration file on a USB stick. If the stick is present, and contains "setup.cfg" (or whatever) in some directory, use those parameters at boot. That might well be your phone with a USB cable (although then the directory becomes an interesting question), and you could generate the configuration file with an app. That would provided a very open-ended setup system. And if the stick were present, you could dump diagnostic data to it if the device couldn't start.
Reply by ●October 3, 20172017-10-03
On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 4:39:12 PM UTC-4, John Speth wrote:> I'm working on a headless wireless Apache server device (no mouse, > keyboard, or display).Timely, that! Try: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/73nNdtAVOBI/maxresdefault.jpg
Reply by ●October 4, 20172017-10-04
On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 10:39:12 PM UTC+2, John Speth wrote:> I'm looking for a way that a first time user of the device can get it > connected to his WiFi network. I suppose that would have to be the > process of identifying the network to join and then entering the network > password. > > Can anyone think of some ways it can be achieved?upon reset the AHS (Apache Headless Server) will create his own network (with default SSID and password). The user will connect to the AHS network, connect to the web server configuration page, fill the fields (real network name, password, use of a DHCP server, avahi/zeroconf name, etc). Press Enter. AHS will restart with new configuration and hopefully connect to real network. If errors happens, press reset button for 10 seconds (or automatically restart the AHS with reset conf) and start again. Bye Jack
Reply by ●October 4, 20172017-10-04
On Tue, 3 Oct 2017 15:58:15 -0700, John Speth <johnspeth@yahoo.com> wrote:>On 10/3/2017 2:42 PM, Rob Gaddi wrote: > >> Could you use a WPS pushbutton? > >That's a worthy suggestion. I never heard of that before. It's >definitely worth looking into. Thanks.One problem with WPS is that anyone even halfway security conscious has disabled it in their router. https://routersecurity.org/wps.php George
Reply by ●October 4, 20172017-10-04
Jack <jack4747@gmail.com> wrote:> upon reset the AHS (Apache Headless Server) will create his own network > (with default SSID and password). The user will connect to the AHS > network, connect to the web server configuration page, fill the fields > (real network name, password, use of a DHCP server, avahi/zeroconf name, > etc). Press Enter. AHS will restart with new configuration and hopefully > connect to real network. If errors happens, press reset button for 10 > seconds (or automatically restart the AHS with reset conf) and start > again.It would probably help to have a tri-colour LED for this: Blue: in setup mode, or password didn't work and device reverted to setup mode Red: password worked previously but the network is currently down Green: password accepted and the connection is working On factory reset, you stay in blue state until you achieve a successful connection. Then the device flips out of configuration mode and goes either red or green. It never goes into blue mode until somebody does the factory reset process again. This way prevents the device from reverting to configuration mode every time the wifi is down. Or, for more fun, every time an attacker threw out enough noise to force the wifi offline, at which point the device would broadcast its default network with the default password. Theo
Reply by ●October 5, 20172017-10-05
On 04.10.2017 г. 10:39, Jack wrote:> On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 10:39:12 PM UTC+2, John Speth wrote: > >> I'm looking for a way that a first time user of the device can get it >> connected to his WiFi network. I suppose that would have to be the >> process of identifying the network to join and then entering the network >> password. >> >> Can anyone think of some ways it can be achieved? > > upon reset the AHS (Apache Headless Server) will create his own network (with default SSID and password). > The user will connect to the AHS network, connect to the web server configuration page, fill the fields (real network name, password, use of a DHCP server, avahi/zeroconf name, etc). Press Enter. AHS will restart with new configuration and hopefully connect to real network. > If errors happens, press reset button for 10 seconds (or automatically restart the AHS with reset conf) and start again. > > Bye Jack >You mean the wifi module will initially act as a hotspot to do that? I guess they are all capable of that, why not really. Should work fine. I have seen many wifi modules lately and _still_ none which will accept IP traffic without enforcing its tcp layer on its host. Anyone any luck with that? They all must have a layer even below IP, looking pretty much like Ethernet - that would be best of course. But none I have seen document (or perhaps even do not expose to the interface) these layers. Dimiter ====================================================== Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com ====================================================== http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/
Reply by ●October 6, 20172017-10-06
Op Thu, 05 Oct 2017 13:35:37 +0200 schreef Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com>:> On 04.10.2017 г. 10:39, Jack wrote: >> On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 10:39:12 PM UTC+2, John Speth wrote: >> > I have seen many wifi modules lately and _still_ none which will accept > IP traffic without enforcing its tcp layer on its host. Anyone any luck > with that? They all must have a layer even below IP, looking pretty much > like Ethernet - that would be best of course. > But none I have seen document (or perhaps even do not expose to the > interface) these layers.Here are a few: https://www.segger.com/products/connectivity/embosip/add-ons/wifi-support/wifi-modules/ -- (Remove the obvious prefix to reply privately.) Gemaakt met Opera's e-mailprogramma: http://www.opera.com/mail/
