Using network-manager-gnome to bridge eth0 and wlan0

[wnl]

Say, can anybody explain why Linux Lite's nm-applet allows one to specify a WiFi slave to a bridge given this statement which I have encountered several times:

"Note that a bridge cannot be established over Wi-Fi networks operating in Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure modes. This is due to the IEEE 802.11 standard that specifies the use of 3-address frames in Wi-Fi for the efficient use of airtime. "

(from: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/...dging.html )

Perhaps it means that you cannot have more than one WiFi slave, I can't tell because "bridge cannot be established OVER" is not precise enough terminology in this case. It also begs the question as to why Windows XP can do it. I suppose the statement is correct and that what is being done for both Windows XP and Linux Lite is something slightly different from true bridging or whatnot. Anyway, any clarification as to whether or not it is true for Linux Lite would be helpful.

[wnl]

Can you when hardwired to router have the pc broadcast an SSID? And pick it up say a phone and access internet? Then maybe its something on the router, like a repeater for the wireless?? Wish my other router was here lol...

Sorry firenice03. I cannot follow you. Let me be clear. I have this working just fine in Windows XP so I don't need to do anything but do the same thing in Linux Lite. If Linux lite can bridge the two network interfaces, yay! If not, then fine. Only I think in that case it would be appropriate to remove the misleading settings and dialog in the applet.

[firenice03]

Sorry, I'm a little under the weather and was on my phone...
I think I get what your attempting.. It dawned on me..
I have this USB WiFi adapter.. http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/detai...N823N.html

SoftAP Mode – Turn a wired internet connection to a PC or Laptop into a Wi-Fi hotspot

You'll notice that it has a built-in SoftAP app.. It takes a wired connection "bridges" to WiFi.. From here you use router 2 to connect to the SoftAP allowing use of ports...
WinXP does/did this on certain WiFi adapters (I think)...

This may start going out of my Linux expertize...
You may need to see if there is an updated driver or software to set up allow...

[Wirezfree]

Hi,
You peaked my interest, givenn LL2.x is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Lots of stuff on this subject, this was the last I found, a response to another post. You have probably tried this...

Originally Posted by myth-eeebox-ben  View Post
it seems a simple bridge interface will not work for wlan0 < eth0 because wi-fi packets aren't the same as ethernet packets.

Not true.
A simple bridge interface works fine, and I am using it now. The packets are the same.

* Install bridge-utils to be able to create network bridges:

Code:

sudo apt-get install bridge-utils

* Edit /etc/network/interfaces:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

The interfaces file should look like this after editing it:

Code:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual
#
auto br0
iface br0 inet dhcp
#
bridge_ports eth0 wlan0
#
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

* Restart networking with:

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

[firenice03]

Hi,
You peaked my interest, givenn LL2.x is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS
Lots of stuff on this subject, this was the last I found, a response to another post. You have probably tried this...

@wnl - Wirezfree is great source for LL...
This link is in NO WAY for Linux Lite - but informational.. https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Sof...cess_point Hope it helps...

UPDATE:
https://gist.github.com/jhjguxin/5750212 Refers to hostapd (in synaptic??)

[wnl]

Okay, let me explain one more time; I want to do this from the gui. (And yes, I have looked into the bridge-utils and many articles besides.)

Please focus your attention on this image from RedHat's tutorial. Notice that there is an on/off switch for the bridge. WHAT I WANT is for Linux Lite's nm-applet (the little gadget in the notification area which lets your manage networking) to show me the bridge and to allow me to enable and disable it like that. It's a missing piece of software!

[Wirezfree]

Hi,

I missed the GUI bit...
I very much doubt it will be via a GUI, unless Ubuntu starts to offer it via a GUI.

Fedora looks like it may have a GUI with Bridge option , scroll down page.

[wnl]

Please forgive me for not being able to acknowledge who gave me what in the way of links to further information. But somebody here led me to the path of setting the downstream network interface via IPv4 Settings->Method: to "Shared to other computers". I had tried this once before but knew it wasn't working because the interface was being configured to 10.42.0.1/24! Then I read further that it is actually setting up a network and the various services for it. So I adjusted for that and did indeed get the downstream test machine tacked on to the LAN in a fashion.

But this is like Windows XP's Internet Connection Sharing. I'm not looking for ICS. (One guy needed to dual boot with the same (sub)net, see the nightmare he went through just to change that 10.24.0 to 192.168.0 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2179393 )

I had tried using Windows XP's ICS for my setup way back when I started. I do not want to make a subnet just to get to the wireless router's modem port. That's why I switched to bridging on Windows XP and got exactly the behavior I want and need.

Now, if someone could kindly tell me what I'm missing to enable the bridge I can get on with the pathetic life I lead when not updating this thread. 

[firenice03]

Bridge + Network Manager + Ubuntu + GUI = Possible???

Gave a look on the ole google..
http://ask.xmodulo.com/configure-linux-b...buntu.html

Requirement
To avoid any issue, it is recommended that you have Network Manager 0.9.9 and higher, which is the case for Ubuntu 15.04 and later.

Looks feasible - But can Linux Lite as its based on Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS?? ?????

[Wirezfree]

@firenice
Nice find, You win the "Google Gold Badge of the day"

I think LL is only 14.04

Code:

dave@asus-mini-1:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:    Ubuntu
Description:    Linux Lite 2.4
Release:    14.04
Codename:    trusty