How to make a Wireless Access Point

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rinorobert

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Hi Guys,

So at University we are each given an ethernet point in ones res room, the issue is that if one wants to make wifi, one has to leave your pc/laptop plugged in the entire time and make a wireless access point off it using something like "Connectify".

Apparently the varsity is able to see if a router / access point is plugged into the network and when they "find out" they call you in and fine you/ban you from the network for a period of time.

I'm wanting to use a raspberry pi and install "Ubuntu mate" on it and make a WiFi access point off that, reason being is the fact that is uses very little electricity to run also its quite and small in size.

What do you guys think of this, is it worth the mission of sourcing a raspberry pi and setting it up etc?

Any other recommendations would be highly appreciated. The aim is to be able to make a wireless access point without using my pc, laptop or using a router/access point.

Cheers!
 
Cloak and Access

rinorobert said:
Apparently the varsity is able to see if a router / access point is plugged into the network and when they "find out" they call you in and fine you/ban you from the network for a period of time.
Click to expand...
I would think that you first need to work out how they ( Varsity ) do that ?
I would think that if you plug ANYTHING into the network they can "see" it
It obviously has a MAC address and an IP

What about an LTE router ( and share the costs ) free from ALL Varsity "snooping" .....
 
Buy a cheap Android phone with USB to Ethernet cable. Hotspot the phone.
 
Break the rules of your service provider...

/waits for whining post about being banned from internets in res.
 
MidnightWizard said:
I would think that you first need to work out how they ( Varsity ) do that ?
I would think that if you plug ANYTHING into the network they can "see" it
It obviously has a MAC address and an IP

What about an LTE router ( and share the costs ) free from ALL Varsity "snooping" .....
Click to expand...

I assume they would identify the device through its MAC address, therefore, would it be possible to "change" the MAC address to assume the identity of a "laptop/Desktop"?

My idea initially was to just use a "TPLink" wireless access point as that is the easiest and cheapest option.
 
rinorobert said:
I assume they would identify the device through its MAC address, therefore, would it be possible to "change" the MAC address to assume the identity of a "laptop/Desktop"?

My idea initially was to just use a "TPLink" wireless access point as that is the easiest and cheapest option.
Click to expand...

The MAC address shouldn't be able to tell you that, only which manufacturer the NIC is from, with some manufacturers only making smartphone chips and others desktop ones. They'd probably be able to ping your device and check what name it returns, which would make e.g. an Android phone obvious due to the fact that it shows up as android-2120ee3b45 or similar, while the Ubuntu device would show up the same as a Windows device.

If you haven't received your first warning yet, why don't you try out the Pi idea?

The_Librarian said:
so much this

but, if serious, go to cash crusaders, get a 2nd hand netbook with wifi, install ubuntu, set it up and forget about it.
Click to expand...

Windows works fine as well. Virtual Router.
 
Maybe it would help if you explained what exactly you are trying to achieve?

If I understand you are currently using your PC to create a wireless access point in order to access the internet from a different device? What are you trying to connect to the wireless and how many connections do you require?

If they are using the number of Mac addresses connected to monitor your network point it would probably be more effective to set a forwarding proxy so that all your traffic comes from a single Mac/IP. If that is the case a device with two network cards would be better. One for your "New wifi access point" and a second connected to varsity network that all the traffic gets forwarded to.
 
The aim is to make WiFi using a device other than an access point without having to leave my laptop plugged in the entire time.

I need to connect my phone as well as my ipad to the WiFi.

At the moment, my laptop is running "connectify" the entire time, which means that it has to be plugged into the ethernet cable at all times.
 
Johnatan56 said:
The MAC address shouldn't be able to tell you that, only which manufacturer the NIC is from, with some manufacturers only making smartphone chips and others desktop ones. They'd probably be able to ping your device and check what name it returns, which would make e.g. an Android phone obvious due to the fact that it shows up as android-2120ee3b45 or similar, while the Ubuntu device would show up the same as a Windows device.

If you haven't received your first warning yet, why don't you try out the Pi idea?



Windows works fine as well. Virtual Router.
Click to expand...

The raspberry Pi seems to be an option as it uses minimal electricity compared to that of a running desktop.

**I have yet to get a warning in the past 2 years
 
Just make sure that you don't broadcast the SSID, that's probably how they find out if someone is using a router.
 
The Pi will probably be the simplest solution then. It will just keep doing the same thing your Laptop has been doing...
 
rinorobert said:
Hi Guys,

So at University we are each given an ethernet point in ones res room, the issue is that if one wants to make wifi, one has to leave your pc/laptop plugged in the entire time and make a wireless access point off it using something like "Connectify".

Apparently the varsity is able to see if a router / access point is plugged into the network and when they "find out" they call you in and fine you/ban you from the network for a period of time.

I'm wanting to use a raspberry pi and install "Ubuntu mate" on it and make a WiFi access point off that, reason being is the fact that is uses very little electricity to run also its quite and small in size.

What do you guys think of this, is it worth the mission of sourcing a raspberry pi and setting it up etc?

Any other recommendations would be highly appreciated. The aim is to be able to make a wireless access point without using my pc, laptop or using a router/access point.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I'm going to guess you needed to register your laptop for us?

In that case they are using MAC addresses and changing it is where they detect a different device is being used on the same point.

In which case some of the lesser regarded brands from the Chinese often allow you to change it.
 
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