[GLLUG] A USB WiFi dongle that works as Host/Master

[Robert McKay]

On Wed, 8 Aug 2012 11:25:51 +0100, Matthew Copperwaite wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> A little bored of all the requests to events going on all over the
> country that most people can't attend, so I have a serious question
> that I can't seem to find the answer to.
>
> I was wondering if anyone knew of or owns a USB WiFi dongle
> (preferably capable of .11n) that works in Host/Master mode so it can
> be run as an access point. Finding (or rather deciphering) this
> information seems difficult as a lot of dongles are capable, but not
> all of them work well in Linux which is the real key here. So 
> previous
> experience of one that works and where to buy it would be best.

I guess you may have found one that works already but I just purchased 
a ALFA AWUS036NH and can confirm that it definitely works with hostapd.

I'm currently using it in conjunction with redsocks and tor to create a 
public open wifi hotspot that forwards tcp traffic to redsocks -> tor 
and udp DNS traffic to tor's DNSPort. DHCP requests are serviced locally 
and all other traffic gets dropped. So far it seems to work great.. 
anyone can connect and browse the web (or hidden services (.onion 
addresses)!) albeit at 'tor' speeds (helps keep down the bandwdith usage 
though :)

Cheers,
Rob