View Full Version : How to authenticate multiple clients behind wireless bridges
keith.yoder
12-13-2003, 06:34 AM
I have an Engenius CB3 that bridges a network to our network. I would like to authenticate each computer on the client's network. The problem is that the radio's mac is what is authenticated and not the network card. I can authenticate the first client computer without any problems but when a second one tries (with the same mac from the same radio) it Star-OS doesn't send a request to my radius server. I suspect this is because the mac address is already has a hotspot session open. Any ideas?
Keith Yoder
lonnie
12-13-2003, 09:04 AM
You are seeing the client bridging problem with those units. I promise not to get into a rant about client bridging, but I suspect people are slowly starting to see that cheap and client bridging are the same today, and are not the bargain they at first seemed.
I am not singling them out - all the other cheapie units are client bridges and this is what you have to deal with. Sorry, but unless the unit that talks to the client passes info with no change (does not proxy arp, nat, etc) you cannot use a system beyond it to do the authentication for Hotspot. If the unit makes changes then it must be compatible with our Hotspot.
We simply cannot help this situation. Our system works great but it requires machines that work with it.
keith.yoder
12-15-2003, 10:45 AM
Lonnie, I understand we are using cheap equipment and the problem is not Star-OS. Just for the record, I found a workaround. It's probably not ideal but it works for us.
I used the new whitelisting feature and listed the MAC of the wireless bridge. That meant all clients behind the bridge aren't authenticated but also don't have bandwidth limiting. I then listed the IP's in the CBQ script file and things are working.
dwl-900ap+ are the cheapie exception. I've found them refurb'd for less than $40. Each connected LAN computer shows up as a separate association, but keep track of the mac addresses and use the ACL or you will have a big mess real quick, as you can't tell which customer additional associations are coming from.
lonnie
12-15-2003, 05:43 PM
Lonnie, I understand we are using cheap equipment and the problem is not Star-OS. Just for the record, I found a workaround. It's probably not ideal but it works for us.
I used the new whitelisting feature and listed the MAC of the wireless bridge. That meant all clients behind the bridge aren't authenticated but also don't have bandwidth limiting. I then listed the IP's in the CBQ script file and things are working.
Excellent work around.