Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero WiFi AP

Hi Is it possible to configure Banana Pi M2 Zero as WiFi AP? I am familiar with hostapd, dsnmsq etc. Which image I can use for first experiments? Please excuse me the basic questions but BANANA board is something new for me. I would like to switch from Raspberry Pi Zero W.

Regards,

Piotr Romaniuk

Yes, it is possible. I advise to connect serial console during experiments. Even if some experiment breaks the network configuration, the device will be still accessible. One should use: nmcli, dsnmasq and hostapd

Regards,

Piotr Romaniuk

Hello romaniuk,

Could you share the steps to make it work? Have you managed to make it work simultaneously as AP and wifi client?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

No, you need to choose one mode: AP or WiFi client.

Regards,

Piotr Romaniuk

Try section 1.2 from this:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/software_access_point#Wireless_client_and_software_AP_with_a_single_Wi-Fi_device

You can check if that device supports it, and if so how to do it.

Hi Eric,

For BPi-M2-Zero “iw list” displays:

 valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1, #{ P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1,
                   total <= 3, #channels <= 2
                 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP } <= 1, #{ P2P-client } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1,
                   total <= 4, #channels <= 1

Is it sufficient for simultaneous both modes? or it should support “mesh” mode as well?

Regards,

Piotr Romaniuk

You want to use 1 managed and 1 AP., So you need the second line. Total = 2, so ≤ 4 is ok. But you can only use 1 channel. The STA (managed) can only use the same channel as the AP.

There is nothing there about mesh, so it is not supported.

Thank you for explanation.

Regards,

Piotr Romaniuk

PS

I found some explanation about iw list result, maybe it will be usefull for others: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/401464/deciphering-the-output-of-iw-list-valid-interface-combinations

Hi,

Did you succeded to configure and use both modes at the same time?

Regards, Piotr Romaniuk

Read this, hope it helps http://wiki.lemaker.org/BananaPro/Pi:WiFi_configuration