[isf-wifidog] Radius Accounting & Windows Firmware Installer

[Joe Bowser]

On Wed, 2005-10-26 at 18:19 +0100, Sagar wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I am working on OPENWRT/DD-WRT + Chillispot for number of months.
>
> Some questions about WiFiDog
 
> 
> 1.    Have we thought about writing a windows installer utility like
> one we get 
> 
> with WRT54G "LINKSYS Firmware installer".
> 
> It will make wifidog firmware install process a pleasurable
> experience 
> 
> & would appeal to wider venue owners and hence user base.
> 

I'm not sure what you mean exactly.  WiFiDog itself doesn't have a
special firmware per se (other than the recommended, which is a standard
OpenWRT build).  It runs on the OpenWRT build that it was compiled for
(or more accurately, the iptables library that it was meant to use).
This means that WiFiDog could run on virtually anything that runs Linux
so long as the dependencies of iptables and POSIX threads are met.

(I would like to see OpenWRT on the Belkin routers, since they are now
less than $50 at the Home Depot here in Vancouver, and just as
ubiquitous as the Linksys, even if they are far worse quality.)

  Also, it's not the uploading of the firmware that's the problem (the
Linksys Web Interface does a good job of doing this, if the firmware
works via TFTP, it will work through this as well).  In my experience,
the problem lies with the configuration after the fact.  OpenWRT by
default doesn't have a web interface, and whether you're configuring it
for Ile Sans Fil's auth server, or some other server (BC Wireless, NYC
Wireless, etc, etc), that's where the trouble lies.  (Using SSH to
access the device discourages people from OpenWRT)

  I think the answer is writing a decent UI for OpenWRT with WiFiDog
config options, which is half of what I've been working on as of late,
and I would highly recommend that something added on to nbd's interface
( http://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic?id=2697 ) be looked into.  It's
probably the best interface I've seen, and it's much better than
wrestling around with the alternatives out there.  A nice add-on to the
UI with the basic config options would probably do wonders once this is
up and going.


-- 
Joe Bowser <bowserj at resist.ca>