How AP mode works?

[JSal]

I'm thinking of getting an Intel Edison, and I'm curious:

After you set up the AP mode, can other devices connect to it and have internet access through it just like that? Or do I need an extra board (what kind of) or a proper wifi ap?

[Carlos_M_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hi jrsall92,

Yes, if your Edison is connected to a WiFi network, you can connect other devices to your Edison, this one will be working as a hotspot. Take a look at this: https://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-edison-board-user-guide IoT - Intel® Edison Board User Guide | Intel® Developer Zone

Regards,

Charlie

[JSal]

CMata_Intel,

Excellent!

Also is it possible to get the RSSI of the connected devices?

[JSal]

Bump. Does anyone knows if I can get the connected devices' RSSI/SNR? If yes, how?

[Carlos_M_Intel]

Hi jrsall92,

There are some tools like arp that may be helpful for you also arp-scan. I haven't found a way to check the signal strength of the devices connected to the Hotspot, do you have updates trying to get this parameter from the devices?

Regards,

Charlie

[JSal]

Hi CMata_Intel,

I'm still waiting for my Edison to arrive so no luck there, but on my Ubuntu following the instructions on this lab exercise: http://ccf.cs.uml.edu/labs_fu/80211/802.11_lab.pdf http://ccf.cs.uml.edu/labs_fu/80211/802.11_lab.pdf I was able to do so. So if there is a Debian based distro for Edison I don't see why it could not work. Next step would be to have the Arduino access that info but that's further down the road (although any tip on that would also be appreciated)

[Carlos_M_Intel]

Hi jrsall92 ,

I think tcpdump and iwlist will help you a lot in this, you can also be checking the /var/lib/misc/udhcpd.leases and system logs and processes to check if there is a device connected.

You can also install other packages for Linux in order to be able to see the signal strength of the devices connected wl / wlanconfig / iw / iwinfo -> http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/faq/faq.wireless# how_to_get_a_list_of_connected_clients How to get a list of connected clients from Linux

Another alternative is using Python, there are libraries like https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pyairview/ pyairview that should allow you to see the devices and the signal strength of them.

About your last question, do you want to build a Debian distro and include the Arduino features? If you do, you can use thehttp://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit/cgit.cgi/meta-intel-edison/tree/meta-intel-arduino layers for Arduino in the Yocto project to include them in your image, but you must do some changes or apply your own patches to make this work. If you are using the http://www.emutexlabs.com/forum/index Ubilinux image you should be able to use the Arduino IDE without problems.

If what you want to do is to check the devices and signal strength in the Arduino IDE with a sketch, you can use system calls in the sketch and use the WiFi library, I have't seen a configuration of an AP using the Arduino IDE but checking the libraries may give you an idea on how to start.

Regards,

Charlie

[JSal]

Thank you CMata_Intel you are of great help! When I get the device I'll try it.