Solder the SD Card

The first step, is to locate the SW pins (near the antenna).. simply solder some wires like this:

SD Car      -----    Fonera
DO  (pin 7)          SW1
CLK (pin 5)          SW2
DI  (pin 2)          SW5
CS  (pin 1)          SW6
Gnd (pin 3)          Gnd
Vcc (pin 4)          Vcc

Here you can see the SD Card pinouts

You can solder the VCC, and Gnd on the serial pins.

Unsolder the Caps

In my first tests, I discovered the SD card is detected, so I checked the signals. And discover the clk isn’t really clear.. So I decided to remove the capacitor on the SPI bus. (C142, C143, C144, C145)

Install software and test

Next we need to install the kernel module on OpenWRT. You can find it on the Phrozen website . Simply ipkg install the file and it should be ok. Now, let’s try: insert a SD Card, and reboot, you should see something like this in your log.

Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : MMC Driver for Fonera Version 2.5 (050507) -- '2B|!2B' (john@phrozen.org)
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : Card Found
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : card in op mode
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : SIZE : 241, nMUL : 6, COUNT : 1932, NAME : 256MB
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : Card Initialised
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : The inserted card has a capacity of 253231104 Bytes
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : adding disk
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.info kernel:  mmc1
Jan  1 00:00:49 OpenWrt user.warn kernel: mmc : Card was Found

So now you can mount it:

mount /dev/mmc0 /mnt

This stuff, is working really well, I managed to have around 150Ko/s (reading) which is far enough for my needs. The only issue right now, is that you need to carefully umount the card before removing it, otherwise the fonera will crash.

Enjoy Fonera ??

Step 1 / Install OpenWRT

The default firmware on the WGT634 doesn’t support wireless client mode (It’s a AP). So I switched it to OpenWRT Kamikaze. I build the firmware from source, but the kamikaze snapshot shoud work too. I followed the OpenWRT guide step by step with a external serial plug. You can find the complete howto for the serial connection here

# hit Ctrl-C on the bootloader
CFE> ifconfig eth0 -auto
CFE> flash -noheader tftp_host:openwrt-wgt634u.bin flash0.os
CFE> reboot

The first boot is a bit long, but all is fine…

Step 2 / Install tools

Here the short list of needed tools:

• kmod-usb2
• kmod-usb-storage
• kmod-vfat
• kmod-nls-base, kmod-nls-cp437, kmod-nls-iso8859-1
• pure-ftpd

with a simple ipkg install via the serial console

Step 3 / Configure OpenWRT in wireless client

This is really simple in kamikaze, only change some files:

The wireless config file need to be tweaked, as I want it to join my MyDummySSID network

/etc/config/wireless

config wifi-iface
option device   wifi0
option network  lan
option mode     sta
option ssid     MyDummySSID
option hidden   0
option encryption none

Let’s go for the network config: MyDummySSID Access Point is 192.168.3.0/24, gateway in 3.1 and local DNS server is 1.254

/etc/config/network

#### LAN configuration
config interface lan
option type     bridge
option ifname   "eth0.0"
option proto    'static'
option ipaddr   '192.168.3.2'
option netmask  '255.255.255.0'
option gateway  '192.168.3.1'
option dns      '192.168.1.254'

First test: ifdown wan (switch off network) / ifdown br-lan / ifup br-lan

Step 4 / Firewall

Ok that’s fine, but I want to restrict the access to my local network only.. so I need to hack the firewall a little to avoid remote access from other wireless clients (my wireless network is open you know..). Simply linked this little script in /etc/rc.d/

/opt/ftp-firewall

#!/bin/sh

# clear all firewall rules
for T in filter nat mangle ; do
iptables -t $T -F
iptables -t $T -X
done

# drop incomming packet
iptables -P FORWARD ACCEPT
iptables -P OUTPUT  ACCEPT
iptables -P INPUT   DROP

# accept traffic on localhost
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -i lo -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp -i lo -j ACCEPT

# accept ftp only from my home network
iptables -A INPUT -s 192.168.1.0/24 -p tcp -i br-lan --dport 21 -j ACCEPT

# accept incoming http / ssh
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 -j ACCEPT

# finaly accept already open Cnx
iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT

Step 5 / Misc

After some tests, I discover that I need a way to know if the WGT634U managed to join the wireless network or no. So I added this little script, that check for the wireless BSSID, and turn the power led in yellow if something goes wrong .. this is really usefull in fact.

/opt/led-daemon

#!/bin/sh

while true
do
{
STATE=$(iwconfig ath0 |grep  00:13:13:53:DA:D1 | wc -l)
[ $STATE -eq 1 ] && echo 0 > /proc/diag/led/power
[ $STATE -eq 0 ] && echo 1 > /proc/diag/led/power
sleep 20
}
done

Foo

Step 6 / Finally

Here the result:

The finished product (grrr) works really fine and managed to achieve something like 850Ko/sec, I mean full speed ;) (11Mbs network) I need to remove the serial port right now, and close the box..

Important update

I read on Engadget that I use this to stream video to my TV, (like the Apple TV do), but this is absolutely wrong. This media player has a 320Go hard-drive. Why would stream film on this ? I just put it on that’s it :)

This is really amazing how people doesn’t read the article to see what I’ve done. It’s not the first time this happen in fact.

Here in France, most advanded users have some network TV from a long time, and this little boxes can play network stream (like the Apple TV) for a long time now. Beside you don’t pay for this service (rent for the boxes are included in DSL bill), the only issue is that you must have another computer to stream.

I guess nobody here (in France) would by a Apple TV, since we already have this kind of products for free for a long time. Look at a Freebox for example.

It’s time to watch a film :)

Kismet

First install Kismet. You need a wireless card that support RFMon in monitor mode. I think Madwifi cards, and patched Orinoco are the only ones that support this.

Launch Kismet, and now check for a given AP that kismet know the best level..

If everything is ok, edit the kismet config file and set gps=try

GPSDrive

Download and install the latest CVS version of GPSDrive (I have some issues with the latest tgz and kismet). The next step is to have a GPS working with gpsd. Most GPS will work, I bought a cheap one with a USB cord on ebay.

Simply launch gpsd, and after gpsdrive. You should see the reception level in GPSDrive.

MySQL

To use Kismet + GPSDrive, you need to have a MySQL database. In fact GPSDrive will ask to kismet the new APs, and dump this informations in a MySQL db. You can find the create.sql in GPSDrive sources.

mysql -u root -p < ./create.sql

This will add a user : gast / gast

First try

Ok, now launch GPSDrive and set the ‘use SQL’ (or edit the config file), and quit.

Now to start the whole stuff:

• Plug the wireless antenna (this is better for wardriving ;)
• Plug the GPS
• Launch gpsd (be carefull to have enought satellite in view)
• Launch Kismet (it should tell you, it find the GPS…)
• Launch GPSDrive (it should display a little kismet logo on bottom)
• Now, you’re ready to go, walk down the street you should see new APs on the GPSDrive map.

After the trip: Google Earth

Ok, now you have a lot of points in your database.. And GPSDrive have a little troubles to display them.. After a little time, i decided to install Google Earth, and look at the way to add new points on the map..

This, is quite simple, all i need to do is to extract data form the SQL, and build a xml file that contain all the points. I decided to write gpsdriveToGoogleEarth.py. This quick and dirty script will generate a file ‘ap.kml’. Now simply launch Google Earth and open this file. You will see something like this:

The main issue for me, is that Google Earth doesn’t support Linux right now so I need to dual-boot.. But this provide a easy way to build the card without too much pain. And i can share the Google Earth file others guys simply.

WARNING

I do this only for the fun, so don’t try to hack wireless access point using this howto, this is not the goal !

– Enjoy

My conclusion:

First:

• Take care of this antenna, I broke the first balun while testing :(
• and the balun is the hardest part to do

Tests :

• 13db of gain
• and a really big beam 120° !
• the “hot spot” of this antenna is in the middle instead what we usually see in
  omnidirectionnal. So the best height for this antenna is the same as computer.
  And this is a good news.

I usually use a biquad antenna inside my appartement, because my AP is in one corner. Biquad (or patch) offer a performance boost compare to a omnidirectionnal antenna (tested with a 8db doradus). This is mainly due to the reflections with the walls of the room inducted by the omni.

But I need to say that AMOS antenna beat all antennas I tested before in this indoor conditions. It has a larger beam (120°) and a strong front / rear insolation.

The AMOS antenna offer the best parts of the pach / quad and omnidirectionnal antennas for indoor. But take care that vertical angle is not really large so it will perhaps not work for a entire flat :).