This morning I used the information I found at TheBITBangTheory to setup one of my RPis to be a wireless access point. This particular RPi is the one that I have the PiFace plugged into, and would be the one that I would mount on the iCreate. My theory is this - create an internal network, isolated from the outside that connects the RPis with each other. Since I am intending on isolating the home network, I should probably put some rules in order to keep outsiders from entering my network while I am attempting to run some experiments. I am already planning on moving one of my managed switches to the downstairs bedroom for the purpose of isolating the RPi test setup from the rest of my home network. I just don't want to give anyone on the outside a free ride on my internet connection (Verizon frowns on this). So I will need to use WPA2 between individual RPis that are part of the test setup and in addition, I will need to put the test setup on a different VLAN from the rest of the house; sort of an experimental network.
I have been appreciative of the article that I found because the author goes into some detail about first determining that your usb wireless adapter is able to do the AP thing. After determining that the adapter will work, then he goes into explaining about setting up hostapd and udhcpd in an AP mode with encrypted access. In my particular case, I think that I will use a subnet that is nowhere close to what I use in the house. That way I can minimize the stray electrons that move about.
Update: I followed the instructions almost to the end but did not execute the last commands that would get the services running. The reason that I did not do this was that I wanted to wait until after I was home (I'm doing this at work during lunch) to complete the task. I forsee that I will have a problem since I added the NAT capability and the subnet is not recognized within the house network.
Unfortunately, I was unable,to get the hostapd service to start after the configuration. I took the same wireless USB adapter and was able to use the WiFi Configuration utility on the RPi to connect to my home network. I did notice that I was able to use the Ethernet or the WiFi but not both at the same time. Is there some setting that I have not discovered yet to get this working correctly?
This is a blog mostly about techie things, what I am doing to my apartment network on the cheap, IOT, 3D Printing, Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, ESP32, ESP8266, Home Automation, Personal Weather Stations, Things That Go Bump in the Night, and some side issues that need discussing. Remember, sometimes the journey to an end is as much fun as the goal achieved!
