Setting up ad-hoc wireless

Question

I have pi 'A' setup to be an adhoc network and using dhcp3-server.

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet dhcp

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 10.10.1.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
wireless-channel 1
wireless-essid PiAdhoc
wireless-mode ad-hoc

My windows can connect to it without any problems but pi 'B' never seems to connect.

/etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet manual
auto wlan0
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wireless-channel 1
wireless-essid PiAdhoc

I've tried lots of different configurations on pi 'B' but none seem to work, the network does show up in iwlist scan.

I also tried wpa_supplicant

network={
    ssid="PiAdhoc"
    proto=RSN
    key_mgmt=NONE
}

Also ho do I secure the adhoc network?

Answer 1

First of all since you are not mentioning with Raspberry Pi you are using and which Dongle are you using it might be difficult here. I have tested Edimax 7811-UN in adhoc mode and two pis with these dongles are incompatible in adhoc mode. You can try Ralink based Dongles which are compatible.

Also I am not sure if this a typo in your answer but you seem to forget adding wireless-mode ad-hoc in your Pi 2's interfaces file

A good way to check is by using iwconfig wlan0 on both your Pis to see if you are on the same Channel or not.

Most likely the WiFi Dongle Incompatibility between the Pis might be the concern you are facing in terms of non connectivity.

Answer 2

I would suggest using create_ap. It creates a Wireless Hotspot, if you supply a password is very secure and is super simple to set up.

And you can treat the WiFi on Pi "B" the same as any other Hotspot.

I use that since i got my Pi, and i never had any issues.