RPi Zero W Wifi Access Point created, cannot connect

Question

Trying to setup a wifi hotspot (that doesn't require internet) on the RPi Zero W via SSH. I'm connected to the Pi via Wifi using the wpa_supplicant.conf to connect to an existing network. I'm unable to connect via OTG USB for some reason.

No matter what online tutorial or guide I follow it fails to work. When I reboot it won't create a network nor reconnect to the existing network.

Is this purely because I'm connected via wifi whilst editing wifi configs?

I've modified another script to install and modify the configs required. On Github. This is the furthest I've managed. Creates a network. But still am unable to connect. It accepts the password but i'm then unable to even ping the pi.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I was able to configure my RPi 3 with its own WiFi Access Point (AP) using https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/access-point.md

To perform this setup, you will need full, cabled Ethernet access during the setup process. After the Pi is set up as a WiFi AP, you no longer need the Ethernet umbilical cable. A Raspberry Pi configured this way will NOT have access to the internet once the physical cable is unplugged. However, you can access anything on the Raspberry Pi via WiFi to the Pi WiFi access point.

Also, note that the documentation is confusing and should be read as follows:

interface=wlan0 # Use the require wireless interface - usually wlan0 dhcp-range=192.168.4.2,192.168.4.20,255.255.255.0,24h I.e., you just need this:

interface=wlan0
dhcp-range=192.168.4.2,192.168.4.20,255.255.255.0,24h

Once configured this way, you might be able to use the SD card from the RPi3 in your Pi Zero W. It's a bit of a circuitous route, but...