USB as "second nic"
Hi all, may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet. 1. Is this insane/impossible? 2. If the answer to (1) is no, how would one tell e.g. yast to configure such a thing? If the answer involves "Add line to 70-persistent-net.rules", how does one figure out the Mac addr for a usb connection? TIA, Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet.
Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged.
1. Is this insane/impossible? 2. If the answer to (1) is no, how would one tell e.g. yast to configure such a thing?
If the answer involves "Add line to 70-persistent-net.rules", how does one figure out the Mac addr for a usb connection?
TIA,
Michael
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet.
Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged.
Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has plenty of USB-3", like, one of these: https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/ Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
1. Is this insane/impossible? 2. If the answer to (1) is no, how would one tell e.g. yast to configure such a thing?
If the answer involves "Add line to 70-persistent-net.rules", how does one figure out the Mac addr for a usb connection?
TIA,
Michael
Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On 2/20/24 20:50, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet. Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote: the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged. Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote: plenty of USB-3", like, one of these:
https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/
Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
1. Is this insane/impossible? 2. If the answer to (1) is no, how would one tell e.g. yast to configure such a thing?
If the answer involves "Add line to 70-persistent-net.rules", how does one figure out the Mac addr for a usb connection?
I did exactly this for one of my users a few months ago. I bought a UNI USB/Ethernet adapter for $16 on Amazon and configured it as a normal Ethernet in Yast2. Works perfectly! Regards, Lew
On 2/21/2024 00:37:59, Lew Wolfgang wrote:
On 2/20/24 20:50, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet. Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote: the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged. Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote: plenty of USB-3", like, one of these:
https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/
Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
1. Is this insane/impossible? 2. If the answer to (1) is no, how would one tell e.g. yast to configure such a thing?
If the answer involves "Add line to 70-persistent-net.rules", how does one figure out the Mac addr for a usb connection?
I did exactly this for one of my users a few months ago. I bought a UNI USB/Ethernet adapter for $16 on Amazon and configured it as a normal Ethernet in Yast2.
Works perfectly!
Regards, Lew
Have a 10 year old Netgate/pfsense (APU-1c based). Only has USB 2.0, but the dongle was recognized as if it belonged there. Installed the newest pfsense and it sees it as well. Now have 4 ports and can configure a "hot standby". A dream come true. Have not load tested it.
On 2024-02-20 22:50, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet.
Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged.
Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has plenty of USB-3", like, one of these:
https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/
Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
OK, no problem. There are plenty of adapters that will turn a USB port into an ethernet port, as Lew has already explained. Most have a male Type-A USB connector at one end (some have a Type-C connector) , and an ethernet plug (RJ-45) at the other, contained in a small box. There is a NIC inside that box, which YaST will identify just like any other ethernet card. Just make sure you plug it into one of the USB-3.1 ports on the system, so you don't have to worry about whether the adapter has USB 2.0 fallback (some do, it seems many do not).
On Wed, Feb 21, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2024-02-20 22:50, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet.
Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged.
Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has plenty of USB-3", like, one of these:
https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/
Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
OK, no problem. There are plenty of adapters that will turn a USB port into an ethernet port, as Lew has already explained. Most have a male Type-A USB connector at one end (some have a Type-C connector) , and an ethernet plug (RJ-45) at the other, contained in a small box. There is a NIC inside that box, which YaST will identify just like any other ethernet card. Just make sure you plug it into one of the USB-3.1 ports on the system, so you don't have to worry about whether the adapter has USB 2.0 fallback (some do, it seems many do not).
Yep, already ordered one of those usb-3 <-> ethernet adapters. Does this (Yast indentifying it as a nic) rely on the adapter and ethernet cable being connected to something (in this case, a switch) on the other end at the time one launches Yast? (otherwise, how does Yast know to treat that usb port as a nic?) Thanks gents. Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
On Wed, Feb 21, 2024 at 10:09 AM Michael Fischer <michael@visv.net> wrote:
Does this (Yast indentifying it as a nic) rely on the adapter and ethernet cable being connected to something (in this case, a switch) on the other end at the time one launches Yast?
No.
(otherwise, how does Yast know to treat that usb port as a nic?)
YaST does not care, it works with interfaces made available by the kernel.
On 2024-02-21 01:09, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Wed, Feb 21, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2024-02-20 22:50, Michael Fischer wrote:
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet.
Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged.
Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has plenty of USB-3", like, one of these:
https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/
Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
OK, no problem. There are plenty of adapters that will turn a USB port into an ethernet port, as Lew has already explained. Most have a male Type-A USB connector at one end (some have a Type-C connector) , and an ethernet plug (RJ-45) at the other, contained in a small box. There is a NIC inside that box, which YaST will identify just like any other ethernet card. Just make sure you plug it into one of the USB-3.1 ports on the system, so you don't have to worry about whether the adapter has USB 2.0 fallback (some do, it seems many do not).
Yep, already ordered one of those usb-3 <-> ethernet adapters.
Does this (Yast indentifying it as a nic) rely on the adapter and ethernet cable being connected to something (in this case, a switch) on the other end at the time one launches Yast? (otherwise, how does Yast know to treat that usb port as a nic?) Just plug it in and configure it -- nothing has to be connected to it, just like any other network device. The only difference is that it connects via a USB port instead of the PCI bus.
On 2/20/24 23:38, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Does this (Yast indentifying it as a nic) rely on the adapter and ethernet cable being connected to something (in this case, a switch) on the other end at the time one launches Yast? (otherwise, how does Yast know to treat that usb port as a nic?) Just plug it in and configure it -- nothing has to be connected to it, just like any other network device. The only difference is that it connects via a USB port instead of the PCI bus.
It's magic. I didn't think it would work either, until I tried it. Another magical interface is MOCA. I've got one link to connect my home subnet to a printer with only an RG-59 coax cable. It's not fast, but it's perfect for a printer out of reach of a CAT-6 cable. Printer doesn't have WiFi. Regards, Lew
On 2024-02-21 01:48, Lew Wolfgang wrote:
On 2/20/24 23:38, Darryl Gregorash wrote:
Does this (Yast indentifying it as a nic) rely on the adapter and ethernet cable being connected to something (in this case, a switch) on the other end at the time one launches Yast? (otherwise, how does Yast know to treat that usb port as a nic?) Just plug it in and configure it -- nothing has to be connected to it, just like any other network device. The only difference is that it connects via a USB port instead of the PCI bus.
It's magic. I didn't think it would work either, until I tried it.
Another magical interface is MOCA. I've got one link to connect my home subnet to a printer with only an RG-59 coax cable. It's not fast, but it's perfect for a printer out of reach of a CAT-6 cable. Printer doesn't have WiFi. Seriously? A Cat-6 cable is good for 55m over a 10GBASE-T network.
As for MOCA, it looks like it's just another kind of modulator-demodulator (modem) device, just like a DOCSIS cable modem or (if you're old enough to remember these) an acoustic coupler. No voodoo magic about it at all.
* Darryl Gregorash <raven@accesscomm.ca> [02-21-24 04:20]: ...
As for MOCA, it looks like it's just another kind of modulator-demodulator (modem) device, just like a DOCSIS cable modem or (if you're old enough to remember these) an acoustic coupler. No voodoo magic about it at all.
that makes you somewhat aged :) 75 baud -- (paka)Patrick Shanahan Plainfield, Indiana, USA @ptilopteri http://en.opensuse.org openSUSE Community Member facebook/ptilopteri Photos: http://wahoo.no-ip.org/piwigo paka @ IRCnet oftc
On Feb 21, 2024, at 9:52 AM, Patrick Shanahan <paka@opensuse.org> wrote:
* Darryl Gregorash <raven@accesscomm.ca> [02-21-24 04:20]: ...
As for MOCA, it looks like it's just another kind of modulator-demodulator (modem) device, just like a DOCSIS cable modem or (if you're old enough to remember these) an acoustic coupler. No voodoo magic about it at all.
that makes you somewhat aged :)
75 baud
We have lived, and struggled, through it all. Ken
On 2/20/2024 23:50:58, Michael Fischer wrote:
Hi all,
may be in the situation where I'd want to create a "second nic" via usb->ethernet. Is this one of those USB WiFi things? If so, just plug it in, and go into YaST/Network Settings and configure it. Then go into Services Manager and enable service hostapd to run manually. Hostapd will bring
On 2024-02-20 21:55, Michael Fischer wrote: the subnet up whenever the NIC is detected, and bring it down if the NIC is unplugged. Nope. "Ordinary small Dell desktop playing the role of firewall/router", in the case of "too darn small to take an additional ordinary-size nic card but has
On Tue, Feb 20, Darryl Gregorash wrote: plenty of USB-3", like, one of these:
https://amazon.com/Dell-OptiPlex-7050-Micro-Refurbished/dp/B0C9SWBX88/
Notion is to put the line out to the world through the onboard nic, and a USB->ethernet to the switch for the "internal" machines.
Question I have is, why choose OpenSuse, or any general purpose distro, instead of pfSense, or some other "purpose built" FOSS software?
On 2/21/24 14:16, joe a wrote:
Question I have is, why choose OpenSuse, or any general purpose distro, instead of pfSense, or some other "purpose built" FOSS software?
Agreed. I used to use Suse for my firewall, until my ISP started providing native IPv6 and I found my firewall couldn't handle DHCPv6-PD. I switched to pfSense, which works well with it.
On Wed, Feb 21, joe a wrote:
Question I have is, why choose OpenSuse, or any general purpose distro, instead of pfSense, or some other "purpose built" FOSS software?
Because almost 20 years ago, I wrote the iptables scripts which I use (modulo some modifications) to this day. I know them, I'm happy with them. FWIW, I use a much smaller install on the firewall/router machine than my usual workstation(s). Michael -- Michael Fischer michael@visv.net
participants (8)
-
Andrei Borzenkov -
Darryl Gregorash -
James Knott -
joe a -
kschneider bout-tyme.net -
Lew Wolfgang -
Michael Fischer -
Patrick Shanahan