Is it possible to use the raspberry pi's built-in wi-fi as a hotspot?

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1

The goal here would be additional cost savings by not requiring an external wi-fi router when setting up a Kolibri-enabled classroom. I have found instructions, linked below, on how this might be achieved but I wanted to check with the community first if anyone’s attempted this.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/access-point.md

Regards,
Iqbal Chaudhry

2

Hi Iqbal, yes I can confirm you this has been done previously, but inserting an usb wifi dongle.
Not aware of hotspots done with the integrated wifi in the latest Raspberry versions. It should work the same, the number of possible clients connecting will depend on the capabilities.
According to https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/questions/50162/maximum-wi-fi-clients-on-pi-3-hotspot up to 22 students could connect if you don’t setup passwords nor encryptions in the wifi setup. It will also depend on the kind of traffic used. Just browsing will require less bandwidth and cpu power than streaming video content.

This could be helpful for you too: Kolibri toolkit at https://learningequality.org/documentation/

Regards
José L.

3

hi iqbal, it’s possible to use the pi’s builtin wi-fi as a hotspot i achieved this on the raspberry pi model B and B+ and serving the kolibri content on 5-7 devices at a time, but sometimes pi’s hotspot drops automatically at that time you just need to reboot the system. i first configured hotspot using hostapd but then went for isc-dhcp server which gives more stable connections.
hope this helps.

thanks.

4

Thanks djholmes. This is a new field for me. Could you please list the steps needed to implement the hotspot.

Regards,
Iqbal

5

hi iqbal, i can refer you to two links i used to create the hotspot on pi. first link is related to hotspot creation using hostapd and dnsmasq, and second link is referring to isc-dhcp server hotspot creation.
hostapd link --> https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/access-point.md
isc-dhcp link --> http://raspberrypihq.com/how-to-turn-a-raspberry-pi-into-a-wifi-router/

i have implemented both the scenarios on “raspbian OS”. so please install the “raspbian OS” and then proceed.
you can’t implement both the links at the same time either go for hostapd and then for isc or vice versa.
one more thing after implementing hotspot on pi, you will lose your internet connection so whatever you want to download do that before hotspot creation or else you need to provide internet to pi through LAN connection.

hope this helps.

Regards,
DJ

6

Dear @djholmes, @ichaudhry and @jredrejo

I written a tutorial for setting up Kolibri on Raspberry Pi with a local hotspot and even a “captive portal” (for catching requests to online resources). You can find it here:

https://overtag.dk/rpi/install/tutorials/rpi.html

It’s been tested by myself a couple of times, but I would love to hear your feed back.

Best,
Ben

7

JamesK has put up an image that I use. It works as a hotspot for Kolibri and RACHEL
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12KBj-wAH1t1XeQaeSogE6ARbGYPhW6hK/view
his thread is