STA_IF and AP_IF at the same time, traffic routing

[davefes]

I have a situation where I'd like an ESP32 to be running in AP-mode so that I can connect to several ESP32's in STA-mode AND then run on STA-mode to connect to another AP.

I found this discussion:
#11636
answered by @glenn20, which seems to indicate that it is possible to connect to both interfaces.

The part I am struggling-with is ... how do I route the traffic from one interface to the other when it is connected to both interfaces? Would I need to assign static IPs or use ESP-Now?

Edit: Connect to both, but both are not active at the same time??

Thanks.

[sosi-deadeye]

Only IP-Forward is working currently. Here what I tried:

"""
https://github.com/micropython/micropython/issues/7699

I compiled the firmware by myself, because CONFIG_LWIP_IP_FORWARD and CONFIG_LWIP_IPV4_NAPT is not enabled by default.
IP-Forwarding works, but NAT doesn't work. I guess you have to call a C function,
to activate NAT on the client interface, but this function is not exposed to micropython.
Afik a C module must expose this function to python land.


Modified sdkconfig.board
========================
CONFIG_LWIP_IP_FORWARD=y
CONFIG_LWIP_IPV4_NAPT=y
"""
from time import sleep_ms
from network import WLAN, AUTH_WPA3_PSK, AUTH_WPA2_PSK, STA_IF, AP_IF, hostname, country


country("DE")
hostname("My awsome ESP32S3")

client = WLAN(STA_IF)
server = WLAN(AP_IF)

client.active(False)
server.active(False)

client.active(True)
server.active(True)

client.connect("SSID", "PSKPSK")
server.config(ssid="ESP32S3", key="1234567890", security=AUTH_WPA3_PSK)

while client.ifconfig()[0] == "0.0.0.0":
    print(".", end="")
    sleep_ms(100)
print()

print("Connected to Wifi")
print(client.ifconfig())

dns = client.ifconfig()[-1]
ip = "192.168.10.1"
mask = "255.255.255.0"

server.ifconfig((ip, mask, ip, dns))

[davefes]

Thanks for the response. I will keep your suggestion in mind.

Meanwhile, I will use one ESP32 as an AP (my local network), send files over UART to a 2nd ESP32 to talk to my external network.

[Sagarhs45]

@davefes @sosi-deadeye If anyone can help in implementing captive portal in AP mode in order to avoid hard coding of Wi-Fi credentials using lwip stack, please let me know.
It would be really helpul.
Thank you.

[davefes]

One of my proposed projects that did not see the light of day. Hope someone else can help.

[Sagarhs45]

@davefes Thanks for the response.

[shariltumin]

Hi Dave, Are you still interested in the possibility of running AP+STA on the ESP32 at the same time? I have a sample script that does just that.

The script is running on an ESP32, both AP and STA network are enabled, AP will listen for WIFI client request, I use an old smartphone as client here. STA will connect to my home network through my Wifi router.

The script starts two TCP servers listening on port 23, one bound to the AP IP address and the other bound to the STA IP address.

Using the smartphone, I connect to the AP and launch a telnet client application to connect to the AP's IP address. Then on my Linux PC, I start a telnet session to the IP address of the STA. The idea is to send text messages between these two telnet clients using the ESP32 as a bridge.

The test script is at https://github.com/shariltumin/bit-and-pieces/blob/main/telnet-bridge/telnet_bridge.py

The script needs more work to be useful, it is just a proof of concept.

The run log below shows that we can run AP+STA on ESP32 at the same time.

Remount local directory ./ at /remote
>>> import telnet_bridge
>>> telnet_bridge.main()
AP mode active with IP: 10.10.4.1
Connected to external Wi-Fi with IP: 192.168.4.92
AP: 10.10.4.1 STA: 192.168.4.92
Telnet server started on 10.10.4.1:23, waiting for a client...
Client connected from ('10.10.4.2', 42582)
Telnet server started on 192.168.4.92:23, waiting for a client...
Client connected from ('192.168.4.27', 45704)
Forwarded data from AP client to STA client
Forwarded data from AP client to STA client
Forwarded data from STA client to AP client
Forwarded data from AP client to STA client
Forwarded data from STA client to AP client
Forwarded data from AP client to STA client
Forwarded data from AP client to STA client
AP client disconnected
>>>

[davefes]

Thank you for that. I will re-visit the requirements for my system and see if that is a better fit then what I am doing now.

[Sagarhs45]

Hi shariltumin, Can you help me in setting up captive portal in psoc 6 mcu?

…

On Tue, 10 Sep 2024 at 7:00 PM, shariltumin ***@***.***> wrote: Hi Dave, Are you still interested in the possibility of running AP+STA on the ESP32 at the same time? I have a sample script that does just that. The script is running on an ESP32, both AP and STA network are enabled, AP will listen for WIFI client request, I use an old smartphone as client here. STA will connect to my home network through my Wifi router. The script starts two TCP servers listening on port 23, one bound to the AP IP address and the other bound to the STA IP address. Using the smartphone, I connect to the AP and launch a telnet client application to connect to the AP's IP address. Then on my Linux PC, I start a telnet session to the IP address of the STA. The idea is to send text messages between these two telnet clients using the ESP32 as a bridge. The test script is at https://github.com/shariltumin/bit-and-pieces/blob/main/telnet-bridge/telnet_bridge.py The script needs more work to be useful, it is just a proof of concept. The run log below shows that we can run AP+STA on ESP32 at the same time. Remount local directory ./ at /remote >>> import telnet_bridge >>> telnet_bridge.main() AP mode active with IP: 10.10.4.1 Connected to external Wi-Fi with IP: 192.168.4.92 AP: 10.10.4.1 STA: 192.168.4.92 Telnet server started on 10.10.4.1:23, waiting for a client... Client connected from ('10.10.4.2', 42582) Telnet server started on 192.168.4.92:23, waiting for a client... Client connected from ('192.168.4.27', 45704) Forwarded data from AP client to STA client Forwarded data from AP client to STA client Forwarded data from STA client to AP client Forwarded data from AP client to STA client Forwarded data from STA client to AP client Forwarded data from AP client to STA client Forwarded data from AP client to STA client AP client disconnected >>> — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#14270 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BF3AKKG4YCMNTMG6KYZJMHLZV3X63AVCNFSM6AAAAABF5ZSKFWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTANRQGI3TEOA> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>

[shariltumin]

There are several "tutorial" videos on YouTube that tell you how to set up a captive portal using Micropython. Do a search "captive portal micropython" you will be presented with several alternative.

These repositories may be of use to you in your project:
https://github.com/lemariva/uPyPortal/tree/master
https://github.com/pimoroni/phew/tree/main

The basic idea is to capture http requests from your AP side of the network by tricking the DNS requests from the captured clients and acting as a proxy.

Please do not use the knowledge you gain for any form of illegal activity

[xplshn]

Is there any proper way to bridge WLAN to USB RNDIS? I use this patch: #16459