Mix RJ45 and coaxial (10Base-2) ethernet cables

Problem : how do you add a WIFI AP (Access Point) to an already existing network wired with 10Base-2 coaxial ethernet cables ?

Of course this is an old network with old PC, and you can not replace the 10Base-2 network adapters of the PC in order to rewire with RJ45 cables.

Answer : just find one more 10Base-2 network adapter in a drawer, and add it in an old Linux box that already has a RJ45 network adapter.

Setup two subnetworks, one on each adapter of the Linux box, with routing of the traffic from one subnetwork, to another (or even better, build a bridge, in order to have one single subnetwork).

Plug in the AP to the linux box with a crossover RJ45 ethernet cable.

This linux box can even be used as a gateway both for the LAN and for the WLAN !

Simple iptable gateway script

It's the second time I must setup a Linux gateway connected to a DSL line. The DSL modem interface is ppp0 and the LAN interface is eth0. Here is the script I use to setup the iptables :

<br />echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward<br /><br />modprobe ip_conntrack_ftp<br /><br />export EXT=ppp0<br /><br />/sbin/iptables -F<br />/sbin/iptables -t nat -F<br />/sbin/iptables -t mangle -F <br />/sbin/iptables -X <br /><br />/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT<br />/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -m state --state NEW -i ! $EXT -j ACCEPT<br />/sbin/iptables -P INPUT DROP<br /><br />/sbin/iptables -A FORWARD -i $EXT -o eth0 -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT<br />/sbin/iptables -A FORWARD -i eth0 -o $EXT -j ACCEPT<br /><br />/sbin/iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o $EXT -j MASQUERADE<br /><br />/sbin/iptables -A FORWARD -i $EXT -o $EXT -j REJECT<br />