what are possible uses for cloned netdevices and software network devices

L

lockfile

In the handbook wireless network section, I came across this line: # ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 After that line came # ifconfig ath0 up scan to mark the netdevice as up and then scan to list all reachable wlans. This basically says to create (actually clone ath0 and give it the name wlan0). My question is why create a clone of ath0? Why are the reasons for using # ifconfig wlan0 scan vs # ifconfig ath0 up scan or # ifconfig ath0 scan? Is the wlan0 convention for compatibility?
 
I'm just trying to understand how to set up a wireless network via CLI. In the past I relied on helper applets in my DEs.
 
Here is the info from that post [below].

Default Important wireless networking change in FreeBSD 8
From the Release Notes:

Quote:
The wireless network support layer (net80211) now uses pseudo-interfaces named as wlanN instead of a device driver name like em0 directly. The wlanN interface is created by ifconfig(8) as an instance of the parent interface and used for actual communication similar to vlan(4), IEEE 802.1Q VLAN network interface. Note that multiple instances (to realize multiple BSSes with a single AP device, for example) can be created if the parent interface supports it. For more details, see ifconfig(8) manual page.
If you're unsure whether (and how) this applies to your wireless network, consult the EXAMPLES section of the manual for your driver, e.g. ath(4), ral(4), wpi(4), etcetera. See also wlan(4).

Typical ifconfig(8) commands look like this:
Code:

* ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ral0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 255.255.255.0
* ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0 wlanmode hostap [....]
* ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev wpi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 255.255.255.0

etc.
Click to expand...
 
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