Connecting the MoodleBox to a Wifi Network

ralfkrause

I found that the MoodleBox should get smartphone tethering out of the box https://github.com/moodlebox/moodlebox/issues/285. For a lot of people the tethering is an usb cable between the smartphone and a computer. https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/374-connexion-internet-par-smartphone-via-usb

I think that using an existing wifi should be the better idea.

In the french forum of moodle.org there is a thread https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=365594 from 2018 where Daniel Méthot discusses the idea of an internet connection for the MoodleBox via a GSM telephone. For the use in Africa he wants to keep everything as simple as possible ... no special usb adapter, no special cable, and it must work with every smartphone. You need the internet connection to get a Moodle update or a new plugin. And when the MoodleBox starts up it will get the internet time.

Since MoodleBox-4.0.0 the AP+STA mode is activated out of the box https://github.com/moodlebox/moodlebox/releases/tag/v4.0.0. The MoodleBox is an AccessPoint for 20 clients. And the MoodleBox could be connected to another existing wifi network to get internet access. Can you please show us the way to do this for Bookworm? Is there a manual where we can read all the missing steps?

I installed MoodleBox-4.7.0 with the Raspberry Pi Imager and setup the wifi network to my smartphone hotspot. Yes, I get a connection with a correct ip address from my smartphone but I get no internet connection.

moodlebox@moodlebox:~ $ ifconfig
eth0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether dc:a6:32:0f:a2:ae  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 578  bytes 1954889 (1.8 MiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 578  bytes 1954889 (1.8 MiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

uap0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 10.0.0.1  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 10.0.0.255
        inet6 fe80::b2a7:9b8e:18ea:512e  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether de:a6:32:af:a2:b0  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 279  bytes 37108 (36.2 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 338  bytes 60735 (59.3 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 172.20.10.3  netmask 255.255.255.240  broadcast 172.20.10.15
        inet6 2a00:20:6047:c49c:d9c9:4a50:d843:8232  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x0<global>
        inet6 fe80::6c75:baf5:1e1b:60a2  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether dc:a6:32:0f:a2:b0  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 19  bytes 2398 (2.3 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 61  bytes 10598 (10.3 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

moodlebox@moodlebox:~ $ ping moodlebox.net
PING moodlebox.net (46.38.232.227) 56(84) bytes of data.
From moodlebox (10.0.0.1) icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable
From moodlebox (10.0.0.1) icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable
From moodlebox (10.0.0.1) icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable
^C
--- moodlebox.net ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 0 received, +3 errors, 100% packet loss, time 3073ms
pipe 3
moodlebox@moodlebox:~ $

The settings for the wifi networks can be found in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/ ... there is a file WifiAP.nmconnection and a file WifiSTA.nmconnection. The settings from the Raspberry Pi Imager are in the file preconfigured.nmconnection

Best regards,
Ralf

Nicolas

ralfkrause Can you please show us the way to do this for Bookworm?

Just edit the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/WifiSTA.nmconnection, indicating the SSID and password of your wireless access point, then reboot.

ralfkrause

I tried the AP+STA usage with the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and the MoodleBox-4.0.0.
https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/285-raspberry-pi-zero-2-w-and-moodlebox

Nicolas

ralfkrause https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/285-raspberry-pi-zero-2-w-and-moodlebox

The info in this post is outdated with MoodleBox 4.6.0 and later. Don't use it.

ralfkrause

Okay, I found the next step ... I can enable and disable the wifi connection to my smartphone hotspot.

I configured the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/WifiSTA.nmconnection with the ssid and the password for my smartphone hotspot. And then I tried the commands for activating and deactivating the wlan0 network.

root@moodlebox:/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections# sudo nmcli device up wlan0
Device 'wlan0' successfully activated with 'c530dfb4-d269-4397-825b-461a6d5314b7'.
root@moodlebox:/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections# sudo nmcli device down wlan0
Device 'wlan0' successfully disconnected.
root@moodlebox:/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections#

Yes, I could see on my smartphone that the hotspot was used by a connected device. The icon was switched on and off. The ifconfig command has shown the ip address for wlan0 while the connection was on. But I could not get a ping answer from any server and I could get no external web page in the browser.

Ralf

ralfkrause

Nicolas The info in this post is outdated with MoodleBox 4.6.0 and later. Don't use it.

Yes, the infos in post https://discuss.moodlebox.net/d/285-raspberry-pi-zero-2-w-and-moodlebox will work with Bullseye. I tested the AP+STA mode with MoodleBox-4.0.0 which uses Bullseye and not Bookworm.

Now I want to get the external wifi connection with MoodleBox-4.7.0 and Bookworm. I edit the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/WifiSTA.nmconnection with the correct ssid and password of my smartphone hotspot. Yes, if the smartphone hotspot is switched on the MoodleBox automatically connects to the hotspot. The MoodleBox gets the internet time and sets up the system clock of the MoodleBox.

But if I try to get an external webpage https://moodlebox.net or ping to moodlebox.net the system can't use the connection. Is there a problem with dns and the routing? Or is there a mistake in my setting?

Ralf

ralfkrause

Connecting the MoodleBox to a Wifi Network works fine with MoodleBox-4.5.1 and Bullseye.

To test the AP+STA mode once more with Bullseye I copy a new microSD card with the MoodleBox-4.5.1 image ... this is the latest Bullseye version.. I edit the file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf and set the ssid and the password of my smartphone hotspot ... and also the regulation country DE for my location. I save the file. And I reboot the MoodleBox while my smartphone hotspot is switched on.

The MoodleBox-4.5.1 automatically connects to the smartphone hotspot. The system clock is set to the internet time. My first test is to get the webpage https://moodlebox.net from the internet ... yes, it works. And the second test is to update the MoodleBox to Moodle 4.1.9+ (20240326) ... this is currently the latest version of Moodle 4.1.x. I update Moodle via git pull ... and yes, this test also works fine.

For this post the MoodleBox is connected to the smartphone hotspot and it works in the same way as it would work with an ethernet cable. These AP+STA settings work with MoodleBox-4.5.1 (and less down to 4.0.0). These settings work with Bullseye but not with Bookworm.

Ralf

Nicolas

ralfkrause These settings work with Bullseye but not with Bookworm.

Obviously. Any network setting under Bullseye won't work with Bookworm, don't even try :-)

ralfkrause

Nicolas found a fix for Bookworm. https://github.com/moodlebox/moodlebox/issues/334

To repair the problem for MoodleBox-4.6.0 and MoodleBox-4.7.0 you have to open the terminal. Edit the file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/WifiSTA.nmconnection with your ssid and password. Then you must run the command sudo nmcli con mod WifiSTA ipv4.route-metric 99. These steps only must be done once.

With a restart the MoodleBox automatically connects to the wifi when the wifi is available.

danmcguire

What is the latest recommendation for connecting a MoodleBox on Raspberry Pi 4B to the internet via a smartphone? I need a recommendation that would enable the average 4th grade teacher in Ghana to connect their MoodleBox to the internet.

ralfkrause

danmcguire I need a recommendation that would enable the average 4th grade teacher in Ghana to connect their MoodleBox to the internet.

The problem is that you need to connect with a terminal to configure a system file /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/WifiSTA.nmconnection for the ssid and the password of your smartphone hotspot. And you must change this configuration every time when you change the ssid or the password for your smartphone hotspot.

There is no easier way to do this. The MoodleBox has no configuration page for this use case.

danmcguire

ralfkrause Will it ever be possible to have an easier way?

Ratna

danmcguire

Never say ever!

Seriously, I never believed that a wireless interface could be a "sender" (base station) and a receiver (ad-hoc station) at the same time. Suddenly it became possible. So it is matter of time until the RPi developers and Nicolas make it easier.
;-)

ralfkrause

Great!
The new MoodleBox 4.8.0 makes it really easy to setup for wifi tethering with a smartphone.

Yes, there is still no web interface to do this. But it‘s only one configuration file you must edit in the terminal.
sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/WifiSTA.nmconnection
After you put in your hotspot ssid and password into the right place you save with ctrl-o and exit with ctrl-x.
With the next boot connects the MoodleBox to the hotspot on your smartphone if the hotspot is activated.

Yes, the ballon is part of the hotspot ssid. 😎

StevenM

This is amazing. I've tried it and it works great! Dan McGuire and I have been looking forward to this functionality to support a use case, of supporting remote installations of a MoodleBox. Now, an instance of MoodleBox running remotely (another country like Ghana), that doesn't have internet connectivity, can have internet connectivity if the teacher's cell phone has internet and a hot spot. This will allow things such as a Zoom session which can support screen sharing and remote control!

Additionally, I realized, tried, and verified that I was able to connect this MoodleBox to my home WiFi the same way to give it internet access, just like via a cell phone hot spot.

We are very excited about this functionality! THANKS EVERYONE.

danmcguire

StevenM I, too, am excited that this functionality is now available. Steve gave me a demo a couple of days ago. Wow! This opens lots of possibilities. I'm sure I'll have more questions after I've got 4.8.0 running.