[GUIDE] Change your Xoom wifi adapter MAC address [UPDATE: 28/11] - Xoom Android Development

First things first:
By reading and following this guide,
you accept *ANY* and *ALL* responsibility
for the possible damage, loss of data and/or other
consequences to your device which may follow.​
All the following procedures have been tested on a US Motorola Xoom Wifi only. They *might* (and probably do) work on other devices, including the 3G, Euro, etc., but are not guaranteed to do so.
Now that we're straight, let's get to the point.
Foreword:
Once I had this problem of accessing my brother's MAC filtered access point. I had my notebook MAC added to the access list, whilst my Xoom was left out. Of course, my brother was out and I didn't know the AP credentials. It was then, when the idea of a MAC change came to me.
During my brief "on the spot" research I discovered a file named 'bcm4329.cal' residing at '/system/etc/wifi/'. It has a line, notably 'macaddr=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'. Changing the contents, however, did not yield any changes to my MAC address. That time, I left the issue unsolved, but later, tinkering with my Huawei U8500, I discovered something that helped solve my Xoom MAC issue.
The solution was quite straightforward, but involved a kernel recompile. So, here I am, offering several kernel modules (drivers) - for the stock 3.2 kernel and for the Tiamat 2.0.0-2.2.0 kernels.
Prerequisites:
a stock 3.2, Tiamat 2.0.0 Katana, Tiamat 2.1.0 Tachi or Tiamat 2.2.0 Odachi running Motorola Xoom Wifi
ClockworkMod Recovery installed (author uses ClockworkMod 3.2.0.0 R4c by solarnz)
Procedure:
The procedure involves changing the appropriate wifi kernel module to a 'patched' one which allows MAC change through the 'bcm4329.cal' file. All this will be done in ClockworkMod Recovery.
1. Download one of the attached files (according to your running kernel version which you will find in Settings -> About tablet -> Kernel version)
2. Place the appropriate file on your SD card
3. Boot into Recovery by rebooting, waiting until the Motorola logo appears, count to 3, press the Volume down button, then the Volume up button
4. Select 'install zip from sdcard'
5. Select 'choose zip from sdcard'
6. Browse to your 'mac_change_mod_xxx.zip' (steps 1 and 2)
7. Select 'Yes - Install mac_change_mod_xxx.zip'
8. After its done it's job, reboot by returning to the main menu and choosing 'reboot system now'
Voila! You now have a Xoom with a custom MAC address. You can change it by editing the 'macaddr=...' line in the '/system/etc/wifi/bcm4329.cal' file. The author uses Root Explorer for this.
NOTE: The kernel module will probably be removed when installing a new kernel, so the procedure should be repeated.

Great work!!

LOL, I love it. I just changed my MAC address to look like an Apple Laptop. Even shows up that way on scanners that resolve the OUI to the manufacture. Now I'm stealthy!
Did I mention I luv it. Maybe tomorrow I will look like a Commodore 64!

is purpose just for personal preference? What would be the benefit of changing it?

One of the possible uses of MAC changing is described in the head of this thread. IMHO it's the most useful one. Other purposes may not be so legit, but the author takes no responsibility ;-)

tdaliviu said:
One of the possible uses of MAC changing is described in the head of this thread. IMHO it's the most useful one. Other purposes may not be so legit, but the author takes no responsibility ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I guess I was too dumb to understand what you did in the op, but I will still put this on my sd card just in case I find a use or need it

Purpose for MAC change
Maybe I did explain myself in a little too a technical language The basic idea is that if you have a wireless access point (i.e. a router) that accepts only one of your devices (i.e. your notebook), but does not accept your Xoom, you can try and change the Xoom's MAC address to mimic the notebook. The only thing to remember is that you can not use two devices with the same MAC on a network at once. If you follow that rule, you're golden.
P.S. Ah, and forgot to mention that this update will not work on the 3.2.2 for 4G Xooms.

tdaliviu,
Question for you. Since I applied this update I have noticed that my "WiFi Disconnect Policy" keeps reverting back to "When Screen Turns Off" no matter what I change it to.
I am not saying this patch is the cause, but what do you think are the possibilities? Again, I love the capability, and will live with the issue even it turns out to because of this patch, but I just wanted to check your thoughts on it, or see if you thought it might be something to do with the Tiamat ROM.
Thanks for looking at this.
UPDATE: Well I may have gfinally gotten the disconnect settings to stick. Instead of just changing it, letting it sit and coming back later to find out that it didn't, I changed it to the setting I wanted, then immediatley rebooted. Now it seems to be holding the setting. I will let go for a while and see what it does. Will provide an update either way. Thanks again.

For those wondering what this MOD might be good for, there are multiple things. Some ethical and some not so ethical. For instance, as "tdaliviu" mention, if you are trying to simply get around a MAC address problem, you might need to change it. If you were into hacking/cracking or just sniffing around wireless nets that weren’t yours and you didn't want to be discovered or tracked via your MAC. If you just want anonymity. I like it from this standpoint and that of security.
For instance, assume you are sitting in an Airport with your Xoom WiFi up and running, and someone is scanning the airwaves for likely targets to hack. If they seem your MAC address, they will know you are coming from a Motorola device, and might even be able to tell it is a Xoom. If there are any known security flaws, they automatically know which exploits to use against you to gain access. Just being a Xoom might make you a more attractive target. Who knows. But, if you can change your MAC address so that it appears as belonging to a different kind of system, say a "network device" like a wireless repeater, wireless AP, or some other boring target then not only would the attacker not know what exploits to run, but they would most likely just leave you alone without any further investigation or possible portscans.
And of course if you want real anonymity, you might consider changing the name your Xoom provides to DHCP servers when requesting an IP Address. Right now it uses "android_xxxxxxxxxx" with the x's being some number that is specific to your Xoom. I believe that could be used to track back your identity as well. I found several threads and ideas on how to do this. I used the one at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760314.
Anyway, thanks again for the MOD!

Quite a strange issue there, Krpto1973. At a loss to what might be the problem. I myself am running Moray, so will do some testing...

Well like I said, I may have gotten it taken care of. It's been holding steady since I set it and immedialty rebooted. It probably had nothing at all to do with your MOD. If anything changes I will let you know.

Guess I spoke too soon. After it sat idle for quite a couple hours, I came back and found it with "No Internet Connection". Once it fully woke up(just a second or so) it immedialty reconnected but when I checked the WiFi Disconnect Policy settings, it was back at "When Screen Turns Off".
Any thoughts?

Sorry, tested on my side. No such problem... Did you do a wipe when you switched to Tiamat's ROM? Maybe there are some leftovers from Stock? I am almost outruling a module problem since it's compiled from Tiamat's source using Tiamat's config.

Krpto1973 said:
For those wondering what this MOD might be good for, there are multiple things. Some ethical and some not so ethical. For instance, as "tdaliviu" mention, if you are trying to simply get around a MAC address problem, you might need to change it. If you were into hacking/cracking or just sniffing around wireless nets that weren’t yours and you didn't want to be discovered or tracked via your MAC. If you just want anonymity. I like it from this standpoint and that of security.
For instance, assume you are sitting in an Airport with your Xoom WiFi up and running, and someone is scanning the airwaves for likely targets to hack. If they seem your MAC address, they will know you are coming from a Motorola device, and might even be able to tell it is a Xoom. If there are any known security flaws, they automatically know which exploits to use against you to gain access. Just being a Xoom might make you a more attractive target. Who knows. But, if you can change your MAC address so that it appears as belonging to a different kind of system, say a "network device" like a wireless repeater, wireless AP, or some other boring target then not only would the attacker not know what exploits to run, but they would most likely just leave you alone without any further investigation or possible portscans.
And of course if you want real anonymity, you might consider changing the name your Xoom provides to DHCP servers when requesting an IP Address. Right now it uses "android_xxxxxxxxxx" with the x's being some number that is specific to your Xoom. I believe that could be used to track back your identity as well. I found several threads and ideas on how to do this. I used the one at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=760314.
Anyway, thanks again for the MOD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fantastically stated there, sir. I wasn't aware of the DHCP request issue. You've successfully made me that much more paranoid.

Hmm this mod doesn't seem to work on 3.2.1 (breaks wifi functionality). Planning on updating by any chance?

Sorry, but I'm on Tiamat's Moray ROM right now, which is based on the 3.2 kernel. I certainly plan on an update when Tiamat releases a ROM based off 3.2.1 (or 3.2.2 for that matter).

If you attach a patch ill add it to the repo and give you bunches of credits

Oh, didn't quite expect such a turn of events One patch coming up...

mac_change_mod patch
Here's the patch. It's quite obvious, though took some time to figure it out. It's against the stock Makefile, but as I understood, there were no changes to the WiFi module from Team Tiamat.
Is it going to make it to a future release of Tiamat ROM/Kernel or will it live only as a patch file in the repo?
Code:
--- /home/liviu/Desktop/Xoom/Makefile 2011-08-03 09:27:45.000000000 +0300
+++ /home/liviu/Desktop/Xoom/stock/drivers/net/wireless/bcm4329/Makefile 2011-08-01 21:27:35.395212384 +0300
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
-Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Werror -DOOB_INTR_ONLY -DCUSTOMER_HW2 \
-DDHD_USE_STATIC_BUF -DMMC_SDIO_ABORT -DDHD_DEBUG_TRAP -DSOFTAP \
-DEMBEDDED_PLATFORM -DARP_OFFLOAD_SUPPORT -DPKT_FILTER_SUPPORT \
- -DGET_CUSTOM_MAC_ENABLE -DSET_RANDOM_MAC_SOFTAP -DCSCAN -DHW_OOB \
+ -DSET_RANDOM_MAC_SOFTAP -DCSCAN -DHW_OOB \
-DKEEP_ALIVE -DPNO_SUPPORT \
-Idrivers/net/wireless/bcm4329 -Idrivers/net/wireless/bcm4329/include

Sweet. Cooking and testing. I don't see why this cant make a release. We gotta play with it a bit, but I like this mod. Goes nice with the BT5 concept too

Related

Please help me with wifi problem...

Hi all,
Eversince i bought my BA, i did not need to use Wlan on it (over a year now !!) but i am getting a bit frustrated in the last couple of days as i am unable to use it.
here is the situation - when i come to a place where i know there is a wifi signal (at my friends house) i tap the little icon on the bottom right side of the desktop screen and i get the "Wireless LAN manager" , i check the "Wireless LAN ON" checkbox and then tap "ok" . then the screen changes back to the desktop screen and i can see the little antenna in searching mode (accumulating dots beside it), then i get a popped up baloon asking if i wish to connect to "internet" or "work", i check the internet circle and tap ok (or connect - i dont remmember as i have no wifi signal at the moment), but than nothing happens - the little icon of the antenna is still searching and if i tap it i get the same "Wireless LAN manager" with no signal strength or any thing...if i try the internet explorer, it tries to connect via the GPRS connection...
PLEASE....HELP ANYONE....
It's only a notion but I'd check your friend's WiFi AP. I set one up recently in our place. The device used is a Wireless G Broadband Router and Access Point (AP) which also has a net port (4 physical connections).
I couldn't get a murmur out of it on the simplest device... ancient Jornada 720 Win 2000 with Aironet 340 card (they are matched) although it was evident that all parts were working and the setup programs recognised each other as being there. Tried our Acer n30 next on a Safecom card. Same result. Head scratching.
Eventually a light bulb went on.
Tried a hard reset on the AP/Router. It re-set from one channel (11) to another (6). Everything suddenly started talking.
Next problem... and this is where it gets close to yours... how to stop everyone getting on and in.
The AP Router is full of encryption options from WEP up. Your gadget has to match the requirement from the AP/Router... that might mean a keyword used as a base for encryption or steadily more complex requirements... depends on what your friend's AP Router is set to.
My solution had to be simpler. I could not be bothered to prat about sticking code words all over the place every time I wanted to add a device... and getting encryptions to agree is sometimes not as easy as they'd have you believe.
Answer: Every net device, including the Xiis we now use, has a device specific MAC number.
The AP Router has a table you can enter MAC numbers you want to permit access to... so you needn't fool around with all the clever stuff.
Our AP Router now has our MAC numbers in the table and permits access to them only.
The XDA iis reveals it's MAC number when you tell it to look for a connection.
We now have a WiFi AP serving an ancient egyptian Jornada 720, an Acer N30, an XDAiis, an ordinary PC (using one of the old PCMICIA Aironet Cards which configure on anything with windoze and are dirt cheap on eBay as they're only 802.11b) , and a Sony Vaio Laptop (also using an Aironet), all into a single broadband account.
So check with your chum and see what his settings on his WiFi are. Maybe try a hard re-set on it too if poking about in the admin program doesn't help.
QF
Yol said:
Hi all,
Eversince i bought my BA, i did not need to use Wlan on it (over a year now !!) but i am getting a bit frustrated in the last couple of days as i am unable to use it.
here is the situation - when i come to a place where i know there is a wifi signal (at my friends house) i tap the little icon on the bottom right side of the desktop screen and i get the "Wireless LAN manager" , i check the "Wireless LAN ON" checkbox and then tap "ok" . then the screen changes back to the desktop screen and i can see the little antenna in searching mode (accumulating dots beside it), then i get a popped up baloon asking if i wish to connect to "internet" or "work", i check the internet circle and tap ok (or connect - i dont remmember as i have no wifi signal at the moment), but than nothing happens - the little icon of the antenna is still searching and if i tap it i get the same "Wireless LAN manager" with no signal strength or any thing...if i try the internet explorer, it tries to connect via the GPRS connection...
PLEASE....HELP ANYONE....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quinbus_flestrin said:
Next problem... and this is where it gets close to yours... how to stop everyone getting on and in.
[snip]
Answer: Every net device, including the Xiis we now use, has a device specific MAC number.
The AP Router has a table you can enter MAC numbers you want to permit access to... so you needn't fool around with all the clever stuff.
Our AP Router now has our MAC numbers in the table and permits access to them only.
The XDA iis reveals it's MAC number when you tell it to look for a connection.
We now have a WiFi AP serving an ancient egyptian Jornada 720, an Acer N30, an XDAiis, an ordinary PC (using one of the old PCMICIA Aironet Cards which configure on anything with windoze and are dirt cheap on eBay as they're only 802.11b) , and a Sony Vaio Laptop (also using an Aironet), all into a single broadband account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QF,
Are you aware that it's a fairly simple task for someone to spoof a MAC?
And in that you haven't implemented any kind of encryption that means you're broadcasting everything in the clear ... which means that anyone who wishes to access your network needs only wait until they pick up one of your valid MAC's and they're in.
Blocking MAC's is useful ... but enabling WEP (even though we all know it's not going to stop a determined attempt at penetration) will do more to keep out a casual 'visitor'. If your clients can handle WPA-PSK (which may not be the case) given a sufficiently long and random passphrase the only attack is bruteforce which can take years.
Implementing decent security just isn't that hard ... there are plenty of howto's on the net that will walk someone through everything from getting WEP going right through to setting up a VPN.
Yol,
Your friend may have set up some kind of encryption on his Access Point ... if he's connecting to it with a client then he should know what he's using.
If he's NOT connecting to it then check the manual and have a look at the settings on the Access Point. Almost all Access Points will let you connect to them using a web browser.
So if (as an example) your friends AP is at 192.168.1.254 you just plug that into your web browser on a computer that is on the network (in other words, NOT from your BA).
You'll then need to navigate your way to the settings for Wireless security (I can't help you with that ... it's different for pretty much every brand of AP) and see what's set up.
Once you know what the required settings ARE for his AP you need to configure your phone to match. Not having a BA I can't really help with that either ... but I'm sure someone else here can.
I just knew there'd be a more complicated way ;-))...
Seriously Mr Doormat... Thanks for the heads up though.
This guy was just hanging here without a response this morning when I found this XDA board.
I tested our net pretty hard but I was unable to get in without a valid MAC and could find no way of revealing one... not to say there isn't one... I just couldn't find it... which apparently doesn't mean a lot.
What would they gain by getting in though?
Interent Access... sure, but not access to our systems as there is no network in that sense surely? So we could lose bandwidth?
We have the AP/Router open for web access only AFAIK.
The only physical connection is the one you mention... to the computer via the Ethernet card, which accesses the Admin Menu.
I'm unable to get any access around logged in machines myself and I'm on the admin machine.
I dloaded WiFi for Dummies but, as usual, I haven't got past the boring bit in the front where they describe what you are dealing with rather than what you can do to/with it.
I tried bringing in WEP on the AP and setting the old Jornada to WEP too. Firstly it slowed everything to a crawl... and a Jornada is not quick at this anyway as you can imagine... and then the on-board Jornada driver decided to "dis-associate" itself... which is of course Jornada for "adios amigos"... and stopped working altogether.
I picked up a Safecom 802.11g PCMCIA card to try in the laptop, but it really hated that and refused to see it in the end. But it really loves the old Aironets.
Both Vaio and PC are on a nice Windoze XP SP2, from our friends at Appznet. The Jornada is Win 2000, and the two Pocket PCs are 2003.
I looked for a walk thru for bringing this AP on stream. Even the suppliers were baffled... until we did the hard re-set and the channel changed. I don't know what else changed.
As for bringing security on stream... well I tried sorting out the lowest common denominator... the oldest handhelds... they balked at it and I reverted to the last good setting... an old tradition.
It seems to be a question of finding the level for whatever you have.
I can allegedly bring 802.11g on with this PCMCIA card and the AP, but if I do the XDA can only do 802.11b can't it? As can the Safecom for the Acer.
I am so pleased to have found a forum for the XDA, but you'll understand I hope that I'm a bit bemused to find the first topic I get into is WiFi. I thought that had been sorted... I should have known better. )
Any information you feel relevant to this would be much appreciated. Jornada forums are all but dead now. The Acer N30 is having an unusual revival for no reason I can think of. And the AP Router is from a pleasant bunch of folks, but they eveidently know about as much as I do.
QF
Doormat said:
quinbus_flestrin said:
Next problem... and this is where it gets close to yours... how to stop everyone getting on and in.
[snip]
Answer: Every net device, including the Xiis we now use, has a device specific MAC number.
The AP Router has a table you can enter MAC numbers you want to permit access to... so you needn't fool around with all the clever stuff.
Our AP Router now has our MAC numbers in the table and permits access to them only.
The XDA iis reveals it's MAC number when you tell it to look for a connection.
We now have a WiFi AP serving an ancient egyptian Jornada 720, an Acer N30, an XDAiis, an ordinary PC (using one of the old PCMICIA Aironet Cards which configure on anything with windoze and are dirt cheap on eBay as they're only 802.11b) , and a Sony Vaio Laptop (also using an Aironet), all into a single broadband account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
QF,
Are you aware that it's a fairly simple task for someone to spoof a MAC?
And in that you haven't implemented any kind of encryption that means you're broadcasting everything in the clear ... which means that anyone who wishes to access your network needs only wait until they pick up one of your valid MAC's and they're in.
Blocking MAC's is useful ... but enabling WEP (even though we all know it's not going to stop a determined attempt at penetration) will do more to keep out a casual 'visitor'. If your clients can handle WPA-PSK (which may not be the case) given a sufficiently long and random passphrase the only attack is bruteforce which can take years.
Implementing decent security just isn't that hard ... there are plenty of howto's on the net that will walk someone through everything from getting WEP going right through to setting up a VPN.
Yol,
Your friend may have set up some kind of encryption on his Access Point ... if he's connecting to it with a client then he should know what he's using.
If he's NOT connecting to it then check the manual and have a look at the settings on the Access Point. Almost all Access Points will let you connect to them using a web browser.
So if (as an example) your friends AP is at 192.168.1.254 you just plug that into your web browser on a computer that is on the network (in other words, NOT from your BA).
You'll then need to navigate your way to the settings for Wireless security (I can't help you with that ... it's different for pretty much every brand of AP) and see what's set up.
Once you know what the required settings ARE for his AP you need to configure your phone to match. Not having a BA I can't really help with that either ... but I'm sure someone else here can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quinbus_flestrin said:
I just knew there'd be a more complicated way ;-))...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is always a more complicated way ... that's part of the fun, I think
quinbus_flestrin said:
I tested our net pretty hard but I was unable to get in without a valid MAC and could find no way of revealing one... not to say there isn't one... I just couldn't find it... which apparently doesn't mean a lot.
What would they gain by getting in though?
Interent Access... sure, but not access to our systems as there is no network in that sense surely? So we could lose bandwidth?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and No.
An unsecured AP provides a simple means for someone to access the Net anonymously. For someone with malicious intent this has great advantages, as you can imagine. And whatever they might do would be traced back to you.
Don't get me wrong ... I'm not suggesting that there is a pack of rabid hackers circling your place using your wifi as an initial entry point to permit them to realise their schemes to bring down the Internet and western civilisation ;-)
But, as I often point out to my clients ... How would you feel if you found out that in the middle of the night someone used your unsecure AP to upload a couple of hundred MB of kiddie porn? And that you then had to prove that it wasn't YOU.
I admit - it's unlikely and a bit graphic ... but it IS a possible senario.
Less dramtically there is the cost. I'm not sure what your deal is with your ISP ... but in Australia a lot of people have quota's - a given data allowance per month, after which they are either charged excess data rates or are shaped to narrowband speeds. I imagine it would suck to experience either because someone has been downloading movies over your wifi.
quinbus_flestrin said:
We have the AP/Router open for web access only AFAIK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is fairly simple to tunnel any kind of connection through port 80 (which is used for http). Goggle for http AND tunnel and count the hits.
quinbus_flestrin said:
I tried bringing in WEP on the AP and setting the old Jornada to WEP too. Firstly it slowed everything to a crawl... and a Jornada is not quick at this anyway as you can imagine... and then the on-board Jornada driver decided to "dis-associate" itself... which is of course Jornada for "adios amigos"... and stopped working altogether.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is, of course, an overhead with WEP or any other encryption scheme. I personally haven't ever had a problem, although I know some who have.
Generally they found updating the firmware on the router/AP end, and using the latest drivers for their client got them the best performance. YMMV of course.
quinbus_flestrin said:
I looked for a walk thru for bringing this AP on stream. Even the suppliers were baffled... until we did the hard re-set and the channel changed. I don't know what else changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite possibly nothing ... it is not uncommon for people (even people who should know better) to focus on everything but the channel. Everyone does it
quinbus_flestrin said:
As for bringing security on stream... well I tried sorting out the lowest common denominator... the oldest handhelds... they balked at it and I reverted to the last good setting... an old tradition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If WEP is your only common denominator and updating firmware and drivers doesn't improve your peformance sufficiently under WEP then there is one security measure that I routinely employ, which rarely seems to be mentioned. TURN THE WIFI OFF WHEN YOU AREN'T USING IT.
Case in point ... my home AP is currently running (I see no point in power cycling it over and over) but the wireless is disabled. It takes 30 seconds to browse to the setting on the menu to enable it. It then takes about 30 seconds before I can associate. Before I go to bed at night I make sure that the wireless on the AP is disabled ... I'm not going to be using it so there's no need for it.
There is a lot of discussion about how easy it is to crack WEP ... and it IS easy. IF you have the hardware and sofware and know what you're doing, etc. I should point out that I do NOT have the setup to crack a WEP key ... but I've studied it sufficiently so that I know it's not really secure. BUT it will keep the majority of those who wish to jump on your bandwidth out. So if you can get it going, do so.
The other aspect is the security of what you are moving across the network. Internet banking, for example, is pretty secure as the data is encrypted anyway. But your usernames and passwords for your email, forum accounts, and anything that you are sending that isn't encrypted by default is being broadcast in clear.
This only becomes a problem IF someone is bothering to gather the packets being broadcast and then extracts the relevant info from all the other noise. Which is probably pretty unlikely. Unless, like a mate of mine, you live in a block of apartments with 3 unsecure wifi AP's in reach. I recently suggested that if he were to sell his flat, he could get more by pointing out that it came with free internet
Now thats what I call some good advice. A lot of the topics in this board are a bit over my head... upgrading or cooking new ROMs for example... but this is good practical advice for relatively simple old boys like me.
Our police are so good at arresting people who are not criminals, and so bad at catching those who are, that it is more than likely that bandwidth stolen to upload stuff like porn would land us in prison. They are pathalogically unable to admit that they themselves lie as much as the criminals do and deliberately cause miscarriages of justice now, so unless you can produce an iron-clad case then you are stuffed. They stopped policing some time ago when they started working for the government.
Eight of them performed a judicial murder in the tube, in full view of everyone, and still they deny that they were responsible for a needless death. That about sums them up now. Overpowered and Overpowering.
Sometimes I'm glad I'm confined to the house and the locale so much.
I will certainly turn off the WiFi when not in use. Thanks a lot for the tip.
<Less dramtically there is the cost. I'm not sure what your deal is with your ISP ... but in Australia a lot of people have quota's - a given data allowance per month, after which they are either charged excess data rates or are shaped to narrowband speeds. I imagine it would suck to experience either because someone has been downloading movies over your wifi.>
Here in the increasingly Orwellian UK we use an outfit called ntl. The deal we have is £25 pm 2Gig Broadband and (as yet) no practical dload limits. Although traffic limits are in the agreements, no one so far has reported a penalty. I stayed on 512k for a while when they brought them in, as the limit on there was far higher. But next door went on the 10Gig and dloaded more in a week than I had in a year (films mostly I think) and suffered no hit from ntl.
<It is fairly simple to tunnel any kind of connection through port 80 (which is used for http). Goggle for http AND tunnel and count the hits.>
This I must look into further. Thanks.
<
quinbus_flestrin said:
I tried bringing in WEP on the AP and setting the old Jornada to WEP too. Firstly it slowed everything to a crawl... and a Jornada is not quick at this anyway as you can imagine... and then the on-board Jornada driver decided to "dis-associate" itself... which is of course Jornada for "adios amigos"... and stopped working altogether.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is, of course, an overhead with WEP or any other encryption scheme. I personally haven't ever had a problem, although I know some who have. >
I'll try the WEP once more.
<Generally they found updating the firmware on the router/AP end, and using the latest drivers for their client got them the best performance. YMMV of course. >
This AP/Router is UD'd to date AFAIK. Drivers for the old Jornadas are built-in to the ROM... they don't do Firmware... it's hard wired. I'll really have to retire them I suppose. They're prematurely becoming as anachronistic as my old Atari Portolio and DIPs. )
This is the kicker... simple, effective, and easily done by the punter. The mark of the professional at work.
<If WEP is your only common denominator and updating firmware and drivers doesn't improve your peformance sufficiently under WEP then there is one security measure that I routinely employ, which rarely seems to be mentioned. TURN THE WIFI OFF WHEN YOU AREN'T USING IT.>
<Case in point ... >
Funny you should mention flats. There are some next door and some houses on the other side.
Yesterday our XDAiis and PC notified me that a net was operational and the usual "did I want to connect". I didn't then.
However after reading your post I have.
You're right again. I needn't have bothered with all the work I did WiFi-ing, and the £40 for the AP/Router. This lets the XDA and our laptop in the upstairs sitting room on-line anyway.
My initial task was to get off dial-up in the upstairs sitting room and on to our downstairs BB account... saving the cost of the old account and the extra phone line we had put in, then to re-direct that saving to upping the BB speed.
The AP is off at night anyway... my lady won't have electrics on (aside from the phone) at night... and religiously goes round shutting them off b4 we retire.
I'm going to get my nose back into WiFi for Dummies now, and another one I just 'found' called Wireless Network Hacks and Mods. Please let me know if anything else occurs to you.
QF
quinbus_flestrin said:
This AP/Router is UD'd to date AFAIK. Drivers for the old Jornadas are built-in to the ROM... they don't do Firmware... it's hard wired. I'll really have to retire them I suppose. They're prematurely becoming as anachronistic as my old Atari Portolio and DIPs. )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love old hardware ... I think it's a shame to waste it and with the passion everyone has for 'latest and greatest' one can pick up 'outdated' stuff really cheap.
Add to that the fact that never I upgrade OS or software unless it very clearly provides something that I really want. So I can totally empathise with your desire to keep the Jornada alive as it were.
I'll send you a PM, as we're really drifting into stuff that has little relevance to these forums.
YOL anyone having WIFI WIRELESS PROBLEM
YOL anyone having WIFI WIRELESS PROBLEM
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=40712&highlight=wifi+problem
read this thread fully.. should help..
Doormat said:
quinbus_flestrin said:
I tested our net pretty hard but I was unable to get in without a valid MAC and could find no way of revealing one... not to say there isn't one... I just couldn't find it... which apparently doesn't mean a lot.
What would they gain by getting in though?
Interent Access... sure, but not access to our systems as there is no network in that sense surely? So we could lose bandwidth?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and No.
An unsecured AP provides a simple means for someone to access the Net anonymously. For someone with malicious intent this has great advantages, as you can imagine. And whatever they might do would be traced back to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More importantly, once someone has access to the wireless side of your router (i.e., you don't use encryption or you use WEP/WPA-PSK and they cracked your key/passphrase), it's possible for them to poison the ARP tables and launch a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack against BOTH your wireless clients AND the wired clients plugged into the router. This sounds hard, but it actually quite simple with a tool like Cain. Once they are set up as a MITM, anything goes, including attacks on your SSH connections and web browser SSL sessions (i.e., https). A successful MITM attack such as this can compromise all of the data in these "secure" connections, including usernames, passwords, PINs, etc.
It is very important to lock down the wireless side of your router, even if you do all of your "sensitive" surfing from the wired side. Also, you should always be careful when accepting certificates for secure sites in your web browser. For more information, I suggest you read this whitepaper: http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~aprakash/eecs588/handouts/arppoison.pdf.
Good luck,
Paul

Wi-Fi Settings?

Can someone please tell me how -- or point me to an existing thread that will provide instructions for how -- to get AT&T's Tilt 2 to use wi-fi?
My situation is that I'm new to the Tilt 2, and I'd like to be able to access wi-fi -- rather than the slower than molasses 3G network -- when I'm within range.
My network is wired with a WAP, and it uses static IP addressing. I have no problem accessing the network with my (old) 8525 and my (newer) iPhone or my PDA or my laptop (all configured by me) to use my network to access the Internet and email.
My network is pretty tight (I think, or hope) in that it requires a specific IP address that matches a specific MAC address to gain access.
I've configured my router & WAP to accept a specific IP address for the Tilt 2, as well as the Tilt 2's MAC. I've checked & rechecked too many times to count to make sure I didn't make any typos. I've assigned the IP address on the Tilt 2 by going to Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi > Wireless Networks > Network Adapeter, and I set the Boradcom 8-2.11 DHD Newwork Adapter (is that the right one?) to use the specific IP addy I've assigned.
However, while the wi-fi icon indicates it's connected, I'm unable to use either browser on the Tilt 2 to access the Internet -- all I get are error messages.
I have honestly tried to read here for tips, and while I've read that I need to disable the AT&T proxy, the threads I found were a little (or a lot!) over my head.
I would sincerely appreciate any guidance.
TIA,
Saundra
Please, Need Help with Wi-Fi Settings
Surely I'm not the only one having problems getting the settings right so my AT&T Tilt 2 can connect to a home network, am I?
Honestly, I'm not a moron, but I can't figure it out, and the AT&T store was no help today, either. I recall that I had a similar problem with my 8525, so I went back & looked at my notes from 2008-- the problem was the MEdia Net proxy settings. On the 8525, it was a simple matter to uncheck the "This network uses a proxy server to connect to the Internet" box.
On the Tilt 2, however, I can't see where to give that a try because all I see is a message that says, "This connection is pre-configured. It cannot be modified."
Am I looking in the wrong place, or what? Or is that unlikely to be a problem on the Tilt 2?
I will greatly greatly appreciate any suggestions to try!
TIA
My first question is, are your WiFi router and the wifil on the TP2/Tilt the same? If the router is g and phone is N, they won't communicate.
That's a good question, and one I'd not thought of. My WAP supports B, G, & N & is operating in B/G/N mixed mode-- I don't know what the Tilt 2 is, but I'd think one of the three would cover it, yes?
Try going to this thread and downloading the files in post #13. Run the remove hidden proxy cab and see if that works, that will remove the hidden AT&T proxy server setting that often can't be disabled otherwise. The Tilt2 supports 802.11 b/g, so a router in mixed mode should have no trouble with that. You might try playing around with the network adapters again; I'd personally take another stab at the DHD adapter you tried earlier, since that is the one used on wlan connections. Also, you should probably make sure that the box which says: "My network card connects to:" is set to The Internet, and not work (this setting can be found on the Network Adapters tab of the Wi-Fi applet.
And while a bit off topic, you might want to consider adding additional security on your router (such as WPA2 encryption) if MAC filtering and static IP addresses are your only security; it's quite easy to grab both using free tools like aircrack-ng.
I want to thank you for your suggestions, but I'm not having any luck so far.
Scratch that -- things seem to be working . . . kind of. All I did was keep redoing the same things over & over, and suddenly, things are working.
I'm starting to think, though, that there's something wrong with this particular phone. Seriously -- I did nothing different tonight to get wi-fi working . . . encouraged by your comments, I just kept doing the same things over & over & over that I did last night.
Last night, running the removeHiddenProxy4CWS cab (it's in the Tools folder) resulted in not being able to connect to the Internet via 3G or wi-fi. Tonight, the results are different: I'm able to connect to the Internet via both after having run for the umteenth time the removeHiddenProxy4CWS file.
Further, while I've read many comments that the Internet is really slow on the Tilt 2, I'm thinking mine is abnormally slow & seems to hang up even via wi-fi. Now, I'll admit that perhaps my expectations are different coming back from an iPhone, but I charged up my old 8525, turned off the phone on the Tilt 2 to make sure I was connecting via wi-fi, and we are talking agonizingly slow on the Tilt 2 -- I was able to browse to six different Web pages on the 8525 in the time it took the Tilt 2 to partially bring up the first page (I used the same starting page on both). And, I say "partially" because it seemed to hang up at only partially displaying the Web site until I eventually hit the little circle in the bottom right of the screen. It does that on lots of pages -- is that the way things usually work on the Tilt 2?
Also, after my last soft reset just before things started working, I got a memory error message after I turned on wi-fi & when I hit the Internet button -- I should have written it down, but it said something about being out of memory on line 2. Any suggestions about that?
If the above are normal experiences for the Tilt 2, then I'll start learning about the tweaks to improve speed & such. If not, then I guess I need to try to exchange this phone. <sigh>
I also really appreciate your a bit off topic comment because I'm a security freak but not sure I understand much! My WAP uses WEP 64-bit encryption in addition to the MAC filtering & static IP addresses, and my wired router has a firewall -- does that sound sufficient. None of my neighbors can "see" my network, and it can't be seen from the nearest public road -- does that sound relatively secure?
Most of your Tilt2 problems could be fixed by flashing a custom ROM. If the phone is a business phone (as in it belongs to your company) or you otherwise can't void the warranty, a custom ROM sounds about right. It will improve the device's speed on all fronts, and will also have more available memory on bootup (mine had 25% less RAM in use on startup with a custom ROM). On my Tilt2, using a custom ROM with the latest Manila 2.5 build, things are still quite snappy, and pages load quickly on 3G and EDGE. If you'd like to know how to put a custom ROM on your device, this link will tell you everything you need to know. If you decide to put a custom ROM on your device, keep in mind you'll lose all the data on your device if you don't back it up.
As for the wireless security: WEP is extremely insecure. It has been proven insecure for many years, and has been replaced with the WPA (okay but obsolete now) and WPA2 (best current router security) protocols. Cracking WPA/WPA2 is much more difficult, as it requires a password cracking program and a wordlist to crack downloaded traffic obtained from the network, which can take days of cracking, sometimes ending in failure regardless. Unlike WPA/WPA2, WEP is much more vulnerable to many different attacks, from programs like aircrack-ng, which are free and readily available. If you don't believe me, check out this video of WEP being cracked on a test router, with the Backtrack 4 Beta security Linux distro, in as little as 2 minutes. MAC addresses and IP addresses can also be grabbed with many readily available tools, and the MAC can then be spoofed quite easily with free programs. And even a hidden SSID can be grabbed with a program like Kismet, which scans all wireless network traffic in an area (regardless of the network it's on) and can grab the hidden router's SSID during the handshaking process (when a client computer connects to the router). If you're absolutely positive that your network can't be detected from any public road (as in, there's no signal whatsoever), you're probably okay and can probably sleep safe at night. But, unless you have old equipment/software which doesn't support WPA2 or WPA, I'd recommend upgrading to the latest WPA2 security (if you're really concerned about security/privacy).
I really appreciate your help!
The Tilt 2 is a week old -- it was a birthday present. Am I correctly understanding that I could flash a custom ROM & then flash back the original if I don't want to void the warranty?
If so, playing with different ROMs would be something I'd be interested in doing . . . I just don't want to void the warranty in case there is something wrong with the phone. I had lunch with a friend with an AT&T stock Fuse (I think) Thursday, and we were playing with each other's phones. I can't say that I noticed her Internet was any faster (I wasn't really paying attention), but she was quite surprised that both IE & Opera failed to display a complete page until the screen was touched. On my end with her Fuse, Web pages opened completely with no fuss.
So, the whole "hang" thing makes me very nervous, particularly with the "out of memory" error message with nothing other than Contacts on the phone yet -- I've not even bothered to configure email (my lifeline). I was hoping the Web interface (I have IMAP) would work OK since that was one of my big beefs with the iPhone -- the onscreen keyboard just didn't work for me. But, with The Tilt 2 taking over 60 seconds to even get to my web-based Inbox, the Tilt 2 is gonna be a problem unless I can get that resolved. Hence my concern about not voiding the warranty.
You are correct: I do have older equipment that only supports WEP. My PDA & my old 8525. If I can get the Tilt 2 working well enough for me, I can rotate the older stuff out and go with stronger wireless security. I know my neighbors can't "see" my network, but I've never tested from the street behind my house since the closest neighbor behind can't see the network. However, due to the configuration of my neighborhood, I'd best check that street. <gulp>
Thanks again -- I really appreciate the help.
sslund said:
The Tilt 2 is a week old -- it was a birthday present. Am I correctly understanding that I could flash a custom ROM & then flash back the original if I don't want to void the warranty?
If so, playing with different ROMs would be something I'd be interested in doing . . . I just don't want to void the warranty in case there is something wrong with the phone. I had lunch with a friend with an AT&T stock Fuse (I think) Thursday, and we were playing with each other's phones. I can't say that I noticed her Internet was any faster (I wasn't really paying attention), but she was quite surprised that both IE & Opera failed to display a complete page until the screen was touched. On my end with her Fuse, Web pages opened completely with no fuss.
So, the whole "hang" thing makes me very nervous, particularly with the "out of memory" error message with nothing other than Contacts on the phone yet -- I've not even bothered to configure email (my lifeline). I was hoping the Web interface (I have IMAP) would work OK since that was one of my big beefs with the iPhone -- the onscreen keyboard just didn't work for me. But, with The Tilt 2 taking over 60 seconds to even get to my web-based Inbox, the Tilt 2 is gonna be a problem unless I can get that resolved. Hence my concern about not voiding the warranty.
-snip-
Thanks again -- I really appreciate the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, I'm glad I can help. Well, you're partially correct about the whole ROM thing. The deal is, your warranty is only voided if they know you put a custom ROM on it. If they don't find out (ie, you restore the ROM and SPL to their stock counterparts) you're good to go. However, you do technically void the warranty because you put a third party ROM. However, you can take it from me when I say it's almost 100% safe when you follow instructions and it's completely worth it. You get more features and stability with less bloat while using an unofficial ROM. Keep in mind that if the USB port goes bad, you can't restore the device to stock configuration, and you'll have to pay full price for repairs (unless you dispute the warranty violation in court, and try to prove that there's no way an unauthorized ROM broke the USB port). Otherwise, a custom/cooked ROM is completely worth it, and will greatly improve your whole experience over the stock ROM.

[Q] Wi-fi disconnecting on AOSP (Non-Sense) ROMs.

After trying out several ROMs I have noticed that my wi-fi randomly disconnects, but only for (Non-HTC/Sense) ROMs.
I'm running OpenDesire at the moment, which I really like, but the arbitrary disconnetion of wi-fi is driving me crazy.
As far as I can tell, it has done this with the other Non-Sense ROMs I have tried as well, and I have no idea why.
Wi-fi does switch on, but (part of) the problem _seems_ to be that the phone has trouble actually getting an IP; other than that, and why it does this, I have no idea.
The settings (in *#*#4636#*#* test mode) are basically the same as they are for, say, the official HTC Sense OTA or Pinky, for which wi-fi seems to work perfectly.
Although, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking at/for...
Anyone have any ideas?
Any help would be much appreciated
It's not having an issue with getting an IP, it's having an issue with authentication.
The first thing I noticed with these roms is they do not re-prompt to enter a password again if you have mis-typed it at all. This leads to wpa_supplicant client to effectively force a connection and get a refusal in quick succession. The wpa_supplicant client on the phone then disables the connection until you step in and either choose to reconnect or edit the password manually.
The issue we are having is related to this;
After being connected to WiFi for a fair period of time, it re-authenticates with the base station/router as it's supposed to do.
From memory, the re-auth happens every 60 minutes and most decent routers are able to change this.
At this point, the client (phone) tries to re-auth and fails (for whatever reason). Instead of prompting for a password (as it should do). It tries 3 times in total and stops.
After the last failed attempt, it disables the connection that it failed to connect to and jumps back to mobile data (if available).
So. Yes, there is a major issue with the wpa_supplicant in non-sense roms. Could we get the devs to investigate this, as it's really getting to be a major pain in the arse!
I see... Thanks for the clarification. Nicely explained.
So, short of jumping ship to Sense, there's really not much I can do then, other than wait for someone more skilled than me to come up with a solution?
No workaround, third party app, router setting or anything?
Unknown at this moment in time.
I'm investigating this in my own limited knowledge of Android and Linux systems, so far I've not come up with anything solid.
As far as settings you can change on your router, it all depends on your router and it's firmware.
I've got three different routers here:
A) Trendnet TEW-435BRM v4.00.07 : No way to change Key Renewal length
B) Linksys WRT160Nv2 v2.0.03 : Able to change Key Renewal length
C) MZK-MF150 v1.00.16 : Able to change Key Renewal length
Check your router, try increasing the length and have a play around. It's not a fix, the issue is either in the AOSP kernels or the wpa_supplicant module.
My NetGear WNR2000 does not seem to have any (easy) way of configuring Key Renewal Length, but I'll have a look around. Else, I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and go with Sense for a while...
At least now I know it's not just me. That's always comforting.
Thanks for the help acolwill!
No problems at all.
I have been trying to locate an app that will automatically restart the WiFi if a disconnection takes place, however, I've yet to find one :|
Anyone out there know of one?
eham, there's an app on the market called "WiFi Auto ReEnabler"
Give it a try, as it may well be the answer you've been looking for!
Sounds very promising indeed. Will get right on that.
Tried an app called Wifi Fixer, but that was a bust. Actually somehow managed to make things worse (for me, anyway).
Thanks for the tip. I'll be back with an update...
Ok, so "WiFiReEnabler" does actually do just that; re-associate with the network everytime the screen wakes. Unfortunately, what it doesn't do is stay resident.
It will let itself get killed by the system very easily, so I still have had a few times where I had to manually deactivate and activate wifi because WiFiReEnabler didn't have my back.
If the developer could make this a helper app/system service, this seems like it could be a decent workaround though.
I did however find an app called "Fix My WiFi" (£0.99 in Market) that seems to take care of the problem nicely, and quietly, so far (about 16 hours and counting, fingers crossed).
It also has some options to set different levels of aggressiveness, and notifications, which I like.
I also found a free app called "Wifi Reassociate" that seems to address the same issue. Haven't gotten around to trying it yet, as Fix My Wifi still seems to be doing its job.
Still, a tip for anyone with the same problem.
With that (hopefully) outta the way, I'm off to celebrate the anniversary of my birth.
Be well, friends.

[Q] Wrong ARP WiFi annoucements with JB ROMs

I've got a significant problem with my DHD when running any of the latest JB releases I've tested -- the problem appears with the JellyTime, codefireX, pipelinerard's CM and also the AOKP ROM's I've tested, even on a clean install (complete wipe of everything but the radio, install only the ROM; gapps not needed to cause the issue). The problem is however not manifest in IceColdSandwich, so I suspect something is broken in the way JB uses the WiFi network compared to how ICS did it. Maybe that triggers a bug somehow in the radio or misses some important radio settings?
To some/many people, it may not be immediately visible, but if you have this problem and use your phone on a large network, you might get banned/kicked off the network if they use rules similar to what e.g. Princeton recently implemented. You may also experience this as intermittent network problems with some hosts being unavailable from time to time.
Here is what happens:
Whenever the phone sleeps (i.e. the screen is off), it sends out bogus ARP message every 15.1 seconds (give and take 10mS or so). The message typically announces "IP x.y.z.v is at MAC ii:ii:ii:ii:ii:ii:ii" where the MAC address is the one of the phone and the IP addresses seems to come from some predetermined list and/or the routers IP -- or it might be 0.0.0.0.
On my network, when using one of the AP's, it will send out seemingly "real" IP addresses that will clog up the main router, trigger additional traffic to poll the ARP addresses and eventually cause misfunction and loss of connectivity also for other clients on the network -- it will however heal itself after some minutes, when the ARP cache times out, just to reappear again later randomly.
On the other AP it will always announce an IP of 0.0.0.0, which is obviously incorrect -- but doesn't cause any direct malfunction.
From time to time, I've also seen incorrectly formatted ARP packages.
I've debugged this with wireshark and pcap's on my network (as I started to wonder about more frequent network problems after using this phone).
I've also tried running tcpdump on the phone itself, and have inspected the pcap from the locally captured file. That pcap does NOT contain the ARP messages, so somehow somewhere deep down the kernel or in the radio, ARP messages are triggered to be sent out (i.e. below the capture interface).
To see if you have this problem, you need to run wireshark on another device and check for traffic from your phone's MAC address. It is easy to see if you know what to look for. You cannot know if you have this problem unless you check for it -- but you might suffer weird connectivity issues from time to time also on other devices/PC's, depending on the rest of your network components, that are not immediately discernable as related to the phone.
Technically this looks similar to ARP spoofing/flooding, with similar symptoms.
Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this? I think this requires someone with kernel/network knowledge, and it is likely related to how parts of the legacy parts (binaries) are being used.
I'm initialy trying to figuring out what runs every 15 seconds on the phone, and would then like to start tracing/bisect ICS vs JB code here.
Would also be nice if someone else could confirm this -- even though the specific symptoms apparently depend on certain WiFi related parameters.
Any ideas?
For reference, I'm using the latest radio 12.69.60.29_26.17.14.11_M. But as ICS does not have this problem, it might not be related to the radio version directly.

Unlocked G2 w/ Max WiFi Users 1 + Questions

TLDR: Unlocked LG G2 was on Sprint, now on VIVA in Kuwait, Max WiFi users when running hotspot is 1 - I want to increase it to more.
Long version:
Hello! I am a military service member deployed to Kuwait. I have a Sprint LG G2 which is rooted and running the latest UltraPop ROM. Before I left the US, my phone was activated on the Sprint network and when I would use my WiFi hotspot, I had the ability to connect up to 10 users or something. When I got to Kuwait, I had to have my phone SIM unlocked for International use to make it work with the SIM cards provided by the carrier here (it's called VIVA). My phone was not on the Sprint network when I needed to unlock so when I did the UICC unlock it did an OTA over WiFi and then I was able to use my phone on their carrier. This is all well and good.
The problem is, I want to connect my laptop, my tablet and a few other items to my hot spot - thus the appeal of the hot spot, right? LOL. Anyway, several advanced options like the radio channel, frequency, etc. have now disappeared and in addition, the most important one - the amount of users able to connect to the hotspot, went from allowing 10 to 1. I am not sure why, except maybe something to do with the OTA update when I did the UICC unlock.
I did some reading and found this article: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2718682
Quickly I tried it and restarted my phone. No change. Then I noticed there was another hack for phones that had been activated on the Sprint network, which as I explained above, believe applies to me. This article has a more complicated procedure: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2675280
I am afraid to try this method and screw things up. I suppose I could boot in TWRP and do a NANDROID back up before I try it but I am wondering if anyone thinks it will hose the only working Internet I have right now in Kuwait.
Any help is appreciated. Also, if anyone knows how to get the WiFi hotspot to allow devices to connect while running a VPN at the same time please enlighten me!
Thanks!!!
Sincerely, Lost & Confused...
OK, so I am going to resurrect my own thread here. I spent some time on and off dealing with the 1 client max for the hot spot in my Sprint LG G2. Lots of frustration. Anyway, digging deeper based on a tip another friend of mine gave, I discovered something that I thought would have helped, but no cigar.
Anyway, a variable called max_num_sta in the file /data/misc/wifi/wpa_supplicant/hostapd.conf allows the access point to have only one client. The hostapd application on Android performs almost identical to an average Linux distro, so I figured by modifying this variable I would be able to allow more than 1 client to connect to my hotspot. However, even when changing the file manually, as soon as the hot spot is enabled thru the stock interface, only 1 client is able to connect and looking at the file again shows the value of the variable has been reset.
Next step on the list, was to run the hostapd manually from an Android terminal (something like hostapd -e/data/misc/wifi/entropy.bin -BK /data/misc/wifi/hostapd.conf). The command works at the hot spot functions, but again somehow resets to 1 freaking client again!
I would really like to be able to use my G2 to connect more than one device at a time to my hot spot while I am stuck in Kuwait. It is my only source of Internet. Anyway. Is there a way to disable the stock Wi-Fi Hot Spot interface using Titanium Back-up? Remove the APK? Modify the system? Something? I'd really like to figure this out. Any info or suggestion appreciated...

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