linux-kernel - Wireless router with 2 MACs: okay with mswin, not with Linux ?

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Date:	Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:14:38 -0400
From:	Mark Lord <mlord@...ox.com>
To:	netdev@...r.kernel.org, davem@...emloft.net,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Wireless router with 2 MACs: okay with mswin, not with Linux ?

Hi all,

I'm posting this from a hotel which has a wireless AP (B+G) for guests.
It took me several hours to figure out how to get the connection working
with my 2.6.18 notebook -- works just fine with other guests' mswin machines.

WEP is used, and is set up and working just fine:  I can access the AP's
built-in web interface without any troubles.  But..

The AP has two MAC addresses:

# arping -c1 192.168.1.1 -I eth1
ARPING 192.168.1.1 from 192.168.1.53 eth1
Unicast reply from 192.168.1.1 [00:11:F5:BA:67:AA]  2.164ms
Unicast reply from 192.168.1.1 [00:11:F5:77:38:C2]  5.696ms
Sent 1 probes (1 broadcast(s))
Received 2 response(s)
#

The first MAC can connect locally to the AP, but not outside.
The second MAC can connect locally and/or outside.

Linux only seems to ever use the first (no good) MAC for the AP,
rather than the second.  Whenever I try an outside access, the AP 
sends a gratuitous ARP reply, telling my machine to use the other MAC.
This seems to be ignored by Linux, but heeded by Windows.

For now, I've just written a small script to detect such a situation,
and to set a static ARP mapping for the second MAC.  This works, but is way
beyond "normal usage" for most people.

Surely there's a flag or something to have the kernel cope with this?

????
-- 
Mark Lord
Real-Time Remedies Inc.
mlord@...ox.com

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