HostAP is a Kernel Module that works with wireless network cards based on the Intersil Prism chipset.

Version 1 cards are not supported, but the vast bulk of cards are prism 2, 2.5 or 3. This kernel module is for Linux, and replaces orinoco_cs and hermes. It allows your linux box to act as an access point, and offloads a lot of the framing work to the NIC's firmware, rather than doing it all in software.

This is the script CraigFalconer uses to start HostAP:

killall -9 hostapd
ifconfig wlan0 down
ifconfig wlan0ap down
rmmod hostap_cs
rmmod hostap
rmmod hostap_crypt_wep
rmmod hostap_crypt

modprobe hostap_cs
modprobe hostap_crypt_wep
ifconfig wlan0 192.168.99.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.99.255
iwconfig wlan0 nick nicknameforaccesspoint key s:yourwepkeyhere
hostapd /etc/hostapd/hostapd.conf &

See also:

• Howto
• Info on Driver
• Debian's hostap-utils package
• Short list of Prism cards
• Massively long list of wireless cards and their Linux support