I'm creating this tutorial because this is a much better solution than using an old version of Windows or using Mobile Data for this functionality.

Requirements

• Linux-compatible Wireless Adapter (WiFi Card)
• Linux Distribution of your choosing (I'm using SteamOS for this tutorial)
• Nintendo DS or Sony PSP
• linux-wifi-hotspot installed
• NDS users: nds-constraint DNS

Steps to achieve

1. Open a terminal window and type or paste the following text:
   
   

   wihotspot

   
   
   
   
   
   OR simply launch "Wifi Hotspot" from your Applications Menu.
   
   
2. After entering that text, a GUI window will appear. In this Window, set an SSID (Hotspot name) and click the box that says Open.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. After setting your Hotspot to Open, it's important to do one or both of the following in the Advanced settings: Set your Hotspot to Hidden and/or add your console's MAC address to the Mac Filter text box.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Once you've done the above steps, you can now click "Create Hotspot" at the bottom to turn on your new hotspot!
   
   
   
   
   
   If all is well, you will now see a PID to indicate that your hotspot is live and you can connect via the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP by inputting the SSID in a New connection.
   
   
   
   
   
   The Connected devices list will populate when you run a connection test, like below:
   
   
   

Congratulations, you've made your hotspot. You can now always launch this hotspot, which is now saved to your system by running the following in your terminal once again

wihotspot

You can also simply launch "Wifi Hotspot" from your Applications Menu.

Note: Whitelisting MAC addresses is the only way to be completely safe from other people connecting to your Hotspot. It is highly recommended that you do this.

 

[SuperRes7]

Does this work using a Virtual machine running linux?

 

[AgentBlade]

Does this work the same on Ubuntu or are there different steps?

 

[Darukeru]

Does this work the same on Ubuntu or are there different steps?

Use this: https://github.com/lakinduakash/linux-wifi-hotspot

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Does this work the same on Ubuntu or are there different steps?

It would work in Ubuntu (w/GNOME) but the solution @Darukeru provided here looks to be a bit more universal.

 

[AgentBlade]

THANK YOU YOUR A LIFESAVER

 

[Moris]

I keep getting error 52100: "Connected to access point but unable to connect to the server" after connection test no matter what I do. I've tried open/WEP security, with/without Wiimfi DNS settings, and I've done the whole thing over again from scratch multiple times. Any ideas what could be causing this?

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I keep getting error 52100: "Connected to access point but unable to connect to the server" after connection test no matter what I do. I've tried open/WEP security, with/without Wiimfi DNS settings, and I've done the whole thing over again from scratch multiple times. Any ideas what could be causing this?

Not exactly, however I will probably be updating this tutorial to use Darukeru's proposed solution soon as it adds basically everything missing from the solution I proposed (MAC Address filtering, ability to use the Wifi card you're connected to the internet with, and other such things). If you haven't tried the software he recommended, you should.

Use this: https://github.com/lakinduakash/linux-wifi-hotspot

Post automatically merged: Oct 11, 2022

I've updated the original post with the new method and requirements thereof. Hopefully this helps people as it's much more usable with this application. Thanks @Darukeru

 

[OM3GAZX]

Is it possible to use any virtual machine running Linux to do this?
Unfortunately, I don't want to do weird stuff on my computer, as I have already set it up and it's a very fragile setup, and I don't want to do modifications with it.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Is it possible to use any virtual machine running Linux to do this?
Unfortunately, I don't want to do weird stuff on my computer, as I have already set it up and it's a very fragile setup, and I don't want to do modifications with it.

Depends on if that VM has hardware access to your network interface. You can achieve this by booting Linux from a Live USB w/ persistent storage, which would be a lot better than trying to use a VM for this. That way you don't have to even install another operating system nor worry about trying to manage to get it working.

See here for a quick explanation: https://www.usbmemorydirect.com/blog/creating-your-own-linux-live-usb-with-persistent-memory/

 

[321pyro]

I am having trouble successfully testing connection on my DS lite with Pokemon Pearl (authentic) using this method.

for reference I'm using a DS lite with DNS set to manual at many different DNS servers online like wiimfi, and wihotspot wifi interface "wlp4s0". I'm also using a fresh install of Linux Mint

When I click test connection the connection symbol will hold green for a while then will get either error 52100, 20100 or 20110 depending on if i set secondary DNS to wiimfi servers instead of 8.8.8.8, or if im not auto obtaining IP address ( I'm not sure if im doing this setting right i have ip set to 192.168.12.31, subnet 0.0.0.0, and gateway 192.168.12.1 although i have tried gateway as the same as DNS and subnet as 255.255.255.0

I've tried restarting everything and clearing configs and just about everything i could find online about this and still can't get it to connect.

Is there anything else I should try? I'm not very experienced in anything networking

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I am having trouble successfully testing connection on my DS lite with Pokemon Pearl (authentic) using this method.

for reference I'm using a DS lite with DNS set to manual at many different DNS servers online like wiimfi, and wihotspot wifi interface "wlp4s0". I'm also using a fresh install of Linux Mint

When I click test connection the connection symbol will hold green for a while then will get either error 52100, 20100 or 20110 depending on if i set secondary DNS to wiimfi servers instead of 8.8.8.8, or if im not auto obtaining IP address ( I'm not sure if im doing this setting right i have ip set to 192.168.12.31, subnet 0.0.0.0, and gateway 192.168.12.1 although i have tried gateway as the same as DNS and subnet as 255.255.255.0

I've tried restarting everything and clearing configs and just about everything i could find online about this and still can't get it to connect.

Is there anything else I should try? I'm not very experienced in anything networking

OK, I've been able to reproduce your issue (or at least something similar) by ticking Gateway and manually setting IP in the DS WiFi config. You should instead both leave Gateway unticked in WiHotspot and set IP to auto-obtain on the DS.
Try the connection test first with both IP and DNS set to auto, then if the test is successful, switch only the DNS to Wiimfi or nds-constraint DNS and try the connection test again.

If your connection test fails the first time, confirm, for sure, that both Wifi Interface (this should be your wireless adapter) and Internet interface (this should be whatever device you're using to connect to the internet on your computer, and may differ from the Wifi interface setting if you're using a wired connection) are set correctly within WiHotspot.

 

[321pyro]

OK, I've been able to reproduce your issue (or at least something similar) by ticking Gateway and manually setting IP in the DS WiFi config. You should instead both leave Gateway unticked in WiHotspot and set IP to auto-obtain on the DS.
Try the connection test first with both IP and DNS set to auto, then if the test is successful, switch only the DNS to Wiimfi or nds-constraint DNS and try the connection test again.

If your connection test fails the first time, confirm, for sure, that both Wifi Interface (this should be your wireless adapter) and Internet interface (this should be whatever device you're using to connect to the internet on your computer, and may differ from the Wifi interface setting if you're using a wired connection) are set correctly within WiHotspot.

Hi, with both IP and DNS set to automatic I am still getting error 20100, the connection bar stays green on the DS for a few seconds then it tells me it failed, and in that time while its green the wihotspot is detecting its hostname, IP, and mac address. I have verified the internet interface is correct (enp5s0, im using ethernet) and if i connect to a wifi network uses wlp4s0 so i assume thats correct too.

When i connect to the access point on other devices like my phone it is able to connect to the internet and works

I have also tried connecting to wifi on my PC and setting both wifi and internet interface to wlp4so and when i do that, the internet on other devices Doesnt work

Another thing I thought i'd mention is that when i startup the wihotspot gui I do get a few errors, not sure if thats affecting anything though because i still can't connect when I use the create_ap on its own without the GUI

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Another thing I thought i'd mention is that when i startup the wihotspot gui I do get a few errors, not sure if thats affecting anything though because i still can't connect when I use the create_ap on its own without the GUI

Those errors are normal. I'm not sure what's causing your issue, but I'm not able to reproduce it on my Arch Linux system. I can't test a wired connection unfortunately, but setting both adapters to Wireless hasn't caused a problem on my end.

Post automatically merged: Jan 6, 2023

-snip-

Since you're using a wired connection plus a wireless adapter, it may be worth it to try the old version of the tutorial, which uses nm-connection-editor instead. This old version didn't support sharing the network and connecting to the network on the same interface, hence the update.

It's archived here, but the images won't display (fortunately the text is very detailed):

https://web.archive.org/web/2022081...te-an-nds-compatible-hotspot-on-linux.543283/

 

[321pyro]

Since you're using a wired connection plus a wireless adapter, it may be worth it to try the old version of the tutorial, which uses nm-connection-editor instead. This old version didn't support sharing the network and connecting to the network on the same interface, hence the update.

It's archived here, but the images won't display (fortunately the text is very detailed):

Hi again, I setup the hotspot in settings and followed everything and I still fail to connect. I could see the option when searching for access point on the DS and it once again when testing connection the connection meter stays green for a few seconds before failing. same error with manual DNS both on and off.

I'm thinking this is a problem with my wifi onboard my computer. I have a motherboard (asrock B450m/ac) with built in wi-fi maybe it doesnt support 802.11b that the DS lite requires?(nintendo website says thats the only one while newer ds's support other things) once again im a networking noob i dont really know what it does. the motherboard spec says "Intel 802.11ac WiFi". If that sounds like its the issue I'll order a usb wifi card to see if it works. Thanks in advance for helping, I convinced my friend to buy the game to play with me and i'd feel bad if I couldn't even get online working

 

[AkikoKumagara]

"Intel 802.11ac WiFi"

This isn't enough detail. You'd have to figure out the model name of the adapter. I'm on a newer-ish Intel AC WiFi adapter myself and don't have any of the same problems, so I'm skeptical about that being the cause.

 

[321pyro]

This isn't enough detail. You'd have to figure out the model name of the adapter. I'm on a newer-ish Intel AC WiFi adapter myself and don't have any of the same problems, so I'm skeptical about that being the cause.

it is the "Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168" which in the specifications says it does support 802.11b, got any other ideas what might be the problem? I can still try getting a separate usb wifi adapter to see if that works. I'm just about out of ideas, maybe I can try to setup a hotspot with my spare Raspberri pi 3b?

 

[AkikoKumagara]

it is the "Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168" which in the specifications says it does support 802.11b, got any other ideas what might be the problem? I can still try getting a separate usb wifi adapter to see if that works. I'm just about out of ideas, maybe I can try to setup a hotspot with my spare Raspberri pi 3b?

I'm pretty well stumped here. I'm definitely not enough of a software person to be able to troubleshoot much more than I have already. Just shared the process that works for me. Feel free to give it a shot on the Pi, as that should work, in theory, too.
Otherwise, you've got other options that may work, potentially, like mobile hotspot.

 

[SpecificallySwampert]

I’m having some issues getting the network I make to start up. When I input ‘wihotspot’ into my command line, I get a prompt to input my password, which I do, it then gives me an error. The GUI opens after, so it appears as if I can make a network, but upon clicking ‘start hotspot’, the GUI crashes. I’m kind of a noob so I have no idea what’s wrong, or if there’s a fix.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

I’m having some issues getting the network I make to start up. When I input ‘wihotspot’ into my command line, I get a prompt to input my password, which I do, it then gives me an error. The GUI opens after, so it appears as if I can make a network, but upon clicking ‘start hotspot’, the GUI crashes. I’m kind of a noob so I have no idea what’s wrong, or if there’s a fix.

I'm afraid I can't help you without more info and likely then still wouldn't be able to help. It could be a driver issue with your wifi adapter, though, based on what you're stating. The best course of action would probably be to gather relevant info (distro, dm, wifi adapter model/chipset, network manager in use, etc.) and open an issue on GitHub.

 

[Scep]

Hi, my message got deleted but basically, I tried everything in this post, the previous version of this post, and the other person who made basically the same post as you, none of them worked.

Linux wifi hotspot just loads for a bit and then says not running when I create the wifi network.

Using Linux's built-in systems through the command line I can create a WEP hotspot and my other devices can join and use it and recognize it as a WEP network but the DS and 3DS cant find the access point even when I do manual setup.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated thanks.