You shouldn’t forget to make a small change to the /etc/freeradius/sql/mysql/dialup.conf(or /etc/freeradius/sql.conf) file. Somewhere around line 82 lies the following:

#######################################################################
        # Use these for case sensitive usernames.
#        authorize_check_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
#         FROM ${authcheck_table} \
#         WHERE username = BINARY '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
#         ORDER BY id"
#        authorize_reply_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
#         FROM ${authreply_table} \
#         WHERE username = BINARY '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
#         ORDER BY id"

        # The default queries are case insensitive. (for compatibility with
        # older versions of FreeRADIUS)
       authorize_check_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
          FROM ${authcheck_table} \
          WHERE username = '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
          ORDER BY id"
       authorize_reply_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
          FROM ${authreply_table} \
          WHERE username = '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
          ORDER BY id"

This should be:

#######################################################################
        # Use these for case sensitive usernames.
        authorize_check_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
         FROM ${authcheck_table} \
         WHERE username = BINARY '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
         ORDER BY id"
        authorize_reply_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
         FROM ${authreply_table} \
         WHERE username = BINARY '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
         ORDER BY id"

        # The default queries are case insensitive. (for compatibility with
        # older versions of FreeRADIUS)
#       authorize_check_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
#          FROM ${authcheck_table} \
#          WHERE username = '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
#          ORDER BY id"
#       authorize_reply_query = "SELECT id, username, attribute, value, op \
#          FROM ${authreply_table} \
#          WHERE username = '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
#          ORDER BY id"

And if you apply your attributes per group instead of per user, like I do, then this:

        # Use these for case sensitive usernames.
#        group_membership_query = "SELECT groupname \
#        FROM ${usergroup_table} \
#         WHERE username = BINARY '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
#        ORDER BY priority"

       group_membership_query = "SELECT groupname \
          FROM ${usergroup_table} \
          WHERE username = '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
          ORDER BY priority"

should become:

        # Use these for case sensitive usernames.
        group_membership_query = "SELECT groupname \
        FROM ${usergroup_table} \
         WHERE username = BINARY '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
        ORDER BY priority"

#       group_membership_query = "SELECT groupname \
#          FROM ${usergroup_table} \
#          WHERE username = '%{SQL-User-Name}' \
#          ORDER BY priority"

Reload the freeradius server and your usernames should be case sensitive. Now, go and buy yourself a beer in celebration of your valiant victory against the dark forces of computer insecurity.

I have a Meraki mini I’ve been playing around with. I’m running OpenWRT Kamikaze 7.06 on it and I love it. It’s very flexible piece of hardware and comes with an 8mb flash and 32mb of RAM, which is more than enough for the stuff I run on it. The only annoying thing is the lack of a web interface. It’s not that I have problems with using the terminal; it’s just that, it becomes annoying to switch on my desktop just to attend to a minor detail. Or I’m downstairs in a friend’s room and just need to check if my internet connection is alive. A web interface would allow me do all that from a browser as long as I was connected to the network.
Thankfuly there’s the Webif frontend by X-WRT . From what I’ve seen so far, it’s quite good though it’s still beta. It does everything I want it to do so I can’t complain.

Installing
You first need to install the haserl package, which webif depends on.Telnet or SSH into your router and enter the following:

ipkg update

This updates your package list

ipkg install haserl

Installs haserl which allows you to embed shell scripts in html.

ipkg install http://downloads.x-wrt.org/xwrt/kamikaze/7.06/atheros-2.6/webif_latest.ipk

Download and install webif from the x-wrt.org site since webif is not yet in the kamikaze repository

Note: the webif install will reboot your router!!

Once the router is back up, open up a browser of your choice and enter your router’s ip address. Voila

• Forget about ever getting internet access ( not really much of a choice).
• Suscribe to the commercial hotspot.
• Find a way to improve my signal level

Now the first option is like asking me not to breathe. The second is not such a bad option, I make it a point not to pay for internet access if I can get it for free (umm…. legally of course. >:) ). So I guess it’s time to get out my toolkit and start voiding warranties. Now the best way to improve your wireless signal is to get a better antenna. I didn’t have much in the way of resources so I decided to opt of a ‘cantenna’, which basically is a waveguide antenna (if you need details, you won’t find them here. Ever heard of google?). Anyways, what I needed was a tin can, a bit of thick copper wire, an N-connector and a pigtail. Now anyone who lives in Ghana knows those last two items are virually impossible to find. So I had to improvise. I had these cables for an indoor antenna I got from a friend. One end has a magnetic base with a female SMA connector and the other end has a male SMA connector. There was also an SMA to RP-TNC connector included as well.

So I’ll it a try and see what happens. Updates coming soon.

My Linksys WRT54G version 5 suddenly stopped working over the weekend. On powering the router, all lights powered on and stayed that way. I had previously been running DD-WRT Micro.I tried holding the reset button for 30 seconds, powering the router, holding for another 30 seconds and then usnig TFTP tool to flash the router but that did not work. My situation was desperate and I was ready for desperate measures. So I used this guide : http://voidmain.is-a-geek.net/redhat/wrt54g_revival.html So I had to open up the router and short out pins 15-16 on the chip. The problem though was that in the pictures I saw, there were differences in the location of some of the components. So I’m posting a picture of what my board looks like just in case anyone has something similar to mine:

I won’t go into the details of the process since they are already documented elsewhere. All I’ll add is, funnily enough, after shorting out the pins, my router started working properly without me needed to reflash the firmware. Might work differently for you though.