🌐 Linux Hotspot Enabler

Simultaneous WiFi + Hotspot on Linux — without disconnecting

A lightweight C tool with a responsive ncurses TUI that creates a virtual AP interface alongside your existing WiFi connection, enabling internet sharing while staying connected.

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🎯 The Problem

On most Linux distributions (including Zorin, Ubuntu, Mint), enabling a Wi-Fi hotspot disconnects you from your current WiFi network. This is because the built-in hotspot feature takes exclusive control of the wireless adapter.

Linux Hotspot Enabler solves this by leveraging AP/STA concurrency — creating a virtual access point (ap0) on the same radio as your WiFi client connection, so both run simultaneously.

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✨ Features

Feature	Description
📡 Simultaneous WiFi + Hotspot	Stay connected to WiFi while sharing your internet
🖥️ Responsive TUI	Beautiful ncurses terminal interface with 4 screens
🔧 Auto-Detection	Automatically finds WiFi interface, channel & AP support
🌍 Cross-Distro	Ubuntu, Zorin, Debian, Mint, Arch, Fedora, RHEL & more
👥 Live Client Monitoring	See connected devices with IP, MAC, and hostname
🔐 WPA2 Security	Hotspot is password-protected with WPA2/CCMP
🔄 Auto Band Detection	Automatically matches client band (2.4/5 GHz)
🧹 Clean Shutdown	Properly removes virtual interfaces, NAT rules & temp files
⚙️ Configurable	Edit SSID, password, channel, 5GHz mode, hidden network

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📸 Screenshots

Dashboard

┌─ WiFi Client ───────────────────────┐ ┌─ Hotspot ────────────────────────────┐
│ Status:      Connected              │ │ Status:      RUNNING                 │
│ SSID:        MyNetwork              │ │ SSID:        LinuxHotspot            │
│ IP:          192.168.1.42           │ │ Interface:   ap0                     │
│ Channel:     6                      │ │ Clients:     2                       │
│ Signal:      -45 dBm                │ │ Uptime:      1h 23m 15s             │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────────┘

Configuration

┌─ Hotspot Configuration ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SSID:           LinuxHotspot                                                │
│ Password:       ••••••••••••                                                │
│ Channel:        Auto (match client)                                         │
│ Band:           2.4 GHz (auto)                                              │
│ Hidden:         No                                                          │
│ Max Clients:    10                                                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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📦 Dependencies

Tool	Purpose
iw	Wireless interface management
hostapd	Access Point daemon
dnsmasq	DHCP & DNS server for hotspot clients
iptables	NAT/firewall rules for internet sharing
ncurses	Terminal UI library (dev headers)
gcc / make	Build toolchain

Install Dependencies

🟠 Ubuntu / Zorin / Debian / Linux Mint

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y iw hostapd dnsmasq iptables libncurses-dev build-essential

🔵 Arch Linux / Manjaro

sudo pacman -Sy --noconfirm iw hostapd dnsmasq iptables ncurses base-devel

🔴 Fedora / RHEL / CentOS

sudo dnf install -y iw hostapd dnsmasq iptables ncurses-devel gcc make

🟢 openSUSE

sudo zypper install -y iw hostapd dnsmasq iptables ncurses-devel gcc make

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🔨 Build & Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/SudharshanAIML/linux-hotspot-enabler.git
cd linux-hotspot-enabler

# Build
make

# (Optional) Install system-wide
sudo make install

To uninstall:

sudo make uninstall

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🚀 Usage

sudo ./hotspot-enabler

Note: Root privileges are required to manage network interfaces, hostapd, dnsmasq, and iptables rules.

TUI Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
F1	Dashboard — WiFi & Hotspot status overview
F2	Config — Edit SSID, password, channel, band
F3	Clients — View connected devices
F4	Log — Event and error log
Tab	Cycle through screens
Enter	Start/Stop hotspot (Dashboard) · Edit field (Config)
↑ / ↓	Navigate fields or scroll logs
q	Quit (with clean shutdown)

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⚙️ How It Works

┌──────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐
│   Internet   │◄────────│   Router     │
└──────┬───────┘         └──────┬───────┘
       │                        │ WiFi (e.g. channel 6)
       │                 ┌──────┴───────┐
       │                 │   wlo1       │ ← Your WiFi client
       │                 │  (managed)   │
       │                 ├──────────────┤
       │    iptables NAT │   ap0        │ ← Virtual AP interface
       │◄────────────────│  (__ap)      │
       │                 └──────┬───────┘
       │                        │ Hotspot (same channel)
       │                 ┌──────┴───────┐
       │                 │   Clients    │
       │                 │  Phone, Tab  │
       │                 └──────────────┘

Startup Sequence

1. Detect your active WiFi interface and verify AP/STA concurrency support
2. Create a virtual AP interface (ap0) on the same physical radio
3. Configure NetworkManager to ignore the AP interface
4. Launch hostapd to broadcast your hotspot SSID (WPA2 secured)
5. Assign IP address to ap0 and configure the gateway
6. Launch dnsmasq to provide DHCP/DNS to connected clients
7. Configure iptables NAT to forward traffic: hotspot → WiFi → internet
8. Monitor connections and provide live status via the TUI

Shutdown Sequence

1. Stop hostapd and dnsmasq processes
2. Remove iptables NAT rules
3. Delete the virtual ap0 interface
4. Restore NetworkManager configuration
5. Clean up all temporary config files

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🏗️ Project Structure

linux-hotspot-enabler/
├── include/
│   ├── hotspot.h          # Hotspot config, status structs & API
│   ├── net_utils.h        # Network utility structs & functions
│   └── tui.h              # TUI state, screens & rendering
├── src/
│   ├── main.c             # Entry point, root check, dependency verify
│   ├── hotspot.c          # Core hotspot management (hostapd, dnsmasq, NAT)
│   ├── net_utils.c        # Interface detection, AP support, client listing
│   └── tui.c              # ncurses TUI (dashboard, config, clients, log)
├── Makefile               # Build system
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

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⚠️ Requirements

Hardware

Your WiFi adapter must support AP/STA concurrency (most modern adapters do). Verify with:

iw list | grep -A 8 "valid interface combinations"

Look for output containing both managed and AP:

valid interface combinations:
    * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP, P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1,
      total <= 3, #channels <= 2

Software

• Linux kernel 4.0+ (for proper nl80211 AP/STA support)
• Root/sudo access
• Active WiFi connection (to share internet from)

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🔧 Troubleshooting

❌ "WiFi adapter does not support AP+STA concurrency"

Your adapter may not support running AP and client mode simultaneously. Try:

iw list | grep -A 8 "valid interface combinations"

If the output does not show both managed and AP, your adapter's driver doesn't support this feature.

Workaround: Use a second USB WiFi adapter dedicated to the hotspot.

❌ "Failed to create virtual AP interface"

• Ensure your WiFi driver is loaded: lsmod | grep <your_driver>
• Check if rfkill is blocking: rfkill list → sudo rfkill unblock wifi
• Try unloading and reloading your WiFi driver

❌ "hostapd failed"

• Check the hostapd log: cat /tmp/hotspot_enabler_hostapd.log
• Ensure hostapd isn't already running: sudo pkill hostapd
• Your adapter may not support the selected channel — try a different one in Config (F2)

❌ "Failed to start dnsmasq"

Another DNS service may be using port 53:

sudo systemctl stop systemd-resolved
sudo systemctl stop dnsmasq

Then try again.

❌ Clients connect but have no internet

• Verify IP forwarding: cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward (should be 1)
• Check iptables rules: sudo iptables -t nat -L
• Ensure your WiFi connection itself has internet access

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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Made with ❤️ for the Linux community

If this project helped you, consider giving it a ⭐!