To enable WIFI hotspot in Steamdeck for Steamlink, etc.
The "hotspot" button in Steamdeck desktop mode does not work.
Inspired by below Reddit discussion, confirmed the capability to enable WIFI hotspot in Steamdeck.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vd6xkg/comment/jemll1l/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
First tried the method mentioned in the above site. It worked, even without installking dkms driver.
But the same problem happened, that the speed cannot be faster than 5Mbps.
After some investigation noticed that the Network Manager (nmcli) cannot create hotspot with ieee80211n leading to a low speed, and the problem can be solve by using hostapd instead.
-
Install create_ap package via yay.
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/create_ap
The github instruction suggested pacman for installation. Maybe just the same but did not try. -
To remove the file before the first execution. Else error will happen.
/tmp/create_ap.all.lock -
Follow the example in the github site to create hotspot.
https://github.com/oblique/create_ap
E.g.,
create_ap --ieee80211n --ht_capab '[HT40+]' -n wlan0 MyAccessPoint MyPassPhrase
Hints:
- You may need to run 'rfkill unblock wlan' before the create_ap command.
- If you force the create_ap to stop and cannot connect to WIFI anymore, remove the row 'unmanaged-devices=interface-name:wlan0' from the /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf