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This is a home-server and homelab thing. I wouldn't run it in production.

Why put an access point on a server?

A few reasons. AP clients get their own IP range over DHCP, so I can write firewall rules that only let those addresses reach certain services. It is also a way to get back in. When the main router stops working, the server still broadcasts its own network, so I'm not locked out.

And if the server is small enough to carry around, it works on its own. I plugged mine in at a hotel and reached my data over its own wifi, so I didn't have to deal with the hotel network or carry a travel router.

Installing the required package

sudo apt-get install network-manager

Getting the name of a WiFi device

ls /sys/class/ieee80211/phy0/device/net/

Adding a configuration section to the netplan config

  renderer: NetworkManager\n  wifis:\n    wlx90de80f97ff1: # Replace with your wifi device name\n      optional: true\n      dhcp4: true\n      addresses: [192.168.10.1/24] # DHCP ip range\n      access-points:\n        "drx3": # Wifi network name\n          auth:\n            key-management: psk\n            password: "testpw" # Use a stronger pw\n          mode: ap\n          band: 5GHz\n          networkmanager:\n            passthrough:\n              wifi-security.proto: "rsn"

Applying the new AP config

sudo netplan apply

The server now broadcasts its own WiFi and you can connect to it directly.

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Tech Notes

Tech tips and new discoveries

Configuring a wifi access point on ubuntu server with netplan