Why can I not connect to my Kali Wifi Hotspot?

Question

I'm trying to do a bit of a hackish workaround. I have a raspberry Pi 3B+ running Kali Linux which is connected to my corporate network over ethernet. I also have a windows machine on the same network. I am able to drive the Pi over SSH and through a VNC viewer. This works fine.

However, I need to move files between the two machines easily so I can use it as a test rig for cross-platform deployments. Due to security restrictions of the network I cannot view shared folders from the windows machine.

My workaround for this is to use a Pi Zero W and this little hack... https://www.raspberrypi.org/magpi/pi-zero-w-smart-usb-flash-drive/?fbclid=IwAR1GbWFUUhoGW8_enGVy9vwQLo-83pPKYnG_fsgZ1_uKuM75lq7bNw9PW6E

So the zero W side works nicely, and I've been able to put it to use at home. I'm now trying to get my kali device to host a wireless hotspot and have the zero W connect to it, whilst having the USB side of the zero plugged into my windows machine to facilitate file sharing.

"Wu Tang Lan" is my home network, "Network USB Host" is the network I am trying to run from the Kali device, and "Malware Propogation Test" is a hotspot hosted on my android phone.

My /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file looks like this:

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
network={
    ssid=Wu Tang Lan"
    psk="InsertHomeWifiPasswordHere"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

network={
    ssid=Network USB Host"
    psk="PiFileShare"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

network={
    ssid="Malware Propogation Test"
    psk="ThePasswordToThisNetwork"
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}

The device connects automatically to the first and third networks without an issue, but will not connect to the USB Host network.

My phone can see the USB host network but when I try to connect it either doesn't connect at all, or endlessly disconnects and reconnects until the option reads 'disabled' in my list of networks.

My Kali Network configuration for the USB Host network looks like this:

General is set to connect automatically with proxy and all users may connect. Proxy settings are set to method: none and all clear, IPV6 settings are all default, like ipv4.

Anyone got any pointers on where to go from here?

Answer 1

It turns out the issue is with a recent update to Kali rendering the OS incapable of making the raspberry Pis wireless hardware incapable of serving as a stable access point. This can resolved with the use of an external USB wireless card.

The solution I have chosen, due to restrictions regarding who my company can purchase from, is to use 2 Pi Zeros. One to behave as a smart USB as mentioned before, and another to host a wireless network over which both devices connect. It of course also be possible to host a network from the 'smart usb' Pi but this makes it less practical as you cannot connect several to the same network if you do this.