Atheros AR9580 and AR9582 pcie from Mikrotik?
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Hi,
Anyone using similar wifi PCIe cards? AR9580 and AR9582.
Will “ath_hal” or other FreeBSD module work with them?Im thinking of getting R11e-2HPnD and R11e-5HnD from Mikrotik.
Thanks
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Both would likely work but the 9580 is listed:
https://github.com/pfsense/FreeBSD-src/blob/devel-12/sys/dev/ath/ath_hal/ah.c#L186I would not spend much though an external AP is better in almost every way.
Steve
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@stephenw10 thanks, i have everything. Cisco APs etc. this is a backup system.
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I'm using a Sparklan WPEA-127N which I believe is about the best supported card type you can use in pfSense. It's AR9380 based. Works great for my use, which is low.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Any special configuration that I need to RTFM?
Cards seem to work ok but Im not sure if I need extra configuration on the AP side.
5g - R11e-5HnD ath0@pci0:1:0:0: class=0x028000 card=0xd01419b6 chip=0x0033168c rev=0x01 hdr=0x00 vendor = 'Qualcomm Atheros' device = 'AR958x 802.11abgn Wireless Network Adapter' class = network 2g - R11e-2HPnD ath1@pci0:5:0:0: class=0x028000 card=0xd01619b6 chip=0x0033168c rev=0x01 hdr=0x00 vendor = 'Qualcomm Atheros' device = 'AR958x 802.11abgn Wireless Network Adapter' class = networkath0_wlan0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500 description: OPT4_WLAN5G ether 4c:5e:0c:10:01:ca inet6 fe80::4e5e:cff:fe10:1ca%ath0_wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x8 groups: wlan ssid lou5 channel 157 (5785 MHz 11a ht/40+) bssid 4c:5e:0c:10:01:ca regdomain FCC country US anywhere ecm authmode WPA2/802.11i -wps -tsn privacy MIXED deftxkey 3 AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM 3:128-bit powersavemode OFF powersavesleep 100 txpower 1 txpowmax 50.0 -dotd rtsthreshold 2346 fragthreshold 2346 bmiss 7 11a ucast NONE mgmt 6 Mb/s mcast 6 Mb/s maxretry 6 11na ucast NONE mgmt 6 Mb/s mcast 6 Mb/s maxretry 6 scanvalid 60 -bgscan bgscanintvl 300 bgscanidle 250 roam:11a rssi 7dBm rate 12 Mb/s roam:11na rssi 7dBm MCS 1 -pureg protmode OFF ht htcompat ampdu ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 amsdu shortgi htprotmode RTSCTS -puren -smps -rifs stbc ldpc -uapsd -vht -vht40 -vht80 -vht160 -vht80p80 -wme burst -dwds -hidessid -apbridge dtimperiod 1 doth -dfs inact bintval 100 parent interface: ath0 media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11na <hostap> status: running nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL> ath1_wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500 description: OPT5_WLAN2G ether 74:4d:28:36:bc:8c inet6 fe80::764d:28ff:fe36:bc8c%ath1_wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x9 inet 192.168.66.26 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.66.255 groups: wlan ssid LittleW channel 9 (2452 MHz 11g ht/20) bssid 00:2a:10:cf:3b:10 regdomain FCC country US anywhere ecm authmode WPA2/802.11i -wps -tsn privacy ON deftxkey UNDEF AES-CCM 2:128-bit powersavemode OFF powersavesleep 100 txpower 6 txpowmax 50.0 -dotd rtsthreshold 2346 fragthreshold 2346 bmiss 7 11b ucast NONE mgmt 1 Mb/s mcast 1 Mb/s maxretry 6 11g ucast NONE mgmt 1 Mb/s mcast 1 Mb/s maxretry 6 11ng ucast NONE mgmt 1 Mb/s mcast 1 Mb/s maxretry 6 scanvalid 60 -bgscan bgscanintvl 300 bgscanidle 250 roam:11b rssi 7dBm rate 1 Mb/s roam:11g rssi 7dBm rate 5 Mb/s roam:11ng rssi 7dBm MCS 1 -pureg protmode OFF ht htcompat ampdu ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 amsdu shortgi htprotmode RTSCTS -puren -smps -rifs stbc ldpc -uapsd -vht -vht40 -vht80 -vht160 -vht80p80 wme burst -dwds roaming MANUAL bintval 102 AC_BE cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 3 txopLimit 0 -acm ack cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 3 txopLimit 0 -acm AC_BK cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 7 txopLimit 0 -acm ack cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 7 txopLimit 0 -acm AC_VI cwmin 3 cwmax 4 aifs 2 txopLimit 94 -acm ack cwmin 3 cwmax 4 aifs 2 txopLimit 94 -acm AC_VO cwmin 2 cwmax 3 aifs 2 txopLimit 47 -acm ack cwmin 2 cwmax 3 aifs 2 txopLimit 47 -acm parent interface: ath1 media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet MCS mode 11ng status: associated nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL> wlan2: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500 ether 4e:5e:0c:10:01:ca groups: wlan ssid "" channel 157 (5785 MHz 11a ht/40+) bssid 00:00:00:00:00:00 regdomain FCC country US anywhere ecm authmode OPEN -wps -tsn privacy OFF deftxkey UNDEF powersavemode OFF powersavesleep 100 txpower 1 txpowmax 50.0 -dotd rtsthreshold 2346 fragthreshold 2346 bmiss 7 11a ucast NONE mgmt 6 Mb/s mcast 6 Mb/s maxretry 6 11na ucast NONE mgmt 6 Mb/s mcast 6 Mb/s maxretry 6 scanvalid 60 -bgscan bgscanintvl 300 bgscanidle 250 roam:11a rssi 7dBm rate 12 Mb/s roam:11na rssi 7dBm MCS 1 -pureg protmode CTS ht htcompat ampdu ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 amsdu shortgi htprotmode RTSCTS -puren -smps -rifs stbc ldpc -uapsd -vht -vht40 -vht80 -vht160 -vht80p80 wme burst -dwds -hidessid apbridge dtimperiod 1 doth -dfs inact bintval 0 AC_BE cwmin 4 cwmax 6 aifs 3 txopLimit 0 -acm ack cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 3 txopLimit 0 -acm AC_BK cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 7 txopLimit 0 -acm ack cwmin 4 cwmax 10 aifs 7 txopLimit 0 -acm AC_VI cwmin 3 cwmax 4 aifs 1 txopLimit 94 -acm ack cwmin 3 cwmax 4 aifs 2 txopLimit 94 -acm AC_VO cwmin 2 cwmax 3 aifs 1 txopLimit 47 -acm ack cwmin 2 cwmax 3 aifs 2 txopLimit 47 -acm parent interface: ath0 media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect <hostap> (autoselect <hostap>) status: no carrier nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>(tx power is down because I did it manually for testing)
- The 5G card seems to be split in two but if I remember correctly its better if I only use one part right??? (This is the 'AP' card)
- The 5G AP give a max speed of 54Mbit on a Mac I have next to it. Are there any setting I need to check?
- Do you see anything else I need to RTFM?
Thanks
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Not sure what you mean by split in two?
54Mbps right next to it seems pretty bad though. Last time I tried I was able to see >200Mbps actual throughput and a linked speed of 405Mbps with that Sparklan card.
Steve
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@stephenw10 Sorry, I mean that one PCIe has two interfaces created.
Maybe Im utilising the wrong one? (I read in the forum that sometime when cards create two interfaces only one is the ‘good’ one)Are there any good configuration guides I can follow?
Thanks -
Hmm, so that's one physical card that appears as two PCI devices?
One thing that would really kill performance it trying to use the radios at the wrong frequencies and it might allow you to try.
The other thing to check is the antenna settings in the sysctls:
dev.ath.0.diversity: 0 dev.ath.0.rxantenna: 0 dev.ath.0.txantenna: 0If you have multiple antennas enabling diversity and/or setting differebt antennas for rx and tx usually helps. Especially if, for exmaple, you have two antennas but 3 ports be sure you're not trying to use the disconnected one.
Steve
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@daemonix Be mindfull that these cards use on board MMCX antenna cable connectors.
Ted
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@tquade :) I have two mmcx afta antennas on both cards (via pigtail).
I assume they can both have 2 spatial streams each.
I feel that Im missing something freebsd/ifconfig settings in order to get the best performance... -
Both PCIe cards have these diversity settings. Also both of them seem to advertise that they can work with 2 streams but I only get max speed as if one is other active.
dev.ath.1.diversity: 0 dev.ath.1.rxantenna: 1 dev.ath.1.txantenna: 05G AP give me 140Mbit-ish max.
Do I need to do something this the diversity settings?On the Macbook I see that its capable of 2 streams.
but iperf3 disagrees :)
Any ideas?
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Well I would certainly try enabling antenna diversity.
How are you testing with iperf? Multiple parallel streams? (-P)
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@stephenw10 yes 5 to 10 parallel and reverse too.
I did test diversity but no fun.
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Actually reviewing this (after some coffee!) I think you are seeing about the correct numbers.
With a 2x2 card the maximum connection rate is 300Mbps and your client seems to be showing that already. Does the pfSense wifi status also show that?
Around half that speed for actual throughput it about what I was able to get. Though I managed >50% (215/405 Mbps). You are not far off that. I would not expect to see more than, say, 160Mbps.
Steve
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@stephenw10 let me retest and Ill post back... I left it a bit on the side as I had a pile of work.
Thanks!
