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    PCI-E Card for WiFi AP

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
    wifipci-eaccess point
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    • M
      MasterLog @JonathanLee
      last edited by

      @JonathanLee said in PCI-E Card for WiFi AP:

      But the pcie card can't do both 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz at the same time.

      Hello. Sorry, is that a limitation of that specific card, or in general?

      JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JonathanLeeJ
        JonathanLee @MasterLog
        last edited by JonathanLee

        @MasterLog it's a limitations for PfSense on the 2100MAX I assume it's for all. That's why everyone loves external AP plus wifi AC support is not available on the drivers for the internal cards.

        External APs got it all and then some.

        https://forum.netgate.com/topic/184066/pfsense-how-to-guide-guest-wifi-secure-wifi-on-a-sg2100-max

        I made a quick how to guide if you want to check it out.

        Make sure to upvote

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • stephenw10S
          stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
          last edited by

          You need something with dual radios to do more than one channel at a time. Most access points have that. Some have 3 or 4 radios these days. They can run at 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6Ghz and have a radio dedicated to monitoring.
          You could put two NICs in pfSense if you really wanted to. But..... external AP. 😉

          M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • M
            MasterLog @stephenw10
            last edited by MasterLog

            @stephenw10 said in PCI-E Card for WiFi AP:

            You could put two NICs in pfSense if you really wanted to.

            Unfortunately on my device (which is a Thin Client) I have only 1 PCI-E slot (used by the 2nd LAN port) and 1 mini PCI-E slot (for the AP) so I can put only 1 Card for AP.
            Hopefully I can find a compatible one with 2 radios (2.4 and 5 GHz).

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • stephenw10S
              stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
              last edited by

              I think you're very unlikely to find one. And if you do it may be, literally, 100x more expensive! However you don't need dual band like that to run as an AP.

              JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • JonathanLeeJ
                JonathanLee @stephenw10
                last edited by

                @stephenw10 the Compex has 2 radios but FreeBSD and pfSense software only allow use of one of the channels at a time. Also auto mode does not function however PfSense has an option to use auto. Maybe it will work in a future version.

                Make sure to upvote

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • stephenw10S
                  stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                  last edited by

                  WLE200NX is dual band but it only has one radio. It can only use one band at a time in any OS.

                  JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • M
                    MasterLog
                    last edited by

                    Thank you guys.
                    It seems that using 2 Cards is the only solution at this point.

                    Regards,

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JonathanLeeJ
                      JonathanLee @stephenw10
                      last edited by

                      @stephenw10

                      Screenshot_20231118-190317.png

                      It shows 2 rx 2 tx and 2 radios. . . I just think the software doesn't have code yet to enable both at the same time.

                      Make sure to upvote

                      M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • M
                        MasterLog @JonathanLee
                        last edited by

                        @JonathanLee said in PCI-E Card for WiFi AP:

                        @stephenw10

                        Screenshot_20231118-190317.png

                        It shows 2 rx 2 tx and 2 radios. . . I just think the software doesn't have code yet to enable both at the same time.

                        Sorry, do you mean also with 2 different devices (e.g. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz)?

                        JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • JonathanLeeJ
                          JonathanLee @MasterLog
                          last edited by JonathanLee

                          @MasterLog that's my Compex card just one. I only can get one radio to run with PfSense FreeBSD. I have a external AP for most of the secure traffic.

                          Use 2 cards, I didn't know PfSense could do that.

                          Make sure to upvote

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • stephenw10S
                            stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                            last edited by

                            Hmm, interesting. Looking at the data sheet for the chip it does indeed contain two radios. However I think either part of that is shared or it's restricted some way in hardware because Ive never seen one of those chipsets that could use both simultaneously.

                            JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JonathanLeeJ
                              JonathanLee @stephenw10
                              last edited by

                              @stephenw10 Maybe we need to configure 2 interfaces?

                              Screenshot_20231119-070451.png

                              Make sure to upvote

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • stephenw10S
                                stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                last edited by

                                Creating two virtual interfaces like that share one parent NIC, ath0, and can only use one set of wifi values. They always use the same channel.

                                JonathanLeeJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • JonathanLeeJ
                                  JonathanLee @stephenw10
                                  last edited by JonathanLee

                                  @stephenw10 it's weird I thought it was a ath0 driver issue with FreeBSD. The card clearly has two radios. Again it just only runs one. Have you ever seen a 2100 running 2 radios on one card?

                                  https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=athn&sektion=4&manpath=OpenBSD+5.0

                                  Screenshot_20231119-072708.png

                                  Per FreeBSD the 9280 has 2 radios.

                                  Make sure to upvote

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • stephenw10S
                                    stephenw10 Netgate Administrator
                                    last edited by

                                    Nope and I've never seen it in any OS. If you look at an AP running similar hardware those that support dual band simultaneously have multiple radio chipsets. I don't believe it's possible to run both on that or any similar card.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • M
                                      MasterLog
                                      last edited by

                                      Hello guys,
                                      Thank you for your messages.
                                      Summarizing, even using pfsense with a single wifi device featuring dual radio will end using only one radio, despite set the configuration for both.
                                      At this point we didn't confirm if it will work with 2 different separate devices (e.g. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz).
                                      Is it my understanding correct up to this point?

                                      Regards,

                                      JonathanLeeJ provelsP 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • JonathanLeeJ
                                        JonathanLee @MasterLog
                                        last edited by

                                        @MasterLog @stephenw10

                                        I think Stephenw10 suggested to use two separate cards to achieve your requirements. I have never attempted it. Please yet me know how it turns out with two drivers running.

                                        Make sure to upvote

                                        M 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • M
                                          MasterLog @JonathanLee
                                          last edited by

                                          @JonathanLee said in PCI-E Card for WiFi AP:

                                          Please yet me know how it turns out with two drivers running.

                                          I don't think I can try this, as I have only 1 PCI-E slot available.
                                          I may try to see if I can find a compatible USB Wifi adapter to use together, but at this point I may need to find a different device where to run pfsense.
                                          Hopefully someone can try this!

                                          Regards,

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • provelsP
                                            provels @MasterLog
                                            last edited by

                                            @MasterLog Yes, it works with 2 physical cards. I have 2 ATH cards, 9280 and 9380, operating at 2.4 and 5.

                                            b3462cfe-ea86-4b9c-ad4a-e6090745769f-image.png

                                            Peder

                                            MAIN - pfSense+ 24.11-RELEASE - Adlink MXE-5401, i7, 16 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD. 500 GB HDD for SyslogNG
                                            BACKUP - pfSense+ 23.01-RELEASE - Hyper-V Virtual Machine, Gen 1, 2 v-CPUs, 3 GB RAM, 8GB VHDX (Dynamic)

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