Poor performance of RT3070 and RT2870 drivers
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Folks,
After weeks of testing and benchmarking, I've concluded that the RT3070 and 2870 drivers for FreeBSD 8 suck compared to comparable Windows drivers. It's almost a joke how bad the FreeBSD drivers are. I really like PfSense, though. Probably the best networking software I've ever used.
I'm at a crossroads. Is there a Linux based distro that's similar to PFSense? I think the Linux based drivers would be better than FreeBSD. I'm also looking to install Windows, somehow, on my little ASUS 2G surf. That will be a major challenge given the limitations of the machine.
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After weeks of testing and benchmarking, I've concluded that the RT3070 and 2870 drivers for FreeBSD 8 suck compared to comparable Windows drivers.
Would you please elaborate? Which FreeBSD drivers? As best I know, it is the one FreeBSD driver (run) that supports both the RT2870 and RT3070. Suck in what way? What Windows drivers did you compare?
I really like PfSense, though. Probably the best networking software I've ever used.
Then please help make it better by providing details of your tests and findings and posting a FreeBSD PR (Problem Report) so someone has enough information to be able to address your findings.
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Hi wallabybob,
Well, I don't think there is much the PfSense team could do. I believe it's a hardware driver support issue; something that should be implemented by the FreeBSD developers–I might be mistaken. It would be like asking for 802.11n support.
For more context, I have two USB WIFI adapters that I'm testing out with PfSense. One utilizes the RTL8187L chipset, the other RT3070. What I'm trying to do is use a line of sight hi-gain antennae to create a link between two buildings. One is our main office, the other is a workshop half a mile away. The workshop is an old decommissioned building from the US military that is now a converted arts center. What I wanted to do was use the adapters and the high gain antennae to bridge the network from our main office to the arts center. Previously, I was using a Windows XP workstation with the OEM drivers for the card. I was able to bridge the network without no problems. Perfect signal and speed without any issues. I used NAT32 as the routing software. There were two problems: NAT32 would terminate randomly at times, and I could only broadcast an adhoc SSID network from Windows XP. This worked ok. I was able to create an adhoc network and other users could connect to the Windows XP workstation that was linked to the main office via the high powered WIFI setup. However, other devices and systems could not see the adhoc SSID; only Windows machines could. So, if you have Mac OS X, iPhone, or whatever else that can only see an access point, then you won't be able to connect to the XP workstation. Also, the NAT32 software would just quit unexpectedly. Hence, I tried out PfSense.
PfSense, or should I say, FreeBSD, cannot create or maintain this bridge for some odd reason. Even if I disable security on the main office's WIFI router, I still have problems with PfSense maintaining a fast connection. It will see the AP and connect, but it will not be reliable. Sometimes it's fast, and within a few seconds, it's slow as molasses. I found that if I refresh the wireless status page, the connection will get a speed boost, but that's very short lived. I have also tried to restrict the channel of the wireless interface to that of the AP channel, but it didn't do much. The sad thing is, I installed PfSense on a very capable, but small ASUS 2g surf. This thing is PORTABLE. I took it way outside, farther than where the old XP bridge setup is, and did a point to point WIFI connection. It was still slower than molasses compared to the XP wifi bridge. Mind you I've tried this using the same RT3070 card.
The weirdest thing, though, is that PfSense shows another SSID that we have in that building which is not secured. However, it says that the AP is locked down with WPA security via the wireless status page. Weird. I'm sure it's not an SSID collision since it's using an odd ball channel that most WIFI AP's don't default to. It is even more weird that I'm able to connect to it without entering the security protocol and passphrase--although, I'm unable to send HTTP traffic even though the interface receives an IP lease. Windows, however, correctly sees that SSID as an open wifi network.
I've posted a similar thread on FreeBSD forums. Someone has also said they get relatively (compared to Linux and openbsd) poor wifi performance on FreeBSD as well. The FreeBSD driver I'm referring to is run. I am doing some preliminary tests with an older driver currently: urtw. This driver supports the Realtek RTL8187L chipset. I'll let you know how that goes.
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Thanks for writing that up. I have a RT3070 based USB WiFi NIC that I use as an access point in pfSense. It provides reasonable coverage around my two floor 300sq mtr home.
I have just down loaded a 25MB file from the Internet over this link and Firefox reported a download speed between 50kBps and 80kBps. Certainly not a speed record but rather faster than molasses I think.
I have a Tenda W311U. What brand and model number device are you using?
Have you checked you have the WiFi device configured correctly? From your account the RT3070 device should be configured in pfSense as Infrastructure mode since its conversing with a WiFi AP.
Have you tried different orientations of the USB stick (or external antenna) to maximise the receive signal strength?
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Just an idea, I'm not very experienced with setting up a solution such as this. But would it be feasible for you to use the XP machine and bridge the wireless to the ethernet adapter? Sort of getting the best of both worlds minus the power draw from the XP machine (Can't be more than 60-90 watts I Imagine).
Also do you live in the US? Did you have to get any sort of permits from the FCC?
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@heavy1metal:
Just an idea, I'm not very experienced with setting up a solution such as this. But would it be feasible for you to use the XP machine and bridge the wireless to the ethernet adapter? Sort of getting the best of both worlds minus the power draw from the XP machine (Can't be more than 60-90 watts I Imagine).
Also do you live in the US? Did you have to get any sort of permits from the FCC?
Hi heavy1metal,
Yes, I reside in the States. I do know that we need to eventually secure a permit with the FCC since these devices are hitting over a watt of transmission power and we're also using hi-gain antennaes. However, this is just a proof of concept. We're just trying to see if this would work first. The place is way out in the middle of nowhere as well. It's an old, decommissioned military base with almost nothing of any value left on the property. Next to the base is a small university. We're doing the bridge from the school to the old base.
There are many people that need Internet services in our workshop. So, the bridge between the WAN interface to ethernet will not work for us. Unless we use another WIFI router to act strictly as an AP gateway to the XP bridge. This…just seems way too patch work for me.
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Thanks for writing that up. I have a RT3070 based USB WiFi NIC that I use as an access point in pfSense. It provides reasonable coverage around my two floor 300sq mtr home.
I have just down loaded a 25MB file from the Internet over this link and Firefox reported a download speed between 50kBps and 80kBps. Certainly not a speed record but rather faster than molasses I think.
I have a Tenda W311U. What brand and model number device are you using?
Have you checked you have the WiFi device configured correctly? From your account the RT3070 device should be configured in pfSense as Infrastructure mode since its conversing with a WiFi AP.
Have you tried different orientations of the USB stick (or external antenna) to maximise the receive signal strength?
Hi Wallabybob,
I'm currently using an Alfa AWUS036NH adapter. It's a high powered adapter that works over 802.11b/g/n. Although, it primarily is an 802.11n card. That might be the problem, so I'm also testing out an Alfa AWUS036H card which is strictly a b/g card with much higher receive sensitivities in those standards.
Yes, the WAN interface is configured correctly. It's definitely not in host_ap mode. It is in infrastructure mode, and I have it configured for 802.11g. Also, the card is connected to the little laptop via a 16 ft USB cable with the yagi antennae connected via RP-SMA. It's line of sight, not omnidirectional. PfSense does do a great job with the internal wifi interface, though. The LAN interface is attached to the onboard wifi adapter, and I put that in host_ap mode. If I bridge that to a WAN interface attached to the onboard ethernet directly connected to the internet, things are fast. So, I'm sure it's not that. I think it's just crappy RT3070 support on FreeBSD.