Wifi nightmare with Atheros.. not working
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I cant get the AP setup properly on my pfSense box.. I’ve tried many guides with various configurations.
Setup:
• AP - http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-WN881ND-Wireless-Express-Low-profile/dp/B0079XWMEI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396373119&sr=8-1&keywords=tl-wn881nd
• NIC – Dual Port. Eth0 – WAN Eth1 LAN
• WAN handles DHCP handed out from the Modem (residential)
• Modem > Firewall > Client Machines
ISO Image used: pfSense-memstick-2.1-RELEASE-amd64-20130911-1816
All I’m wanting to do is to have LAN go to a small switch for 2 computers and the WLAN act as an Access Point for 7 various devices.
PFsense settings are all completely on default except for the LAN / WAN / WLAN settings.Issues:
Atheros AR9280 "ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 4) - This loop comes and goes
After magically stopping the stuck beacon loop, I had the AP show up on my laptop but when I connected it said there was an error. Windows said it was DNS.. but according to the guides – I should let the General settings DNS take care of that which is set to pull DNS from the modem. I also tried Google 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4
I’ve tried different subnets entirely for the LAN and WLAN – no luck.Some of the many guides I’ve tried so far with no luck:
https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Access_Point2
http://pfsensesetup.com/wireless-access-point-configuration-in-pfsense/
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=59465.msg319654#msg319654 -
I'm also using an AR9280. Mine is set up standalone, like this:
http://www.interspective.net/2012/07/one-pfsense-wireless-config-to-rule.html
I'm not going to be much use helping you from memory, but if I remember I can check my settings when I get home later. They're pretty similar to the link I just gave (from one of your links).
- standalone wifi interface with static ip
- firewall rules for that interface
- dhcp for that interface
- dns set to the pfsense ip (which uses my ISP's dns server and then the two google servers)
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OK, here's my output from ifconfig name_of_wifi_interface, with some stuff blanked out:
Here are some of my corresponding wifi interface settings, with some blanked out:
I have DNS forwarder enabled.
I don't really have anything special on the DHCP server page.
I have rules allowing a whole bunch of stuff from wifi, including this one:
If you read your system firewall logs, maybe you can tell if traffic is being blocked by default rules?
Hopefully that gives you some stuff to think about …
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"ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 4)has been caused by severe interference 100% of cases here… Other than that, no real info here, post some settings.
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Thanks a lot for putting the time in to screen shot all of that! I'll certainly try that out when I get home today. Also, the rules are allow all for the firewall currently being that I'm having trouble just getting the Wifi to work.. I didn't want to add any complexity to the situation.
Update: I tried your settings exactly which caused the ath0: stuck beacon loop to start. :(
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"ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 4)has been caused by severe interference 100% of cases here… Other than that, no real info here, post some settings.
The reason why I linked to the How-To's is to show what settings I've used. If there's a particular page you want a screenshot of - let me know.
And there is no RFI… it's not anywhere close to another WiFi device, Microwave, large electronic, metals, etc.
If you do some research on it - the vast majority of people that have been able to fix the issue has done so with tweaking settings and files.
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I had the stuck beacon thing, still have it in fact, but only occasionally. Like turning on my monitor now I had an instance of it two days ago. I don't remember how I resolved it. If it's due to interference are there other wifi networks nearby? I am on channel 9 currently and there is nothing else close but I am surrounded by networks on other channels.
If you can get things set up like in your original post, do you have DNS forwarder enabled? Read the notes on that page, I think it should probably be set?
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I am on channel 9 currently and there is nothing else close but I am surrounded by networks on other channels.
The only non-overlapping channels on G are 1/6/11.
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In my case I am on 9 and I think the closest are 6 and 11. Anyway, the stuck beacon thing doesn't affect me like it does the OP. From reading a few threads I think I probably initially had my channel set to auto, when I first started with pfSense, and probably set it to a specific channel to get rid of the problem. But I never had it looping as badly as OP implies. The interface was still usable to a degree.
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If it helps I resolved the beacon stuck issue by selecting the regularity domain and country to what mine is (ETSI and UK)