Atheros wireless card - 2 interfaces both only work 802.11g
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I doubt it's a dual radio card. Maybe dual band. I've tried an Atheros dual band miniPCI card under 2.2, and it showed up under assign interfaces as 'ath0'. I expect this is the 'friendly name' because if you create a second vap, it comes up as ath0_wlan1. IIRC, you can't use the raw interface (athx) under FreeBSD versions >8, so to use the interface, you have to create the inital vap (ath0_wlan).
Anyway, In my tests, I just got one interface unless I manually added a second one. The dual band card just allowed me to select 5GHz channels. I've only tried Atheros cards, apart from a run dongle, which I found out still doesn't have an n-capable driver under 10. (Mine was a 2800, errata suggests the 2700 chips work at n speed.) -
Anyone have any ideas why this card (Atheros AR9287/AR5B97) only works in G mode? If not, can anyone tell me cards that is tested to work in 2.2 in N mode?
I would have hoped (probably like many others) that 2.2 Atheros support would look something like this:
https://wiki.freebsd.org/dev/ath_hal(4)/HardwareSupport
In fact, this is one of the biggest drawcards of 2.2 for me. If you're having issues with a specific card, maybe search some FreeBSD forum links and see if its been discussed. I have AR5BXB92, which is just a AR9280, and I was really hoping it would support N speeds.
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As best I can figure it out… here's the deal.
1.) Having two interfaces was my fault. Apparently I had erroneously created a clone on the "wireless" tab. I've now deleted it.
2.) I have ath0 working and I am able to wirelessly connect. However, the interface will NOT come up if I select 802.11ng as the "standard". It will only start if I select 802.11g. -
Any errors in the system log? Or other evidence?
Steve
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Nothing under "wireless"… grepping dmesg for "ath" gives...
[2.2-BETA][root@pfSense.localdomain]/var/log: dmesg | grep ath ath0: <atheros 9287="">mem 0xf7d00000-0xf7d0ffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3 ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes ath0: [HT] enabling short-GI in 20MHz mode ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15 ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0 ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode disabled ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled ath0: <atheros 9287="">mem 0xf7d00000-0xf7d0ffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3 ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes ath0: [HT] enabling short-GI in 20MHz mode ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15 ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0 ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled ath0: <atheros 9287="">mem 0xf7d00000-0xf7d0ffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3 ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes ath0: [HT] enabling short-GI in 20MHz mode ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15 ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0 ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled ath0: <atheros 9287="">mem 0xf7d00000-0xf7d0ffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3 ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes ath0: [HT] enabling short-GI in 20MHz mode ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15 ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0 wlan0: changing name to 'ath0_wlan0' ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled ath0: <atheros 9287="">mem 0xf7d00000-0xf7d0ffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3 ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes ath0: [HT] enabling short-GI in 20MHz mode ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15 ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0 wlan0: changing name to 'ath0_wlan0' ath0: ath_reset_grablock: didn't finish after 10 iterations ath0: ath_reset_grablock: warning, recursive reset path! ath0: ath_reset: concurrent reset! Danger! ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled ath0: ath_reset_grablock: didn't finish after 10 iterations ath0: ath_reset_grablock: warning, recursive reset path! ath0: ath_chan_set: concurrent reset! Danger! ath0: <atheros 9287="">mem 0xf7d00000-0xf7d0ffff irq 18 at device 0.0 on pci3 ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes ath0: [HT] enabling short-GI in 20MHz mode ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams ath0: AR9287 mac 384.2 RF5133 phy 15.15 ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0 wlan0: changing name to 'ath0_wlan0' ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled</atheros></atheros></atheros></atheros></atheros></atheros>Don't see anything anywhere else…
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It's a dual band card. Did you try setting it for na instead of ng?
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That's not an option… I've attached a screen shot.
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UPDATE…. if I select a channel (don't use the "Auto" channel select) the interface will start with 802.11ng selected.
I'm still not sure it is actually getting N speed - but I'm going to work on confirming.
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OK More info… Per previous, the card comes up with 802.11ng as the "standard" as long as I manually select a channel.
However, I've tried changing about every setting I can think of (including disabling security), but the card refuses to accept Wireless N connections. When I get connected, the link speed is always 54mbps and the actual throughput is always something lower. In addition, if I set the "minimum wireless standard" (setting a little further down the screen) to 802.11n, then the card refuses all connections. Seems that the card is only setup to accept a "G" connection! Driver issue?
BTW... this is what ifconfig shows...
ath0_wlan0: flags=8943 <up,broadcast,running,promisc,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
ether 18:f4:6a:32:be:c7
inet6 fe80::1af4:6aff:fe32:bec7%ath0_wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x8
nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11ng <hostap>status: running
ssid pfsense channel 11 (2462 MHz 11g ht/40-) bssid 18:f4:6a:32:be:c7
regdomain FCC country US indoor ecm authmode WPA2/802.11i
privacy MIXED deftxkey 2 AES-CCM 2:128-bit txpower 30 scanvalid 60
protmode OFF ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 shortgi burst -apbridge
dtimperiod 1 -dfs</hostap></performnud,auto_linklocal></up,broadcast,running,promisc,simplex,multicast> -
My 9285 also fails when channel is set to auto.
If I set mine to minimum standard n, I can still connect from a Windows laptop. The laptop shows an n connection.
I'm getting some errors in the logs- perhaps only when I change a setting and it reloads the interface…
kernel: ath0: ath_reset_grablock: didn't finish after 10 iterations
kernel: ath0: ath_reset_grablock: warning, recursive reset path!
kernel: ath0: ath_chan_set: concurrent reset! Danger!
But it seems to be working… -
If you set the "minimum wireless standard" to 'N' - can you still connect?
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Yes.
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Hello,
I am a SE for a wireless company and the 802.11n spec states that if using any authentication method other than WPA2 will result in a max connection speed of 54M. A few responses ago someone asked if you are using WPA2? Has this been checked? Just a thought.
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Are you seeing this?
@https://wiki.freebsd.org/dev/ath(4)/80211n:
"ifconfig -v wlan0 list channel" should show 802.11n channels "ht"
Steve
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Apparently not… this is the output...
[2.2-BETA][root@pfSense.localdomain]/root: ifconfig -v ath0_wlan0 list channel Channel 1 : 2412 MHz 11b Channel 6 : 2437 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 1 : 2412 MHz 11g Channel 6 : 2437 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 1 : 2412 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 7 : 2442 MHz 11b Channel 1 : 2412 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 7 : 2442 MHz 11g Channel 2 : 2417 MHz 11b Channel 7 : 2442 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 2 : 2417 MHz 11g Channel 7 : 2442 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 2 : 2417 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 7 : 2442 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 2 : 2417 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 8 : 2447 MHz 11b Channel 3 : 2422 MHz 11b Channel 8 : 2447 MHz 11g Channel 3 : 2422 MHz 11g Channel 8 : 2447 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 3 : 2422 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 8 : 2447 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 3 : 2422 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 9 : 2452 MHz 11b Channel 4 : 2427 MHz 11b Channel 9 : 2452 MHz 11g Channel 4 : 2427 MHz 11g Channel 9 : 2452 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 4 : 2427 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 9 : 2452 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 4 : 2427 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 10 : 2457 MHz 11b Channel 5 : 2432 MHz 11b Channel 10 : 2457 MHz 11g Channel 5 : 2432 MHz 11g Channel 10 : 2457 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 5 : 2432 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 10 : 2457 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 5 : 2432 MHz 11g ht/40+ Channel 11 : 2462 MHz 11b Channel 5 : 2432 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 11 : 2462 MHz 11g Channel 6 : 2437 MHz 11b Channel 11 : 2462 MHz 11g ht/20 Channel 6 : 2437 MHz 11g Channel 11 : 2462 MHz 11g ht/40- Channel 6 : 2437 MHz 11g ht/20and per the other post… yes I have everything setup for WPA2.
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Looks like you are seeing 'ht' channels. No 5GHz channels though. Not really sure what you should be seeing though, I don't have a card to test.
Steve
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OK… since I can get a new card for $5-$6 on eBay, it's about time to give up...
From what I've been able to google, it appears that both the Intel 5100 or Intel Centrino 6230 should work. Can anyone confirm one of them working at 802.11n speed under 2.2?
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Unless something has changed, you can't run Intel cards in AP mode…
Edit- Here is the list from 2.1
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AojFUXcbH0ROdHgwYkFHbkRUdV9hVWljVWl5SXkxbFE&hl=en#gid=1Basically, Atheros, RaLink, or Marvell.
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Yep. Looks like it's the same in 2.2.
@https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=iwn&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+10.1-RELEASE&arch=default&format=html:iwn supports station and monitor mode operation.
Stick with Atheros. At this point it seems by far the best supported wifi hardware in FreeBSD.
Steve
