2.2BETA: Atheros ar9227 extremely unstable wifi, plus N mode does not work.

Pertan

Experiences of others would be appreciated.

I'm not using AR9227 but a card with AR9380 and I cant get N to work either. Tried to set Regdomain to FCC, USA and indoors but still only 54M.
Currently running the latest snap as well( built on Thu Oct 30 08:02:16 CDT 2014 ).

ifconfig ath0_wlan2


ath0_wlan2: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
        ether e8:de:27:0c:54:96
        inet6 fe80::ecde:27ff:fe0c:5497%ath0_wlan2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x9
        inet 192.168.0.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.0.255
        nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11ng <hostap>status: running
        ssid Gratis_Internet channel 6 (2437 MHz 11g ht/40+) bssid ee:de:27:0c:54:97
        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,simplex,multicast>

dmesg | grep ath

ath0: ath_edma_recv_tasklet: sc_inreset_cnt > 0; skipping
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: 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: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 0)
ath0: <atheros ar938x="">mem 0xfeae0000-0xfeafffff irq 16 at device 0.0 on pci3
ath0: RX status length: 48
ath0: RX buffer size: 4096
ath0: TX descriptor length: 128
ath0: TX status length: 36
ath0: TX buffers per descriptor: 4
ath0: ath_edma_setup_rxfifo: type=0, FIFO depth = 16 entries
ath0: ath_edma_setup_rxfifo: type=1, FIFO depth = 128 entries
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] 3 RX streams; 3 TX streams
ath0: AR9380 mac 448.3 RF5110 phy 0.0
ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x0000</atheros>

rjcrowder

Same here… can't seem to get "N" speed on any settings...

cmb

@Pertan:

I'm not using AR9227 but a card with AR9380 and I cant get N to work either. Tried to set Regdomain to FCC, USA and indoors but still only 54M.

How do you have the channel configured? Seems for at least one person I talked to, it did that until they changed the channel from auto to something specific.

rjcrowder

@cmb:

@Pertan:

I'm not using AR9227 but a card with AR9380 and I cant get N to work either. Tried to set Regdomain to FCC, USA and indoors but still only 54M.

How do you have the channel configured? Seems for at least one person I talked to, it did that until they changed the channel from auto to something specific.

Manually setting the channel gets "G" working… but haven't found anything that solves the problem of getting to "N" speed...

Internal chuckle... reminds me of a quote from spaceballs, surely this must be the issue... "we are approaching ludicrous speed".

Pertan

@cmb:

How do you have the channel configured? Seems for at least one person I talked to, it did that until they changed the channel from auto to something specific.

I have tried both NG and NA with channels 6 and 60. Auto does not work at all, interface is down if I choose auto.

I get the same as "rjcrowder", setting channels manually gets G speeds working, but no N speeds.

On a side note: Spaceballs is awesome!

w0w

Is there any chances to get working Ralink rt3072 on 2.2? I have USB edup ep-ms1532 with this chipset, but I have no luck with pfsense. It's shown and can be configured as interface once untill I apply settings… pfsense beginning to reboot itself with kernel panic.
Other question is... DO you have any plans to get a new interface for wifi settings, where we can see N mode also and other settings related to new wifi standarts? ???

Criggie

@Pertan:

On a side note: Spaceballs is awesome!

Time for a ME TOO post…

I have a AR 9280 mini PCIe card in an APU. Its detected at boot and shows up in the web GUI once I create the interface.

[2.2-BETA][root@pfSense.criggie.org.nz]/root: dmesg | grep -i ath
ath0: <atheros 9280="">at device 0.0 on pci4
[ath] enabling AN_TOP2_FIXUP
ath0: [HT] enabling HT modes
ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC receive enabled
ath0: [HT] 1 stream STBC transmit enabled
ath0: [HT] 2 RX streams; 2 TX streams
ath0: AR9280 mac 128.2 RF5133 phy 13.0
ath0: 2GHz radio: 0x0000; 5GHz radio: 0x00c0
wlan0: changing name to 'ath0_wlan0'
wlan0: changing name to 'ath0_wlan0'
ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled
ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode disabled
ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode enabled
ath0_wlan0: promiscuous mode disabled
ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 4)
ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 4)

I set up an SSID and it doesn't appear visible to any client. Even when I tell the client the name of the SSID, as though it was a hidden broadcast then its still not found.

In GUI -> Interfaces -> "Wireless" -> "Common wireless configuration - Settings apply to all wireless networks on ath0." I set the Standard to 802.11g and it works fine.

I can set the Standard to 802.11a and it also works, but I only have one A mode radio device.

ath0: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 2290
ether 04:f0:21:10:c6:b7
nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11ng <hostap>status: running
…
ath0_wlan0: flags=8843 <up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
ether 04:f0:21:10:c6:b7
inet6 fe80::1:1%ath0_wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xa
inet 10.28.97.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.28.97.255
nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11ng <hostap>status: running
ssid APU channel 6 (2437 MHz 11g ht/40+) bssid 04:f0:21:10:c6:b7
regdomain APAC country NZ ecm authmode WPA1+WPA2/802.11i
privacy MIXED deftxkey 2 TKIP 2:128-bit TKIP 3:128-bit txpower 30
scanvalid 60 protmode OFF ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 shortgi burst
dtimperiod 1 -dfs

Also, I found multiple SSIDs… that's done in the Interfaces --> Assign area, once the wireless card is enabled as an interface.

This is a total test box, running 2.2-BETA (amd64) built on Mon Oct 27 15:31:41 CDT 2014
FreeBSD 10.1-RC3</hostap></performnud,auto_linklocal></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></hostap></performnud,auto_linklocal></up,broadcast,running,simplex,multicast></atheros>

rjcrowder

@Criggie:

I set up an SSID and it doesn't appear visible to any client. Even when I tell the client the name of the SSID, as though it was a hidden broadcast then its still not found.

Can you double check if the interface comes up when you set it to "N" mode (on the interface status page - or just look at interfaces on the dashboard). For both Atheros devices I've tried, the interface will not start if I put it in "N" mode - hence no SSID showing…

gregober

I was testing quite extensively the Atheros 9280 using the same HW as CMB.

Whatever the settings, I have many "ath0: stuck beacon; resetting (bmiss count 8)". I have updated the hw tunable settings with no luck.
It is more stable using G but quality is all in all very bad and unstable.

When you start using bridge mode, It become close from unusable, whatever the settings.

I have ping with time ranging from 10ms up to 1600ms… when It can ping.

–- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
100 packets transmitted, 98 packets received, 2.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 9.051/100.789/411.100/80.820 ms

GruensFroeschli

I have been playing a bit with the beta.
My impression is, that it's a lot less stable than the alpha builds i tested.
However i havent had the time to dig in to debug.
Regarding getting n to work:
What probably most people are missing, is that n requires QoS.
Ticking the WME checkbox will maybe help.

cmb

Nothing's really changed in the wifi-related OS portions in months in 2.2 (maybe through tracking 10-STABLE). Seems there are several combinations of things that can be unstable. Not really a priority for us at the moment, but post-release, it is something we're going to investigate further and report upstream in hopes of getting fixes. If others can gather data on what works and what doesn't, that'd be helpful.

Pertan

Has something changed? Cause I get Associated @ 135M now while using a iPhone 6 (got 25Mb/s download and 94 Mb/s upload).
I am also using latest 2.2 RC with a TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 (AR9380 chip).

ath0_wlan2: flags=8943 <up,broadcast,running,promisc,simplex,multicast>metric 0 mtu 1500
        ether **:de:**:0c:**:97
        inet6 fe80::eade:27ff:fe0c:4797%ath0_wlan2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x8
        nd6 options=21 <performnud,auto_linklocal>media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11na <hostap>
        status: running
        ssid Eriksson5Ghz channel 56 (5280 MHz 11a ht/40-) bssid **:de:**:0c:**:97
        regdomain NONE country BO indoor ecm authmode WPA2/802.11i
        privacy MIXED deftxkey 3 AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM 3:128-bit
        txpower 24 mcastrate 6 mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60 ampdulimit 64k
        ampdudensity 8 shortgi burst -apbridge dtimperiod 1 -dfs</hostap></performnud,auto_linklocal></up,broadcast,running,promisc,simplex,multicast>

[Clickable]

adtheman219

Im having the same issue as yesterdays snapshot. I have an Atheros AR9280, when in N or A mode on the 5GHz side im able to push about 1GB of data through the card…then the connection drops.

adtheman219

I got my WiFi issue fixed. I did some reading about key rotation and several message boards indicate that the key rotation should be set to 0 (which pfSense doesnt support) for straming A/V. When the keys rotate the connection will temporarily drop when in the process of rotating which is unacceptable for streaming A/V. If it is set to something above 0 then it needs to bet set to at interval of at least 5 minutes because when the keys rotate devices are able to negotiate the new keys once per minute up to 4 attempts, which means no less than 5 minutes. Changing the default value of key rotation from 60 to 300 solved the issue. Unless my research is wrong then Id suggest the default value in pfSense be changed from 60 to 300.