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    Sysctl commands and backup config file save

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Wireless
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    • P
      prince1234
      last edited by

      Hi
      I am trying to increase the power of the WLN200NX wifi card in pfsense
      It seems by default is pretty low and I have 5dbi atennas
      I was playing around with some sysctl settings but I am not sure if I find some good configuration
      these settings to be saved in the back xml configuration file
      Do I need to execute those settings again in case of reboot or if I re-install a backup file?

      Also I have two installations of pfsense. One is on the SSD where the system is mounted as read/write
      and the second (for failsafe) reasons is on a SD card.
      The pfsense from SD card is mounted as read only. If I make it temporary read/write so the sysctl settings can be saved
      do you thing this statement is true
      thanks

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      • D
        doktornotor Banned
        last edited by

        What are you trying to do exactly? The settings are available in the GUI, and will have no effect if you start setting insane values, due to regulatory domain restrictions.

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        • P
          prince1234
          last edited by

          It seems that pfsense just out of the box configures the atheros wifi with a very low transmit power values
          Also the diversity does not seem to exist
          I would like to have max settings for a home wifi with a strong signal

          I am trying the sysctl settings for the following

          dev.ath.0.txantenna
          dev.ath.0.rxantenna
          dev.ath.0.tpscale
          dev.ath.0.tpc
          dev.ath.0.tpack
          dev.ath.0.tpcs

          It seems the dev.ath.0.diversity does not exist on my pfsense. I do have two antennas connected?
          Also I can not put the txantenna to 2 (2 means to transmit from both antennas). It is always go back to 0
          On the other side the rxantenna is at 2.
          I set the tpc to 1 and I have left the tpack and tpcs to 63 which is the default value

          Does anyone have any idea how to setup those settings for max power and signal on an atheros card AR9280?

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          • D
            doktornotor Banned
            last edited by

            @prince1234:

            It seems that pfsense just out of the box configures the atheros wifi with a very low transmit power values

            No idea what's "very low". Perhaps you could post some information finally? (As said, the regulatory domain restriction will stop you from setting up insane values, no matter what your idea of "very low" is. Usually, the idea of  "very low" seems to be "Oh, the darned neigbour still has his wifi alive.")

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            • P
              prince1234
              last edited by

              I have an Asus router RT-AC68U where I have setup the transmission power to 50%
              I have setup two wifi networks one at 2.4G and one at 5G and I am checking the power using the the wifi analyzer on my android phone

              With the Asus wifi networks I get 32 to 36dbm  (lets dont forget 50% transmission ) and with the pfsense using the compex WLE200NX
              I get 42dbm to 46dbm at around 3 meters away.
              Also checked those dbm using the same channels.

              I do see that pfsense somehow configures the WLE200NX with power throttling
              This is why I am asking how to increase the power levels (but withing the reg domain)

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              • D
                doktornotor Banned
                last edited by

                @prince1234:

                I get 42dbm to 46dbm at around 3 meters away.

                46dBm? Are you still talking about TX power? If so - are you mad, dude? It's almost 40W!!! (Way beyond any regulatory requirements!).

                With 5dBi antenna, the max. legal txpower (as fed into the antenna) in most countries would be 31dBm, to get you 36dBm (4W) EIRP.

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                • P
                  prince1234
                  last edited by

                  46dbm is for the receive path and this is exactly what the wireless analyzer shows me on my android phone.
                  At the same time the wireless analyzer shows me 32dbm for the same signal from my asus router
                  I compare the dbm from my asus and the WLE200NX card
                  The signals on my WLE200NX are significantly weaker

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