Known working Wireless cards
-
Looking through the forum this seems to be the best place to ask this for I haven't seen it discussed elsewhere.
Can someone recommend an 802.11AC MiniPCIE card for use with pfSense? I had already bought one using the FreeBSD hardware list as a guide on what is compatible. However, I was told here:
https://forum.pfsense.org/index.php?topic=141663.0
that, not all FreeBSD drivers are included in the pfSense kernel, even though we are told this on the main pfSense main page.
Thanks!
-
I've used the TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 for a few years. It works very well because it uses the ath9k driver, but unfortunately I haven't gotten good reliability from them. Both of mine died after about two years. Sorry I don't have pciconf for it, but I'm using an old dual radio router as an AP while I decide if I want to replace the WDN4800 or find something else.
-
none2@pci0:0:20:3: class=0x028000 card=0x00348086 chip=0xa3708086 rev=0x10 hdr=0x00
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'Wireless-AC 9560 [Jefferson Peak]'
class = network
cap 01[c8] = powerspec 3 supports D0 D3 current D0
cap 05[d0] = MSI supports 1 message, 64 bit
cap 10[40] = PCI-Express 2 root endpoint max data 128(128) FLR RO NS
cap 11[80] = MSI-X supports 16 messages
Table in map 0x10[0x2000], PBA in map 0x10[0x3000]
ecap 0000[100] = unknown 0
ecap 0018[14c] = LTR 1
ecap 000b[164] = Vendor 1 ID 16Not sure why it lists it as none, but it is the built in wifi card with the mobo and PFSense can not see it. Kinda sucks cause it was the only reason I bought this mobo, I could have gone much cheaper but I wanted one with built in wifi
-
It's listed as none because there are no drivers for that particular 802.11ac card for FreeBSD (yet, see below). Do yourself a big favour and stop trying to get internal Wifi NICs working on pfSense/FreeBSD, get an external AP like one of the Ubiquiti entry level models.
https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=iwm&sektion=4&manpath=freebsd-release-ports
-
Interesting this thread is so old, but still new posts. Are there any updates to this for latest PFSense using FreeBSD 11? I just wasted a few dollars on an wifi usb/AC adapter that I could have sworn was in 11's compatibility list. @kpa The problem is, we need captive portal for a guest wifi. We don't care if it's an older/slower model. The wifi has to be a USB adapter as well (Netgate SG-1000) as usb is the only option. There are lots of inexpensive usb wifi adapters that should work according to compatibility list, but If someone has a known working one, please post. Thank you!
-
@sbrock99 .. i have just bought a mb with this same wifi as you (AC 9560), did you find a way to get it to work?
I am trying to find a way but having no luck. -
@no_one I gave up, the ones people say work, don't. Probably because the SG-1000 is different CPU then your normal freebsd box. What I did instead is get a USB to Ethernet plug and an external router. Not optimal and I can't do this at 10 locations, so we're looking at other routers... The USB to Ethernet plug seems more supported and worked straight away.
-
I have this WiFi card, could be supported on pfsense?
07:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection (rev 02)
I forgot to mention that it's from lspci command in centOS 8.
-
It should be supported by the wpi driver.
Note the hostap mode is a bit odd on that card/driver if you wanted to use it as an access point.
Steve
-
@stephenw10 So we can't reverse it. And i still have to use kvm or proxmox.
-
Reverse it? Not sure what you mean. You should start a new thread and detail what it is you're trying to do.
-
@stephenw10 I mean put my lan as wan and wifi as AP. I already test it that way, this WiFi can not work in AP mode.
-
It doesn't surprise me that cannot work as an AP given it only support some quasi hostap mode. Nothing we can do about that.
-
@stephenw10 It looks like i have to buy a new WiFi card. Do you have recommendations what chipset can work along with pfsense on kvm.
Last night i retested my WiFi card using various mode on kvm networking, nothing works. While my pfsense on virtualbox works like a charms.
-
Why not just buy a proper access point? That way you won't have to worry about finding a card that works with pfSense and you can put it in the best location. Also, many support PoE, so you don't have to worry about having AC handy,
-
Older Atheros cards work best in pfSense. I've never tried, or even considered, using one passed through to a VM though.
A real access point will work much better, yeah.
-
Anyone trying to get a stable wifi with from a internal card, do yourself a favor, like others have said, don't bother. It's a total waste of time and frustration. We went with external APs and all our stability issues and complaints have completely gone away. We ended up going with the Ubiquiti UniFi AC LR APs. It requires another VM/controller (For Captive Portal to work), but with that you can centrally manage all the APs and roaming with multiple APs works great. If it's only a single location that can be covered by one AP get a 2nd router with wifi capabilities (ASUS works well), disable dhcp and lan-to-lan it to the pfSense router.
-
List of tested wireless cards in the BSD hardware database. The list includes both working and non-working cards, see particular probes and support statuses.
-
This post is deleted! -
This post is deleted!
