Most open wireless hardware for pfSense?
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Hi everyone,
I am looking to analyse send and receive of signals on a pfSense router on a wireless device. I want to know what hardware options are available to me. Maybe use USB wireless? or a separate AP? What I need to observe is to see how the signal graph is as it reaches an endpoint or how it looks at source when there is signal received on router.
I am also looking for open-source software tools that do this sort of analysing or that allow me focus on a specific area of a wireless signal graph or to zoom in and out on it.
Any feedback is appreciated!
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I have found WiFi Analyzer, a free app for Android, a useful tool for seeing WiFi channel use, networks etc.
WiFi support in pfSense/FreeBSD is patchy: apparently a number of newer devices are not recognised, client mode on some supported devices seems to be broken, suppliers change chipsets without changing model numbers, 802.11n features are not supported etc etc.
If you are after a USB device capable of acting as an AP then something with RT3070 chipset should work fine but, if I recall correctly, client mode on that chipset is broken.
If you are after a PCI or PCI-E device then a card based on "older" Atheros chipset should give good service. I have had good results from a TP-Link TL-WN650ND (seeming no longer available retail) and TP-Link TL-WN350GD. I hope to be able to report on a TP-Link TL-WN851ND by the end of the week.
eBay can be a good source if you are looking for devices with specific chipsets.
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I have found WiFi Analyzer, a free app for Android, a useful tool for seeing WiFi channel use, networks etc.
Thanks for the input. I am mostly looking for open-source software packages that allow me to analyse, manipulate the signal, and read fluctuations in it. So, my use is not to get better signal or find out what channel neighbore is using but to get much deeper down. I am looking for the same in hardware as well. I guess I should be looking for a USB or PCI(x) hardware device that is open-source (if such thing exists) and same for the software.
Thanks,
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What's the purpose of the analysis you plan to do? Will it be occurring in Starbucks?
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What's the purpose of the analysis you plan to do? Will it be occurring in Starbucks?
LOL No! I want to analyse and learn more about the wireless waves in general. It will have an application on my own router for myself. Not interested in analysing third party signals. I want to see how surrounding object movements affects signal reception at source and at destination.
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Sounds like you are going to need one of thesethese http://www.programmableplanet.com/author.asp?section_id=2042&doc_id=262366 I heard them talking about it on http://www.twit.tv/sn415 not sure if anyone has made software for it, you might have to do it on your own.
Please report back with your results sounds cool I'd like to take a look at that too.
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Looks nice but perhaps a little advanced for this. ;)
Maybe something like the Wi-Spy mini would be more suitable. Maybe Windows only though.Steve
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Thanks for the feedback. I think Stephen is closer to what I am looking for.
I would like to play with opensource apps and drivers to analyse the intensity of waves at source and destination and see how they are effected by object around them meaning how the wave graph changes in presence or absence of some object. I am not seeing much on Google. I wonder if it's a limitation of hardware drivers or that no one cares about the wireless signals in opensource world? -
The ability to look at raw radio signal data is not required by the vast majority of users. Normally it is handled by the wifi hardware such that only relevant data is exposed to the OS/driver. To get raw data requires some new mode for the wifi hardware and that requires new firmware and that introduces more cost which either reduces profit or product affordability. Hence most do not.
Some however do especially older models where hardware was less integrated. There are plenty of opensource wifi software projects that have a lot of this stuff detailed. A lot of it focuses on various security stuff such as encryption and breaking it though! ;) The ability to make a wifi card do things it's not supposed to requires low level access to the radio hardware.Steve