Sysctl commands and backup config file save

prince1234 · Mar 7, 2015, 5:55 PM

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

doktornotor · Mar 7, 2015, 6:00 PM

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.

prince1234 · Mar 8, 2015, 7:20 PM

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?

doktornotor · Mar 8, 2015, 10:02 PM

@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.")

prince1234 · Mar 10, 2015, 2:48 AM

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)

doktornotor · Mar 10, 2015, 7:59 AM

@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.

prince1234 · Mar 10, 2015, 9:40 PM

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