FreeBSD-8.0 802.11n support with ath/mwl

[Jim Pingle]

On 2/28/2010 7:54 AM, Rui Paulo wrote:
> On 28 Feb 2010, at 03:22, Jim Pingle wrote:
>>
>> Are you aware if similar work ongoing for the mwl(4) based 802.11n
>> cards? I picked up a couple cheap this past week and have them working
>> with hostapd but, as with the OP in the thread, only with G rates.
>>
>> The ifconfig[1] output suggests that it is using 40MHz wide ht channels
>> but devices only associate at 54Mbps[2].
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> [1] ifconfig mwl0_wlan1
>> mwl0_wlan1: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0
>> mtu 1500
>> ether 00:01:36:17:96:0e
>> inet6 fe80::201:36ff:fe17:960e%mwl0_wlan1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x9
>> inet 192.168.15.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.15.255
>> nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>
>> media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11na <hostap>
>> status: running
>> ssid WatchTower channel 100 (5500 MHz 11a ht/40+) bssid 00:01:36:17:96:0e
>> regdomain DEBUG indoor authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy MIXED deftxkey 3
>> AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM 3:128-bit txpower 14 scanvalid 60
>> ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 4 shortgi smps burst dtimperiod 1
>>
>>
>> [2] ifconfig mwl0_wlan1 list sta (w/addr removed)
>> AID CHAN RATE RSSI IDLE  TXSEQ  RXSEQ CAPS FLAG
>> 1  120  54M 33.0    0   1537  25952 EP   A       RSN (rssi 68:20:20 nf
>> 0:0:0)
> 
> mwl supports HT rates, but it looks like your AP is not sending HT rates to you.

Thanks for the quick clarification, that's very encouraging to find out!

In this case, the mwl card is the AP. The client line is from an
associated Windows 7 laptop with an Intel 5100abgn card which does show
the AP as 802.11n in the AP list. I'm connected and sending this message
through it right now, actually.

Are there some other bits that need set in order to have clients
associate with HT rates? Or some other prerequisite conditions such as
number of attached antennae? I do only have one antenna attached as I
didn't have a second pigtail for this test unit's case. The card
actually has three connectors.

I didn't see hints in the mwl(4), wlan(4), hostapd(8), hostapd.conf(5),
or ifconfig(8) man pages about troubleshooting rates. I see plenty of
talk in ifconfig(8) about use and control of HT rates, but given what
I'm seeing in ifconfig, it should be set to use them. I've tried several
combinations of channels and standards (e.g. 11ng, 11na) but always end
up with a 54Mbps link.

I'd appreciate any more pointers that you (or anyone else reading) may
have. I'd like to write up something on the topic once I get it fully
operational.

Thanks,
Jim