FreeBSD-8.0 802.11n support with ath/mwl

[Rui Paulo]

On 28 Feb 2010, at 17:38, Jim Pingle wrote:

> 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.

Having only 1 antenna connected will likely impact your connection.

> 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.

I don't know what's happening, but I guess your Windows 7 laptop isn't sending the necessary HT rates in the association. Try using wlandebug to see what's happening.

--
Rui Paulo