Re: iwlwifi/LinuxKPI 802.11 update

Hi Bjoern,

I posted my previous experience on this group some time ago. This time
it looks much better.

For the reference, I tested this commit:

commit 9d9ba2b79b3196935431879efd9094eb9bfedd95 (HEAD)
Author: Bjoern A. Zeeb <bz@FreeBSD.org>
Date:   Thu Mar 24 19:09:04 2022 +0000

with my Network controller: Intel Corporation Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (rev 20)

For now I tested it only once, for about 10  minutes. I'll update you
when longer testing reveals any issues with current version.

good things:
- no errors when powering off the machine

- no errors when loading the module on boot through /etc/rc.conf

- no errors when leaving the machine idle with no connections

- overall, looks much more stable than previous releases. Worth the wait!

bad things:
- the wifi interface would go up -> down -> up on boot? Not sure if I'm
  reading dmesg correctly, please double-check it.

- there are dips in wifi speed. I downloaded over 100MB data though pkg
  update (see attachment logs). My download speed would go to 2MBps,
  2.1MBps, 2.2MBps, hit 2.4MBps, stay there for a while and then dip to
  <1MBps only to jump back to 1.8MBps or higher. 2.4MBps is the expected
  upper limit as my ISP can't go any faster.

  I'm sorry I don't have any better metrics on that, I just reported
  what I saw printed by `pkg`. I am reporting in MBps because that's
  what pkg reported. The signal strength was good, there's only 1 thin
  wall between my laptop and wifi hotspot.

  post-factum `netstat -i` doesn't look horrible IMO:

--------8<-------------------------->8-----------------------------------------------
Name    Mtu Network       Address              Ipkts Ierrs Idrop    Opkts Oerrs  Coll
lo0   16384 <Link#1>      lo0                    148     0     0      148     0     0
lo0       - localhost     localhost                0     -     -        0     -     -
lo0       - fe80::%lo0/64 fe80::1%lo0              0     -     -        0     -     -
lo0       - your-net      localhost              148     -     -      148     -     -
wifi   1500 <Link#2>      dc:21:48:5d:d7:11   184805     0     0    94540    23     0
wifi      - 192.168.0.0/2 192.168.0.8         184728     -     -    94537     -     -
--------8<-------------------------->8-----------------------------------------------

Please see the attached /var/log/messages.

relevant lines in /etc/rc.conf - I have not configured anything manually
during machine's run.


-----8<-------------8<-------------------
kld_list="${kld_list} if_iwlwifi i915kms"
if_iwlwifi_load="YES"
wlans_iwlwifi0="wifi"
create_args_wifi="wlandev iwlwifi0"
ifconfig_wifi="WPA SYNCDHCP"
-----8<-------------8<-------------------

Best,
Kris