From owner-freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jan 18 18:28:16 2005 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D8DB416A4CE for ; Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:28:16 +0000 (GMT) Received: from rwcrmhc13.comcast.net (rwcrmhc13.comcast.net [204.127.198.39]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 306F043D2F for ; Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:28:16 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from bsdaemon@comcast.net) Received: from fw.home (pcp05404374pcs.norstn01.pa.comcast.net[68.80.144.252]) by comcast.net (rwcrmhc13) with SMTP id <2005011818281501500cotmee>; Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:28:15 +0000 Received: (qmail 28396 invoked from network); 18 Jan 2005 18:28:29 -0000 Received: from kris.home (HELO ?192.168.0.251?) (192.168.0.251) by fw.home with SMTP; 18 Jan 2005 18:28:29 -0000 Message-ID: <41ED568D.8000405@comcast.net> Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 13:33:49 -0500 From: Kris Maglione User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird 1.0 (X11/20041212) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org References: <41ED1FD5.8090401@comcast.net> <20050118144209.GF3054@empiric.icir.org> <41ED3019.9020600@comcast.net> <41ED4652.8040902@errno.com> In-Reply-To: <41ED4652.8040902@errno.com> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.89.5.0 X-Enigmail-Supports: pgp-inline, pgp-mime Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="------------enigB4A78AEBD0DF21A284909D43" Subject: Re: ath: a few questions X-BeenThere: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Mobile computing with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 18:28:17 -0000 This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156) --------------enigB4A78AEBD0DF21A284909D43 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sam Leffler wrote: > Kris Maglione wrote: > >> Bruce M Simpson wrote: >> >>> On Tue, Jan 18, 2005 at 09:40:21AM -0500, Kris Maglione wrote: >>> >>> >>>> Second, according to CVS, hw.ath.outdoors was made tunable a year >>>> ago, but sysctl says it's readonly when I try to change it. It's >>>> stuck at 1, which seems to be a possible explanation for why it's >>>> indoor use sucks so badly compared to the windows driver, >>>> especially through walls. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> I'm running 5.3-STABLE as of last Wednesday and do not see this sysctl. >>> >>> Please give version information (uname -a) when posting this kind of >>> query, >>> as it's next to impossible to give useful advice otherwise. >>> >>> >> Sorry about that. No uname -a, but it's the 5-STABLE from about a few >> days ago. The kernel config file is actually the (minimally modified) >> FreesBIE config file from a few months ago, but why is a long story. > > > The setting is a read-only sysctl because once the module is loaded > changing it has no effect. Set it before you kldload the module or in > your hints file if you want it different than the default. > >> >>> You should be able to 'tcpdump -i ath0 -y ieee802_11' to verify that >>> you >>> can capture 802.11 packets straight off the card. >>> >>> >> I have done that, and I have used kismet. My problem with kismet >> turned out to just be a wierd way that kismet reports things. > > > kismet has been broken for a while. It used to work but something > broke it and I've had no time to dig (it's painful to debug as it's a > multi-process app written in C++ and makes heavy use of STL so > inspecting data structures is a pain). > >> >>> I haven't experienced the problems with walls you mention. >>> >>> >> I use 11a. Like I said, there is no problem with windows. I forgot to >> mention that windows also reports higher data rates (54Mbps when >> FreeBSD reports 18Mbps, but I don't trust that, really. It reports up >> to 108Mbps in turbo, but the AP only supports 76). Also, through a >> wall or two, windows reports high signal, but I can't test that in >> freebsd, since the driver doesn't seem to support it. > > > You've provided zero useful information so I've been ignoring your > winging. Regardless you are comparing apples and oranges. The NDIS > driver supports several hardware features that the open source driver > does not. At least one of those, XR mode, can be a significant factor > in the extended range performance you see. The other critical factor > is that the NDIS driver has an excellent transmit rate control > algorithm while the onoe rate control code is little more than a > noop. I've solicited better algorithms for almost 3 years but noone's > stepped up. I cannot do one because I am familiar with several > proprietary algorithms and so "tainted". Sorry, I haven't provided any useful information, because I don't know what information to provide. transmit rate is not the only issue. NetStumbler finds 4 (2 entirely unprotected) APs in my neighborhood, while kismet only finds 2 (one of which NetStumbler doesn't). Since kismet doesn't transmit, there must be some other issue at play, I just don't know how to find it. > >> >>> >>> >>>> Last, dstumbler doesn't work. It complains, something about ioctl. >>>> I don't feel like booting the laptop to get the exact messate at >>>> the moment, but I will later. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> dstumbler is for PRISM2 cards only. >>> >>> >> thanks, I had a feeling that it was, but I had to ask. > > > dstumbler should work with ath however I don't find it (or kismet) > especially useful. > > Sam > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-mobile > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-mobile-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" --------------enigB4A78AEBD0DF21A284909D43 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.6 (FreeBSD) Comment: Using GnuPG with Thunderbird - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFB7VaTmcXjc1XBrAQRAt/nAJ43EOrZsRaokdUSDzyPj3mnuEcEJACfak24 vQ8B0BmMW6GqijZohr1/K44= =/qqO -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --------------enigB4A78AEBD0DF21A284909D43--