Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 02:27:26 -0400 From: Robert Hall <rjhjr0@gmail.com> To: "Paul B. Mahol" <onemda@gmail.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Wireless NICs on 7.2 Message-ID: <3d5d3ca90907022327m1858369fp117d1daf3436c876@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <3a142e750907021314j7dc4dcedv88d8ea83ffd94d5c@mail.gmail.com> References: <3d5d3ca90907011048t1a096865iceaa3b82c1af82f4@mail.gmail.com> <3a142e750907011055r3750fd54rb66612a4b110e090@mail.gmail.com> <3d5d3ca90907011120h35b5e665gee30466ce72097e7@mail.gmail.com> <3a142e750907011526ka68c664s3606fdc9b4ad2889@mail.gmail.com> <3d5d3ca90907011845g26124a59y9643ef4623610f6@mail.gmail.com> <3a142e750907020304tcb3296fy574dfc4b0fd7d875@mail.gmail.com> <3d5d3ca90907021152t65160614ne9d3c6b4ce81f671@mail.gmail.com> <3a142e750907021314j7dc4dcedv88d8ea83ffd94d5c@mail.gmail.com>
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On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 4:14 PM, Paul B. Mahol<onemda@gmail.com> wrote: >> $ ifconfig ral0 list scan >> SSID =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0BSSID =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0CHAN RATE = =A0 S:N =A0 =A0 INT CAPS >> livingroom =A0 =A0 =A000:13:10:b9:e7:d6 =A0 =A06 =A0 54M -93:-95 =A0100 = E > > 93 is too low. Paul, I really appreciate your help. I'm obviously not an expert on either wireless networks or radio communication in general. But I doubt the accuracy of the scan. First of all, there's an XP box less than a foot away getting a "very good" signal (according to both the MS and the Belkin utilities), and successfully communicating with the wireless network. When I move the FBSD box and put the XP box in it's place, the XP box continues to report a good signal and continues to communicate with the network. While the XP box is reporting variations in rate and signal, the FBSD box reports no change. Secondly, when I run "ifconfig ral0 up scan", the scan hangs. It never completes or reports results. According to the man page, it's supposed to complete the scan, report the results, and exit. I have to Ctrl-C and run "ifconfig ral0 list scan" to get the results. So I know that at least part of the scan function doesn't work and I know that it's not detecting changes in rate and signal that are being reported by the XP box. 1) The XP box works fine with the Linksys NIC in it. 2) Both the XP and FBSD boxes are Dell Optiplex GX270, so they have identical hardware aside from the wireless NICs. 3) The md5 checksum for the install CD is correct, so I should have a good installation of 7.2 4) I seem to be getting a good signal, good enough to communicate with the network. 5) Both the Belkin and the Linksys work fine in the XP box. 6) The FBSD box always reports the same data, regardless of changes in conditions. 7) If I move the boxes and test them in the same physical location, oriented in the same direction, the XP box works and the FBSD box doesn't. So my guess is that output from a scan is the result of a problem in the driver, and not the result of actual conditions. If I thought I could solve this with a high gain antenna, I'd buy one in a second. But at the moment I have pretty good reason to believe that the problem isn't signal strength. I'd still like to compile a working ndis driver for either the Belkin F5D7000 v.7032 or the Linksys WMP54G v.4.1, if that is possible, or get the ral driver to work with the Linksys. I'd be willing to move from 7.2 to 6.4 if anyone has had success with that.
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