From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jul 27 16:18:50 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 301D2106566B for ; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:18:50 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from lists@jnielsen.net) Received: from ns1.jnielsen.net (ns1.jnielsen.net [69.55.238.237]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 10DF78FC12 for ; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:18:49 +0000 (UTC) Received: from jnielsen.socialserve.com ([12.53.251.10]) (authenticated bits=0) by ns1.jnielsen.net (8.12.9p2/8.12.9) with ESMTP id o6RG6fcr018828; Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:06:41 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from lists@jnielsen.net) Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1081) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii From: John Nielsen In-Reply-To: Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:06:35 -0400 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: References: To: Beach Geek X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1081) X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV version 0.88.4, clamav-milter version 0.88.4 on ns1.jnielsen.net X-Virus-Status: Clean Cc: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: PCI AP card recommendations X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:18:50 -0000 On Jul 25, 2010, at 5:10 PM, Beach Geek wrote: > Looking for feedback from people using FreeBSD v8.x as access points. > We will be using Pentium 3 boxes with 8-STABLE as APs. > Each box will have a unique SSID and use WPA2-PSK. > Each AP will be linked back to 2 gateways. >=20 > I'm looking for AP card suggestions and any helpful hints as far as = the > APs. Looking for card models, not chipsets. >=20 > Looking forward to hearing your experiences. I've been using a D-Link DWL-G520 PCI card in my FreeBSD access point = since at least 6.x. It sports an Atheros 5212 chip and uses the ath = driver. The card supports 802.11b/g as well as the "Turbo" 108Mbps mode. My current setup is FreeBSD 8.1-PRERELEASE with two vap's. The first is = bridged with my LAN ethernet device and uses WPA-PSK. The second is for = guests and has no security. The latter is firewalled off from the LAN = and everything on the host except DNS. It's also bandwidth-controlled = using dummynet. This is a small network and rarely has more than 8 or so wireless = clients. A couple years ago I added a better external antenna (D-Link ANT24-0700, = still available) and saw a noticeable range increase. I've been wanting to upgrade to 802.11n but to my knowledge there is = still no rate algorithm so even supported cards will only operate at "g" = speeds. Aside from that I've had no complaints whatsoever with my FreeBSD AP. I very much doubt my specific card is still available new. I don't have = any experience with the newer card models but it's not unlikely they = still make a similar card. JN