From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Thu Mar 26 10:12:42 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C2359106566C for ; Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:12:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from onemda@gmail.com) Received: from mail-ew0-f171.google.com (mail-ew0-f171.google.com [209.85.219.171]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2BD358FC0C for ; Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:12:41 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from onemda@gmail.com) Received: by ewy19 with SMTP id 19so449357ewy.43 for ; Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:12:41 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=OJs2WpcoUznq1yWX9hkxsGpgihV38JWR0EsGDQ3jdTE=; b=et5as0h4Xo86TJSt8m+1CaHL35NwNM9veYr3Nrf5fg/Tple5Nbn0/rZCKbg7ipMti1 tCTetzEVL4K3R0TuTgnjQpy1f7BMYAq241jAWqjiBPqoQx/UQ4NdWZFfvHuN49Nsess6 F+iAQoEPI7AF6uEcXcGZJ5cAQiUJ1JwnWr/b4= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=NtIhN5F2ba19qx5M8BSwkg3NJD0rGeY+0QH5f5MtWCDmMphIN/K9rJ/srRARH9IFhS vT24sTn1dsF6WZvVSF/OAk4cx51gMGuoDMxPjGXq7hRsrNIhttxLJWhSSg5GOSxWihdp EaL1wH/k83j149wG0aqmGet4a96MpE2assT1s= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.210.120.7 with SMTP id s7mr515984ebc.78.1238062361093; Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:12:41 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <49CB057E.8080900@rawbw.com> References: <49CA7D47.7070406@rawbw.com> <3a142e750903251350l66801af4j26722a5b905a9a34@mail.gmail.com> <49CAA27A.6060602@freebsd.org> <49CB057E.8080900@rawbw.com> Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:12:41 +0100 Message-ID: <3a142e750903260312k20e34aafn49b6445c9c955adf@mail.gmail.com> From: "Paul B. Mahol" To: yuri@rawbw.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Atheros wireless card keeps losing signal when signal is too weak X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:12:43 -0000 On 3/26/09, Yuri wrote: > Sam Leffler wrote: >> Those parameters control the roaming algorithm. The OP didn't >> identify their card, freebsd version, or provide any info about their >> setup or why ifconfig reports "no carrier". It just sounds like >> there's a loss in the signal and freebsd gets a beacon miss and tries >> to reconnect while linux does not. Once the rssi drops to "10" >> (presumably 5dBm) minor variations in the environment can become >> significant (e.g. orientation of a laptop, obstructions, antenna >> quality) and it's impossible to comment on what's happening w/o >> detailed information such as provided by athstats. >> >> FWIW cardbus cards that follow the reference design closely typically >> work pretty well and don't benefit from an external antenna. Vendors >> of cheap designs often scrimp when it comes to the antenna. When >> wireless is inside a case (e.g. a PCI card) then it's worth remoting >> the antenna but you need to be careful about routing the pigtail(s) >> and I can't count the number of times I've tracked problems down to >> faulty cables and/or connections. >> > > I did identify my FreeBSD version and card in my original post, but here > they are again: > 7.1-STABLE > ath_hal: 0.9.20.3 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413) > ath0: mem 0xcffe0000-0xcffeffff irq 16 at device 5.0 on pci0 > > One way or another little cheap laptop card with ndis driver delivers > more steady connection then atheros pci card connected to freebsd. > Maybe like you mentioned Linux has higher tolerance to missing beacons. > Does it make sense to have a parameter "lost beakon tolerance"? Perhaps this is what are you looking for: bmissthreshold count Set the number of consecutive missed beacons at which the station will attempt to roam (i.e., search for a new access point). The count parameter must be in the range 1 to 255; though the upper bound may be reduced according to device capabilities. The default threshold is 7 consecutive missed beacons; but this may be overridden by the device driver. Another name for the bmissthreshold parameter is bmiss. -- Paul