From owner-freebsd-current@FreeBSD.ORG Mon May 17 12:27:47 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 91A8E16A4CE; Mon, 17 May 2004 12:27:47 -0700 (PDT) Received: from che.ojctech.com (che.ojctech.com [209.254.133.74]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 688E243D39; Mon, 17 May 2004 12:27:46 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from dyoung@ojctech.com) Received: from che.ojctech.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by che.ojctech.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id i4HJRcRG027424; Mon, 17 May 2004 14:27:38 -0500 Received: (from dyoung@localhost) by che.ojctech.com (8.12.8/8.12.8/Submit) id i4HJRbcr027422; Mon, 17 May 2004 14:27:37 -0500 Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 14:27:37 -0500 From: David Young To: Sam Leffler Message-ID: <20040517192737.GM29323@che.ojctech.com> References: <20040516210816.M45998@acelere.net> <40A85B24.1000300@mikulas.com> <20040517063129.J10292@mail.tznet.com> <200405170842.52770.sam@errno.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <200405170842.52770.sam@errno.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.1i X-Mailman-Approved-At: Tue, 18 May 2004 04:50:44 -0700 cc: Scott Pilz cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org cc: current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: hostap TX fix in 5.x [Fwd: Re: wi hostap speed] X-BeenThere: freebsd-current@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Discussions about the use of FreeBSD-current List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 19:27:47 -0000 On Mon, May 17, 2004 at 08:42:52AM -0700, Sam Leffler wrote: > On Monday 17 May 2004 04:38 am, Scott Pilz wrote: > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > > Hash: SHA1 > > > > > > Who normally works on the wi driver? "frmhdr.wi_tx_rate = 110" > > works great (thanks James) but I am unable to find the syntax/variable > > where the current TX-RATE is stored. A simple if tx-rate=11 { > > frmhdr.wi_tx_rate = 110; } would keep auto-fallback working. Currently the > > system works great (I seen as far as 600KB/sec last night during testing) > > but when the signal drops and the driver tries for 5.5 or 2, packets are > > lost. I recall in earlier releases of 5.x there was a 'DataRate' display > > on 'wicontrol -l', however in CURRENT this seems to be missing. > > In the past Warner and I have worked on the driver but neither has time and > noone else has stepped up. It sounds like you've locked the xmit rate to a > fixed value instead of allowing the firmware to select the "best rate." This > sounds as though something else is set wrong to make the best rate operation > not work right. > > FWIW netbsd uses an adaptive rate control algorithm to select the xmit rate. > Reports are that this algorithm does a better job than the firmware algorithm > for choosing xmit rate when operating in hostap mode. Right. In hostap mode, the Prism firmware does not do rate adaptation; it's left to the driver. By default, the f/w operates in hostap mode at a measly 1-2Mbps. So people see a big difference using the rssadapt(9) adaptation. In the non-hostap modes, the Prism firmware does a pretty naive adaptation. And it is more difficult to do a smart adaptation, because frmhdr.wi_tx_rate is not available. In the NetBSD manual pages on the web, see rssadapt(9) for an overview of NetBSD's adaptation framework. (As an aside, I think that enthusiasm for wi(4) hardware is diminishing fast as the flexibility of the WiFi ASICs grows more visible. There is scarcely any flexibility in Lucent/Prism hardware versus, say, Atheros. However, if Lucent & Intersil would release programming specs for their MAC microcontrollers, their hardware would get really interesting again. A guy can dream....) Dave -- David Young OJC Technologies dyoung@ojctech.com Urbana, IL * (217) 278-3933