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Date:      Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:33:02 -0700
From:      Yuri <yuri@rawbw.com>
Cc:        freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Atheros wireless card keeps losing signal when signal is too weak
Message-ID:  <49CB057E.8080900@rawbw.com>
In-Reply-To: <49CAA27A.6060602@freebsd.org>
References:  <49CA7D47.7070406@rawbw.com>	<3a142e750903251350l66801af4j26722a5b905a9a34@mail.gmail.com> <49CAA27A.6060602@freebsd.org>

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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: <Atheros 5212> 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"?

Yuri





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