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Date:      Wed, 24 Jul 2013 19:45:46 -0300
From:      Pedro Flynn <pedro.flynn@gmail.com>
To:        freebsd-wireless@freebsd.org
Subject:   hostapd awkward problem: WiFi network "vanishes".
Message-ID:  <CAN48zxnDybPg5-EcU6XQidGw06%2BH4Y-MKd6kRj01-FP%2BY63ZQQ@mail.gmail.com>

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Hi,

I originally posted this at the forums.freebsd.org network forum, but I had
no luck until now finding an answer to this problem that is annoying me. I
hope someone could give me some light:

(original post: http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=38370)

***

I have a simple WiFi access point running 9.1-RELEASE (amd64). The WiFi
interface is an USB dongle based on the RT3070 chipset. Everything works
fine, except for one detail: the WiFi network seems to "vanish" when I boot
the access point. But this only happens on the first boot (after I turn on
the machine). I posted a video on youtube showing what I can see:

*FreeBSD hostapd awkward problem: WiFi network "vanishes".*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FezGL-M7AUM&feature=youtu.be

The video shows my Android mobile running the WiFi Analizer app while I'm
turning on my access point. First, there are only some networks from the
neighborhood that are not important but are shown by the app. At 00:25, we
can see my network showing up (pink curve), named "wormhole". There is an
asterisk to the right of the network name meaning that it is an open (not
encrypted) network. This is, I think, just after the rc system scripts
finish running the basic setup for my wifi interface:

/etc/rc.conf
Code:

wlans_run0="wlan0"
create_args_wlan0="wlanmode hostap"
ifconfig_wlan0="inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 ssid wormhole"

Until now, I think that everything is OK. But at 00:45, the problem shows
up: the network simply "vanishes". We can see that the signal curve shrinks
until it completely vanishes. I think that it happens exactly when
hostapd(8) <http://man.freebsd.org/hostapd/8>; starts:

/etc/rc.conf
Code:

hostapd_enable="YES"

/etc/hostapd.conf
Code:

interface=wlan0
ctrl_interface=/var/run/hostapd
ctrl_interface_group=wheel
logger_syslog=-1
logger_syslog_level=4
debug=4
ssid=wormhole
wpa=2
wpa_passphrase=test
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=CCMP TKIP

Awkward is that, after boot, I can bring the wifi network up just stopping
and restarting hostapd(8) <http://man.freebsd.org/hostapd/8>:

Code:

# /etc/rc.d/hostapd stop
# /etc/rc.d/hostapd start

Sometimes I need to stop/start hostapd(8)
<http://man.freebsd.org/hostapd/8>; just
one time, sometimes twice. It is also awkward that after the first boot
(when I can't see my network),
ifconfig(8)<http://man.freebsd.org/ifconfig/8>; output
for wlan0 and run0 are exactly the same as the output when everything is
working fine (when I can see the network). Same for
hostapd(8)<http://man.freebsd.org/hostapd/8>; logs.
I don't think it is a firmware loading problem, because the system can
configure the wifi network, the problem starts only after
hostapd(8)<http://man.freebsd.org/hostapd/8>; starts.
Would like to know if anyone has seem something like this.

*** End of the original post

In the same post, another user reported he was observing a similar behavior
in his Debian GNU/Linux box, but it's not clear if the problem has to do
with hostapd itself, with the Ralink chipset or both.

Thanks in advance.

Pedro



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