Subject: Re: ath driver and wep
To: Sam Leffler <sam@errno.com>
From: Steven M. Bellovin <smb@cs.columbia.edu>
List: current-users
Date: 10/01/2005 21:50:43
In message <433F1BBA.402@errno.com>, Sam Leffler writes:
>Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
>> In message <433EF58D.6090609@free.fr>, Vincent writes:
>> =
>>>Greg Troxel a =E9crit :
>>>
>>>
>>>>I made the following change (locally, not committed) yet to
>>>>sys/dev/ic/ath.c to write wep keys to the hardware on power up. This=
>>>>intends to fix the problem of wep keys being set while the power is
>>>>off (ifconfig nwkey before ifconfig up), or lost during ifconfig
>>>>down/up. I tested on one machine and an ifconfig down/up resulted in=
>>>>a working configuration where previously it did not (and I received a=
>>>>report from someone else who had the same problem).
>>>
>>>I tested it, not for long, but I was led to this:
>>>
>>>It is *definitely* better. but I think it does not solve completely th=
e =
>>>problem, as I found my PC disconnected after a while. And it surely do=
es =
>>>not solve the autodeconnection bug (the card drops the link for some =
>>>unknown reason).
>>>
>> =
>> I've frequently had that latter problem, with both a PCMCIA wi0 card =
>> and a built-in ath0, for several years. It seems to be related to =
>> traffic levels, since I have much more trouble in busy wireless =
>> environments. =
>
>I'm coming in late on this but regarding ath, if you're seeing frequent =
>beacon misses then I have a workaround for "phantom bmisses" that may be=
=
>helpful. It's still being tested; I'll try to pass it along when it's =
>in a form suitable for netbsd (it was developed for freebsd).
I'd be delighted to try it. I have a trip coming up in about two weeks =
to a place where I've had trouble getting ath0 to work at all of late
(the Amtrak Club Acela in Washington, DC).
>
>Regarding the wep key and powering the card down; when the interface is =
>marked down the chip should be in full sleep with the radio turned off. =
> In this state it should draw very little power. If folks are really =
>seeing power draw in this state then I need more info; especially the =
>part id(s).
>
That wasn't the issue. Per the first paragraph above, someone had =
trouble with WEP because of powerdown; someone else suggested not =
powering the card down at all. Others think that that's a bad idea.
--Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb