Zcomax 200mw Card And Tx-Power

[Christian Zoffoli]

Michael Shuler wrote:
> Earlier in the mailing list I noticed an email about Tx-Power capping.
> Essentially it said (if I understood it correctly) that the power will
> always be capped at 20db.  However Zcomax now makes a 200mw (23db) card.
> I'm using 'iwconfig wlan0 tx-power 23' and it seems to work, i.e. I type
> 'iwconfig' and it shows 23db power...but I guess based off the previous
> email in the mailing list, is it actually setting it to 23db or is it
> capping it at 20db?
> 
> Also I have noticed when inserting a card and putting it into 'Master'
> mode the tx-power seems to take on a random power level...is this a bug
> in hostap/wireless tools or something wrong with the Zcomax?
> 

with my senao cards (NL-2511CD Plus ext 2) i have found these values 
(seeing the output with a spectrum analizer HP 8592A)

value  dbm
128 -- 26
120 -- 12
110 -- 14.5
107 -- 14
100 -- 16
90  -- 16.5
80  -- 18
70  -- 19.5
60  -- 21
50  -- 22
40  -- 22
30  -- 23.5
20  -- 24.5
10  -- 25
0   -- 25
130 -- 27.5
140 -- 27

the command i've used to set the power is "iwpriv wlan0 txpower $value"

...as you can see the output may be higher than the manufacturer spec 
(...but with distortion at higher levels > 24.5/25dbm).


Regards,
Christian