Netgate 200mW card and hostap for power modification

[Vikram KAUL]

Punky, others

 This is precisely what I have done. This process works for the Linksys 
WCF12 Compact Flash, but not for the Netgate.

 I also called Netgate and described the problem. Their linux expert was 
on vacation, or so I have been told. I have to call back.

 Additionally, even if the upper limit is 20dBm, the received power an 
ad-hoc node is 25 dB lesser than the same settings (20dBm=100mW tx power) 
for the Linksys WCF12 Compact Flash. I suppose, even if I figured out the 
100 mW to 200 mW problem, the reception will only get better by 3 dB. And 
this will still be worse by 22 dB as compared to a WCF12 at 100 mW tx 
power.

Thanks

On Wed, 11 Jan 2006, Punky wrote:

punkyt>Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:31:21 +0800
punkyt>Subject: Re: Netgate 200mW card and hostap for power modification
punkyt>
punkyt>Does this help?
punkyt>http://wiki.voyage.hk/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=how_do_i_set_txpower_for_hostap_driver
punkyt>
punkyt>On 1/11/06, Vikram KAUL <vkaul at research.telcordia.com> wrote:
punkyt>>
punkyt>> I had sent this out a few days ago. Heard nothing. Anyone has any
punkyt>> pointers/help
punkyt>>
punkyt>> Thanks
punkyt>>
punkyt>> On Tue, 3 Jan 2006, Vikram KAUL wrote:
punkyt>>
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>I recently purchased a Netgate NL-2511CD PLUS EXT2
punkyt>> vkaul>Long Range Wireless Card after reading it to have a 200 mW capability on
punkyt>> vkaul>SeattleWireless.net
punkyt>> vkaul>http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/HardwareComparison
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>The link took me to this Prism2.5 based card
punkyt>> vkaul>http://www.netgate.com/product_info.php?products_id=43
punkyt>> vkaul>which does point to hostap for linux support
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>Now, when I used
punkyt>> vkaul>iwpriv wlan0 writemif 62 128
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>to configure HFA3861_CR_MANUAL_TX_POWER register (CR31) to its highest
punkyt>> vkaul>value (=128), I expected to get a confirmation of the configuration by
punkyt>> vkaul>iwconfig to show 23.1 dBm (=200 mW)
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>But it never goes above 100 mW (=20 dBm)
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>Additionally, the received power at a 'receiver' running iwspy to the card
punkyt>> vkaul>is about 25 dB weaker than a Linksys WCF12 CompactFlash using hostap and
punkyt>> vkaul>same commands to control power
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>Has anyone encountered these problems ?
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>Additional questions:
punkyt>> vkaul>--------------------
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>1. Are there some studies on the correlation between CR31 (=Manual Tx
punkyt>> vkaul>Power Control) and CR58 (Measured Tx Power). Under what confitions, if any
punkyt>> vkaul>are they the same.
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>2. Is it possible that this is a firmware issue ? Is there a way to query
punkyt>> vkaul>the firmware to check the limits on power ?
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> vkaul>Thanks in advance
punkyt>> vkaul>_______________________________________________
punkyt>> vkaul>HostAP mailing list
punkyt>> vkaul>HostAP at shmoo.com
punkyt>> vkaul>http://lists.shmoo.com/mailman/listinfo/hostap
punkyt>> vkaul>
punkyt>> _______________________________________________
punkyt>> HostAP mailing list
punkyt>> HostAP at shmoo.com
punkyt>> http://lists.shmoo.com/mailman/listinfo/hostap
punkyt>>
punkyt>
punkyt>
punkyt>--
punkyt>--
punkyt>Regards,
punkyt>Punky
punkyt>P U N K N ! X  . c o m
punkyt>Technology + Lifestyle
punkyt>(http://www.punknix.com)
punkyt>
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punkyt>