wi.4freebsd

Langue: en

Autres versions - même langue

Version: 300612 (debian - 07/07/09)

Section: 4 (Pilotes et protocoles réseau)


BSD mandoc

NAME

wi - Lucent Hermes, Intersil PRISM and Spectrum24 IEEE 802.11 driver

SYNOPSIS

To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following lines in your kernel configuration file:
device wi device wlan

Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in loader.conf5:

 if_wi_load="YES"
 

DESCRIPTION

The driver provides support for wireless network adapters based around the Lucent Hermes, Intersil PRISM-II, Intersil PRISM-2.5, Intersil Prism-3, and Symbol Spectrum24 chipsets. All five chipsets provide a similar interface to the driver.

Supported features include 802.11 and 802.3 frames, power management, BSS, IBSS, WDS and old-style Lucent ad-hoc operation modes. Cards based on the Intersil PRISM chips also support a host-based access point mode which allows a card to act as a normal access point (with some assistance from the driver). The Lucent Hermes and Symbol Spectrum24 chipsets do not contain this functionality. The PRISM family of chips do not support the WDS functionality. All host/device interaction is via programmed I/O, even on those cards that support a DMA interface.

The driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11 frames, however it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames. Transmit speed is selectable between 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps and 11Mbps depending on your hardware. Most hardware supports 11Mbps where the signal quality allows, but falls back to slower speeds when it does not. Except for the Lucent WaveLAN Bronze cards, all cards supported by the driver support WEP for encryption. To enable encryption, use ifconfig(8) as shown below.

By default, the driver configures the card for BSS operation (aka infrastructure mode). This mode requires the use of an access point (base station).

The driver also supports a point-to-point mode where stations can communicate amongst themselves without the aid of an access point. Note that there are two possible point-to-point modes. One mode, referred to as ``ad-hoc demo mode'' or ``legacy Lucent ad-hoc mode'' predates the IEEE 802.11 specification and so may not interoperate with cards from different vendors. The standardized point-to-point mode is called IBSS (or confusingly just ad-hoc mode), but is not supported by cards with very old firmware revisions. If your cards supports IBSS mode, it is recommended that you use it in preference to the ``ad-hoc demo mode'' in new installations.

Cards supported by the driver based on the Intersil PRISM family of chips also have a host-based access point mode which allows the card to act as an access point (base station). Access points are different than operating in IBSS mode. They operate in BSS mode. They allow for easier roaming and bridge all Ethernet traffic such that machines connected via an access point appear to be on the local Ethernet segment.

For more information on configuring this device, see ifconfig(8).

Cards supported by the driver come in a variety of packages, though the most common are of the PCMCIA type. In many cases, the PCI version of a wireless card is simply a PCMCIA card bundled with a PCI adapter. The PCI adapters come in two flavors: true PCMCIA bridges and dumb PCMCIA bridges. A true PCMCIA bridge (such as those sold by Lucent) will attach as a real PCMCIA controller. The wireless card will then attach to the PCMCIA bus. Wireless cards in PCMCIA slots may be inserted and ejected on the fly.

A dumb bridge, on the other hand, does not show up as a true PCMCIA bus. The wireless card will simply appear to the host as a normal PCI device and will not require any PCMCIA support. Cards in this type of adapter should only be removed when the machine is powered down.

The following cards are among those supported by the driver:

Card  Chip    Bus 3Com AirConnect 3CRWE737A Spectrum24      PCMCIA
3Com AirConnect 3CRWE777A       Prism-II        PCI
Accton airDirect WN3301         PCMCIA
ACTIONTEC HWC01170      Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
Adaptech ANW-8030       Prism-3 PCMCIA
Addtron AWP-100 Prism-II        PCMCIA
Adtec Adlink/340C       Prism-II        PCMCIA
Airvast WN 100  Prism-3 PCMCIA
Airway 802.11 Adapter           PCMCIA
Agere Orinoco   Hermes  PCMCIA
Allied Telesis WR211PCM Prism-II        PCMCIA
ArTem OnAir     Prism?  PCMCIA
Asus WL100      Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
Avaya Wireless  Prism-II        PCMCIA
Bay eMobility 11B       Prism-2.5?      PCMCIA
Blue Concentric Circle WL-379F  Prism-II        CF
BreezeNet Wireless      Prism-II        PCMCIA
Buffalo WLI-PCM-S11     Prism-II        PCMCIA
Buffalo WLI-PCM-L11G    Hermes  PCMCIA
Buffalo WLI-CF-S11G     Prism-II        CF
Buffalo WLI2-CF-S11G    Prism 2.5       CF
Cabletron RoamAbout     Hermes  PCMCIA
Compaq Agency NC5004    Prism-II        PCMCIA
Compaq WL100    Prism-II        PCMCIA
Compaq WL110    Hermes  PCMCIA
Compaq WL200    Prism-II        PCMCIA
Contec FLEXLAN/FX-DS110-PCC     Prism-II        PCMCIA
Corega PCC-11   Prism-II        PCMCIA
Corega PCCA-11  Prism-II        PCMCIA
Corega PCCB-11  Prism-II        PCMCIA
Corega CGWLPCIA11       Prism-II        PCI
Dell TrueMobile 1150    Hermes  PCMCIA
Dlink Air 660   Prism-II        PCMCIA
Dlink DWL520    Prism-2.5       PCI
Dlink DWL650    Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
ELECOM Air@Hawk/LD-WL11/PCC             PCMCIA
ELSA MC-11              PCMCIA
ELSA XI300      Prism-II        PCMCIA
ELSA XI800      Prism-II        CF
EMTAC A2424i    Prism-II        PCMCIA
Ericsson Wireless LAN CARD C11  Spectrum24      PCMCIA
Farallon Skyline        Prism-II        PCMCIA
Gemtek WL-311   Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
Hawking Technology WE110P       Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
Home Wireless Networks  Prism-II        PCMCIA
IBM High Rate Wireless  Hermes  PCMCIA
ICOM SL-1100    Prism-II        PCMCIA
I-O DATA WN-B11/PCM     Prism-II        PCMCIA
Intel PRO/Wireless 2011 Spectrum24      PCMCIA
Intersil Prism II       Prism-II        PCMCIA
Intersil Mini-PCI       Prism-2.5       PCI
Intersil ISL37100P      Prism-3 PCMCIA
Intersil ISL37110P      Prism-3 PCMCIA
Intersil ISL37300P      Prism-3 PCMCIA
Laneed Wireless         PCMCIA
Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11  Prism-II        PCMCIA
Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 2.5      Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 3.0      Prism-3 PCMCIA
Linksys WCF11   Prism-3 PCMCIA
Linksys WCF12   Prism-3 CF
Lucent WaveLAN  Hermes  PCMCIA
Melco Airconnect        Prism-II        PCMCIA
Microsoft MN-520 WLAN   Prism-II        PCMCIA
NANOSPEED ROOT-RZ2000   Prism-II        PCMCIA
NCR WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11         PCMCIA
NDC/Sohoware NCP130     Prism-II        PCI
NEC CMZ-RT-WP   Prism-II        PCMCIA
NEC PK-WL001    Lucent  PCMCIA
NEC PC-WL/11C   Prism-II        PCMCIA
Netgear MA311   Prism-2.5       PCI
Netgear MA401   Prism-II/2.5    PCMCIA
Netgear MA401RA Prism-II        PCMCIA
Netgear MA701   Prism-II        CF
NOKIA C020 WLAN Prism-II        PCMCIA
NOKIA C110 WLAN Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
NTT-ME 11Mbps Wireless LAN      Prism-II        PCMCIA
Planex GeoWave/GW-NS110 Prism-II        PCMCIA
Planex GW-NS11H Prism-II        PCMCIA
Proxim Harmony  Prism-II        PCMCIA
Proxim RangeLAN-DS      Prism-II        PCMCIA
Samsung MagicLAN SWL-2000N      Prism-II        PCMCIA
SENAO SL-2511CD Prism-3 PCMCIA
Siemens SpeedStream SS1021      Prism-II        PCMCIA
SMC 2532W-B     Prism-II        PCMCIA
SMC 2602 EZ Connect (3.3V)      Prism-II        PCI or PCMCIA
SMC 2632 EZ Connect     Prism-II        PCMCIA
Socket Low Power WLAN-CF        Prism-II        CF
Sony PCWA-C100  Lucent  PCMCIA
Sony PEGA-WL110 Prism-2.5       PCMCIA
Symbol Spectrum24       Spectrum24      PCMCIA
Symbol LA-4100  Spectrum24      CF
TDK LAK-CD011WL Prism-II        PCMCIA
Toshiba Wireless LAN Card       Prism-II        PCMCIA
U.S. Robotics Wireless Card 2410        Prism-II        PCMCIA
YIS YWL-11B     Prism-II        PCMCIA

Several vendors sell PCI adapters built around the PLX Technology 9050 or 9052 chip. The following such adapters are supported or expected to work:

3Com AirConnect 3CRWE777A (3.3V)
Belkin F5D6000 (a rebadged WL11000P)
Eumitcom WL11000P
Global Sun Technology GL24110P (untested)
Global Sun Technology GL24110P02
LinkSys WDT11 (a rebadged GL24110P02)
Netgear MA301
US Robotics 2415 (rebadged WL11000P)
Wisecom Wireless LAN PCI Adapter

The following adapters have the same model numbers as those listed above, but might not work if the actual card is after the change away from the Prism family:

DLink DWL520

EXAMPLES

Join an existing BSS network (ie: connect to an access point):
"ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00"

Join a specific BSS network with network name ``my_net ''

"ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net"

Join a specific BSS network with WEP encryption:

 ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \
         wepmode on wepkey 0x8736639624
 

Join a Lucent legacy demo ad-hoc network with network name ``my_net ''

 ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \
         media DS/11Mbps mediaopt adhoc,link0
 

Join/create an IBSS network with network name ``my_net ''

 ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.22 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \
         media DS/11Mbps mediaopt adhoc
 

Create a host-based access point (Prism only):

 ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \
         media DS/11Mbps mediaopt hostap
 

Create a host-based access point with WEP enabled (Prism only):

 ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \
         wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 media DS/11Mbps \
         mediaopt hostap
 

Create a host-based wireless bridge to fxp0 (Prism only):

 ifconfig wi0 inet up ssid my_ap media DS/11Mbps mediaopt hostap
 sysctl net.inet.ip.check_interface=0
 ifconfig bridge0 create
 ifconfig bridge0 addm wi0 addm fxp0 up
 

This will give you the same functionality as an access point.

DIAGNOSTICS

"wi%d: init failed"
The WaveLAN card failed to become ready after an initialization command was issued.
"wi%d: failed to allocate %d bytes on NIC"
The driver was unable to allocate memory for transmit frames in the NIC's on-board RAM. This can also be an indication of an incorrectly configured interrupt.
"wi%d: device timeout"
The WaveLAN card failed to generate an interrupt to acknowledge a transmit command.

SEE ALSO

altq(4), an(4), arp(4), ath(4), netintro(4), pccard(4), pccbb(4), pcic(4), wlan(4), ifconfig(8),
HCF Light programming specification http://www.wavelan.com

HISTORY

The device driver first appeared in Fx 3.0 .

AUTHORS

The driver was written by An Bill Paul Aq wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu . This man page comes from Ox .

CAVEATS

Different regulatory domains have different default channels for adhoc mode. See ifconfig(8) for information on how to change the channel. The Intersil Prism family of chips' host-based access point mode has bugs for station firmware versions prior to 0.8.3. The driver currently precludes hostap functionality with older station firmware. The best version of the station firmware for the Prism family of chips seems to be 1.4.9. Some users of Prism-II and 2.5 based cards report that station firmware version 1.3.4 works better for them in hostap than 1.4.9. Older versions of the Prism station firmware have a number of issues with hostap mode. The IBSS/adhoc mode appears to work well on station firmware 1.3.1 and later. The IBSS/adhoc mode appears to have problems for some people with older versions of station firmware.

Lucent cards prior to firmware version 6.0.6 do not support IBSS mode. These cards support only the pre-802.11 mode known as ``demo ad-hoc mode'' which does not interoperate with stations in IBSS mode.

Prism cards prior to version 0.8.0 do not support IBSS mode.

Symbol cards prior to version 2.50.00 do not support IBSS mode.

BUGS

Not all the new messages are documented here, and many of them are indications of transient errors that are not indications of serious problems.

WL200 PCI wireless cards are based on a Cirrus Logic CL-PD6729 bridge chips glued to an Intersil Prism-II PCMCIA chipset w/o the PC Card form factor being present. These chips are special and require special care to use properly. One must set hw.pcic.pd6729_intr_path = Qq 2 in /boot/loader.conf This tells the PC Card system to use PCI interrupts for this odd beast. It is not possible to know automatically which kind of interrupts to use. OLDCARD devices support this device. NEWCARD devices (pccbb4 and pccard(4)) do not support it at this time.