JP Rosevear wrote:
> On Fri, 2007-10-19 at 14:35 -0500, David C. Rankin J.D. P.E. wrote:
>> Listmates:
>>
>>
>> With 10.3, my AR5212/5213 wireless card using the madwifi driver and
>> wpa_supplicant I get only 50% of the signal strength that it did with
>> 10.2. This Signal Strength Change Occurred Between openSuSE 10.2 and
>> 10.3. Since the system is a dual boot system, I can confirm that signal
>> strength is still 100% normal on the dark side of my laptop.
>>
>> With openSuSE 10.2 using madwifi and wpa_supplicant, signal strength was
>> always 100% no matter where I was in my house or office. (Both have
>> linksys WRT54G access points). The distances involved are 15 meters or less.
>>
>> The signal strength loss occurred when I upgraded my laptop from 10.2 to
>> 10.3. The loss is present even if I put my laptop (Toshiba P35) right in
>> front of the AP. (I have had the same wireless setup for over 2 years)
>>
>> Whatever changed in the latest 1 or 2 releases of madwifi or wpa has
>> definitively caused changes to the ability of the driver to get good
>> signal strength. I don't know what is causing it, but I can CONFIRM the
>> problem with madwifi under openSuSE 10.3 with the Atheros AR5212/5213
>> driver on my Toshiba P35. athstats now shows crc errors that were not
>> there before:
>
> The fact that it was always 100% was wrong in NetworkManager (we had a
> workaround in earlier suse versions but it broke with the newer madwifi
> drivers):
> https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=293556
>
> We fixed this in a recent 10.3 update because it was extremely
> deceptive. The problem is then either in the madwifi driver and how it
> outputs signal strength or NM and how it calculates signal strength.
>
> -JP
Thanks JP,
This is truly a strange problem. What is very very strange is that I
think this is a display change or a calculation change in the way the
signal strength is computed in one of the apps that feeds the kinternet
signal strength display. Whatever the change, the resulting signal
strength display is now incorrect. We have gone from an extreme high to
an extreme low signal strength display. How do I know the display is
FUBAR? I put my laptop right next to the Linksys AP ( within 1 foot )
and signal strength never exceeded 58%. More testing also reveals
something is amiss.
I have also conducted a test with *two separate* 10.3 installs on the
same laptop. I have 2 laptop hard drives, the original 4200 rpm Toshiba
and a 5400 rpm WD. Both have 10.3 loaded. The 4200 rpm drive was loaded
with 10.3 when it was released and has not been updated. The 5400 rpm
drive is the daily use drive (because it is faster) with all current
updates via Yast -> software management -> all packages -> update if newer.
The 4200 rpm drive install shows signal strength is 100%
The 5400 rpm drive install will not show signal strength over 58% no
matter what!
Both 10.3 installs have the same kernel, madwifi version and modules
installed:
Rankin-P35a:/home/david # uname -r
2.6.22.9-0.4-default
[EMAIL PROTECTED]:~> rpm -qa | grep wifi
madwifi-kmp-default-0.9.3.2_2.6.22.5_31-0.1
madwifi-devel-0.9.3.99-36
madwifi-0.9.3.99-36
The 4200 rpm drive shows 100% signal strength even though it shows LESS
actual signal with iwconfig than the updated install:
iwconfig
ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"skyline" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:0F:66:52:A3:A1
Bit Rate:18 Mb/s Tx-Power:16 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:5FD4-3FF1-5F40-387A-0CF1-4990-AA11-D349
Security mode:restricted
Power Management:off
Link Quality=30/70 Signal level=-65 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rx invalid nwid:1757 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
The 5400 rpm drive shows 45% signal strength even though it has MORE
actual signal:
iwconfig
ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"skyline" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:0F:66:52:A3:A1
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:16 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:3DA2-0064-7787-5868-648E-AE4E-1AEB-D774
Security mode:restricted
Power Management:off
Link Quality=32/70 Signal level=-62 dBm Noise level=-94 dBm
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Rx invalid nwid:10572 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
So the bottom line is something has changed and it is not quite right
yet. Signal strength cannot be a maximum of 58% 1 foot from the AP. I
understand the deceptive overstatement of the link always showing 100%,
but I think there is an equal deceptive understatement when the link
shows 58% when the laptop is literally on top of the AP.
I hope the additional information helps narrow down where the problem
is and what needs to be fixed. From a throughput standpoint, everything
is fine. Data passes back and forth between the laptop and the AP just
fine regardless of whether the signal strength reads 40% or 100%, but I
guarantee you that there will be a whole lot of people that freak over
the dramatic drop on the meter.
--
David C. Rankin, J.D., P.E.
Rankin Law Firm, PLLC
510 Ochiltree Street
Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
Telephone: (936) 715-9333
Facsimile: (936) 715-9339
www.rankinlawfirm.com
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