man/man4/wi.4

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.\"	Bill Paul <wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu>. All rights reserved.
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.\" $FreeBSD: src/share/man/man4/wi.4,v 1.9.4.12 2003/03/03 18:59:15 trhodes Exp $
.\" $DragonFly: src/share/man/man4/wi.4,v 1.8 2007/09/29 08:33:47 swildner Exp $
.\"	$OpenBSD: wi.4tbl,v 1.14 2002/04/29 19:53:50 jsyn Exp $
.\"
.Dd May 2, 2002
.Dt WI 4
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm wi
.Nd "WaveLAN/IEEE, PRISM-II and Spectrum24 802.11DS wireless network driver"
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Cd "device wi"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
driver provides support for wireless network adapters based around
the Lucent Hermes, Intersil PRISM-II, Intersil PRISM-2.5, and Symbol
Spectrum24 chipsets.
All four chipsets provide a similar interface to the driver.
.Pp
All host/device interaction is via programmed I/O.
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-II and PRISM-2.5 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
.Nm
driver).
The Lucent Hermes and Symbol Spectrum24 chipsets do not contain this
functionality.
PRISM-II and PRISM-2.5 chips do not support the WDS functionality.
.Pp
The
.Nm
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 fixed, 2Mbps fixed, 2Mbps
with auto fallback, 5.5Mbps, 8Mbps, or 11Mbps depending on your hardware.
The Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE Silver and Gold cards as well as the Intersil
and Symbol cards have support for WEP encryption.
The WaveLAN Gold as well as newer Intersil and Symbol cards support
104bit keys, the others only accept 40bit keys.
The Lucent WaveLAN/IEEE Bronze cards do not support WEP at all.
To enable encryption, use the
.Xr wicontrol 8
utility to set your keys, or use
.Xr ifconfig 8
as shown below.
.Pp
By default, the
.Nm
driver configures the card for BSS operation (aka infrastructure
mode).
This mode requires the use of an access point (base station).
.Pp
The
.Nm
driver also supports a point-to-point mode where the ssid is
ignored and 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
.Dq "ad-hoc demo mode" ,
or
.Dq "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
.Dq "ad-hoc demo mode"
in new installations.
.Pp
Cards based on the Intersil PRISM-II and PRISM-2.5 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.
.Pp
For more information on configuring this device, see
.Xr ifconfig 8 .
.Pp
Cards supported by the
.Nm
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.
.Pp
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.
.Pp
The following cards are among those supported by the
.Nm
driver:
.Pp
.Bl -column -compact "Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 2.5" "Spectrum24" "PCI or PCMCIA"
.Em "Card	Chip	Bus"
3Com AirConnect 3CRWE737A	Spectrum24	PCMCIA
3Com AirConnect 3CRWE777A	Prism-II	PCI
ACTIONTEC HWC01170	Prism-2.5	PCMCIA
Addtron AWP-100	Prism-II	PCMCIA
Adtec Adlink/340C	Prism-II	PCMCIA
Agere Orinoco	Hermes	PCMCIA
Avaya Wireless	Prism-II	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
Cabletron RoamAbout	Hermes	PCMCIA
Compaq Agency NC5004	Prism-II	PCMCIA
Compaq WL100	Prism-II	PCMCIA
Compaq WL110	Prism-II	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 DWL520	Prism-2.5	PCI
Dlink DWL650	Prism-2.5	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
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
Lucent WaveLAN	Hermes	PCMCIA
Melco Airconnect	Prism-II	PCMCIA
NANOSPEED ROOT-RZ2000	Prism-II	PCMCIA
NDC/Sohoware NCP130	Prism-II	PCI
NEC CMZ-RT-WP	Prism-II	PCMCIA
NEC PK-WL001	Prism-II	PCMCIA
NEC PC-WL/11C	PRISM-II	PCMCIA
Netgear MA401	Prism-II	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
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
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
.El
.Pp
Several vendors sell PCI adapters built around the PLX Technology 9050
or 9052 chip.
The following such adapters are supported or expected to work:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -compact
.It 3Com AirConnect 3CRWE777A (3.3V)
.It Belkin F5D6000 (a rebadged WL11000P)
.It Eumitcom WL11000P
.It Global Sun Technology GL24110P (untested)
.It Global Sun Technology GL24110P02
.It LinkSys WDT11 (a rebadged GL24110P02)
.It Netgear MA301
.It US Robotics 2415 (rebadged WL11000P)
.El
.Sh EXAMPLES
The following examples utilize
.Xr ifconfig 8
for simplicity, however,
.Xr wicontrol 8
can also be used to set wireless parameters.
.Pp
Join an existing BSS network (ie: connect to an access point):
.Pp
.Dl "ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00"
.Pp
Join a specific BSS network with network name
.Dq Li my_net :
.Pp
.Dl "ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net"
.Pp
Join a specific BSS network with WEP encryption:
.Bd -literal -offset indent
ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
	wepmode on wepkey 0x8736639624
.Ed
.Pp
Join a Lucent legacy demo ad-hoc network with network name
.Dq Li my_net :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
	mediaopt adhoc
.Ed
.Pp
Create an IBSS network with network name
.Dq Li my_net :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
	mediaopt ibss-master
.Ed
.Pp
.Em Note :
The infrastructure for
.Cm mediaopt ibss-master
has not been committed yet.
.Pp
Join an IBSS network with network name
.Dq Li my_net :
.Bd -literal -offset indent
ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.22 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_net \e
	mediaopt ibss
.Ed
.Pp
.Em Note :
The infrastructure for
.Cm mediaopt ibss
has not been committed yet.
.Pp
Create a host-based access point (Prism only):
.Bd -literal -offset indent
ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e
	mediaopt hostap
.Ed
.Pp
Create a host-based access point with WEP enabled (Prism only):
.Bd -literal -offset indent
ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid my_ap \e
	wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 mediaopt hostap
.Ed
.Pp
Create a host-based wireless bridge to fxp0 (Prism only):
.Bd -literal -offset indent
Add BRIDGE to the kernel config.
ifconfig wi0 inet up ssid my_ap mediaopt hostap
sysctl net.link.ether.bridge=1
sysctl net.link.ether.bridge_cfg="wi0 fxp0"
sysctl net.inet.ip.forwarding=1
.Ed
.Pp
This will give you approximately the same functionality as an access
point.
.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
.Bl -diag
.It "wi%d: init failed"
The WaveLAN card failed to come ready after an initialization command
was issued.
.It "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.
.It "wi%d: device timeout"
The WaveLAN failed to generate an interrupt to acknowledge a transmit
command.
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr an 4 ,
.Xr arp 4 ,
.Xr ifmedia 4 ,
.Xr netintro 4 ,
.Xr polling 4 ,
.Xr hostapd 8 ,
.Xr ifconfig 8 ,
.Xr wicontrol 8 ,
.Xr wpa_supplicant 8
.Rs
.%T HCF Light programming specification
.%O http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.wavelan.com
.Re
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
device driver first appeared in
.Fx 3.0 .
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Nm
driver was written by
.An Bill Paul Aq wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu .
This man page comes from
.Ox .
.Sh CAVEATS
Different regulatory domains have different default channels for adhoc
mode.
See
.Xr ifconfig 8
for information on how to change the channel.
See
.Xr wicontrol 8
for information on different regulatory domains.
.Pp
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 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.
.Pp
Lucent cards prior to firmware version 6.0.4 do not support IBSS
mode.
These cards support only the pre 802.11 mode known as
.Dq "demo ad-hoc mode"
which does not interoperate with stations in IBSS mode.
.Sh 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.
.Pp
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
.Va hw.pcic.pd6729_intr_path Ns = Ns Qq Li 2
in
.Pa /boot/loader.conf .
This tells the pccard system to use PCI interrupts for this odd beast.
It is not possible to know automatically which kind of interrupts to use.
OLDCARD devices (pcic and card) support this device.