[ath9k-devel] Failure to connect at 802.11n using GigaByte Aircruser W103N and Dlink DAP-1353

[Luis R. Rodriguez <lrodriguez@atheros.com>]

On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 01:07:29PM -0800, Michael wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have a GigaByte AirCruiser N300 GN-WI03N-RH WLAN 802.11n draft M.. mini pci card and am trying to connect to a Dlink DAP-1353
> access point (latest firmware, 2.10).
> 
> lspci --> 03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5008 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
> 
> I'm running Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid) and have installed compat wireless from 17/11/2008. Kernel is
> 2.6.27-7-generic.  The laptop is a Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P7230.
> 
> It connects at 24 Mb/s 802.11g when the AP is set for b/g/n but refuses to connect when the AP is set to 802.11n only mode.

So 2.6.27 was shipped with aggregation disabled so no Block Ack negotion
will be possible. I posted patches for distributions/developers/users
interested in this for 2.6.27:

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/people/mcgrof/patches/mac80211/aggrv9-2.6.27/

Problem is it was a lot of changes so it was too late for 2.6.27.

So if you want aggregation and want to use a stock kernel you'll need at
least 2.6.29 which is not even in RC cycles yet. You can give
compat-wireless a shot though.

http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Download

Ubuntu 8.10 uses this for linux backport modules though and I'd
recommend you use that linux-backport-modules package instead.

> Incidentally it only connects at all if I disable WMM on the AP or if I disable WPA2 and use WEP or open system.

Interesting, so just so you know ath9k in 2.6.27 stock kernel will only
use MCS rates, but not aggregation. If you want aggregation on 27 use
the patches above or beter yet upgrade your kernel.

Also if you want to go all out just use wireless-tesitng to get all the
benefit of our latest bleeding edge wireless 2.6.29 stuff + what is on
2.6.28-rcX.

http://wireless.kernel.org/en/developers/Documentation/git-guide

  Luis