[ath9k-devel] Extensive AR9280 Documentation

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

On Thu, Jan 06, 2011 at 01:33:34PM -0800, Peter Stuge wrote:
> Daniel Halperin wrote:
> > I think the level of support we have now from Atheros is better
> > than if they pulled entirely out of Linux and we only got support
> > via ndiswrapper and leaked datasheets.
> 
> If only you knew what a joke your statement is to me.
> 
> I feel like an absolute fool for buying hardware simply because of
> the existence of the ath9k driver, as it simply does not work right
> after more than a year still.

Please read my e-mail.

> I'm just a highly technical end user, so I'm completely insignificant
> of course.

Technical users are appreciated but we need you to report issues properly.

> (The internet told me that Atheros felt STA important but oh well.)

Atheros STA is key, and our commitment is to make it the best.

> The ath9k hardware I do have tends to work very well in AP mode. But
> I believe that is largely thanks to efforts from parties not Atheros.

Atheros AP mode has definitley been implemented mostly by openwrt folks
but Atheros has also enabled openwrt folks with proper documentation.
Atheros' engineers have mostly focused on STA mode of operation and
only sometimes work on AP mode. The community has done wonders in helping
with AP mode and even Mesh.

> In parallell I've been following development of several other wifi
> drivers in Linux. Today, I would much rather have a particular
> broadcom .11n chip in my computer, since then maybe I wouldn't need
> to drag around the old cardbus card to have wifi connectivity.
> Unfortunately it's only a ref design board not really on market.
> 
> And that's not the new .11n chips running with the newest driver code
> dump from brcm, but rather an older chip and would use a
> re-engineered driver that works reliably though not at full capacity.

In my experience b43 and b43legacy and even the proprietary drivers are
terrible and in no way can be realistically compared to what we have with
ath9k.

> Reverse engineering is baroque waste of life and intelligence. I have
> done enough to know. But apparently it's required for Linux wifi in
> 2010, because there sure is no detailed technical discussion in the
> open here.

You're mere pessimism to me indicates more that you likely have not
reported your issues properly, I highly recommend you reconsider your
strategy to work on reporting the issues, I'm possitive they will be
addressed. STA mode of operation is critical for Atheros on ath9k.

  Luis