Cubieboard2 + hostapd + 100 wireless devices

Cubieboard2 + hostapd + 100 wireless devices

[Marek Floriańczyk]

Hello all,

I need to set up such a configuration:
Cubieboard2 with Debian Jessie, Hostapd 2.6 as an AP, usb wifi dongle + 100 
devices with NodeMCU module:
http://www.electrodragon.com/product/esp-12f-esp8266-wifi-board/

I'm using usb wifi dongle based on Ralink RT5370 Wireless Adapter,
after I have switched hostapd network mode to "b" it works quite well (tested 
with 70 devices). Only text commands are going to be send from server to 
devices, so I don't need high speed, I need reliability.

Has someone any experience with such a setup ?
Would one recommend different wifi dongle (maybe more powerful), with different 
chipset?
I have also tested:
https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WN722N
But according to this info (and my experience)
http://geekofpassage.blogspot.com/2014/07/openwrt-ath9khtc-could-not-add-sta-to.html
There is hardware limit on the number of devices that can be connected to AP.
Any other hints?
This whole setup is supposed to be installed in a bus (double decker), single 
server (AP) and wifi module for each seat.

Best Regards
Marek

Re: Cubieboard2 + hostapd + 100 wireless devices

[Stanislaw Gruszka]

On Sun, May 07, 2017 at 02:19:25PM +0200, Marek Floriańczyk wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I need to set up such a configuration:
> Cubieboard2 with Debian Jessie, Hostapd 2.6 as an AP, usb wifi dongle + 100 
> devices with NodeMCU module:
> http://www.electrodragon.com/product/esp-12f-esp8266-wifi-board/
> 
> I'm using usb wifi dongle based on Ralink RT5370 Wireless Adapter,
> after I have switched hostapd network mode to "b" it works quite well (tested 
> with 70 devices). Only text commands are going to be send from server to 
> devices, so I don't need high speed, I need reliability.
> 
> Has someone any experience with such a setup ?
> Would one recommend different wifi dongle (maybe more powerful), with different 
> chipset?

If RT5370 works for you I would stick with it. RTxxx chips with rt2800
driver are capable to support up to 190 stations with HW encryption and
11n aggregation (something that you are not interested). Theoretically
more stations can be added and those should fallback to software
encryption and frame aggregation will not be done, but I'm not sure if
anyone test that.

I'm also not sure if many people test 11b, perhaps 11g would be better
choice. BTW, what kernel version are you using (I'm curious if 11b
still works on latest kernels) ?

Stanislaw

Re: Cubieboard2 + hostapd + 100 wireless devices

[Marek Floriańczyk]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2271 bytes --]

Dnia środa, 10 maja 2017 11:31:17 CEST Stanislaw Gruszka pisze:
> On Sun, May 07, 2017 at 02:19:25PM +0200, Marek Floriańczyk wrote:
>
> 
> If RT5370 works for you I would stick with it. RTxxx chips with rt2800
> driver are capable to support up to 190 stations with HW encryption and
> 11n aggregation (something that you are not interested). Theoretically
> more stations can be added and those should fallback to software
> encryption and frame aggregation will not be done, but I'm not sure if
> anyone test that.
> 
> I'm also not sure if many people test 11b, perhaps 11g would be better
> choice. BTW, what kernel version are you using (I'm curious if 11b
> still works on latest kernels) ?
> 
> Stanislaw

Hi,

Thanks for answer.
I'm using Linux cubieboard2 4.9.12-sunxi 
This is Armbian based on Debian Jessie

I'm using "b" mode on hostapd because our modules:
http://www.electrodragon.com/product/esp-12f-esp8266-wifi-board/
have +20dBm when in "b" mode - that's what docs say.

I still have problems when 80 devices are connected, after a few minutes some 
of them (10-20) deauthenticate with AP. 
When reporting from hostapd_cli, sta changes from:

flags=[AUTH][ASSOC][AUTHORIZED][SHORT_PREAMBLE][WMM]
aid=69
capability=0x31
listen_interval=100
supported_rates=8b 96 82 84 0c 18 30 60 6c 12 24 48
timeout_next=NULLFUNC POLL
dot11RSNAStatsSTAAddress=5c:cf:7f:ff:eb:ee
dot11RSNAStatsVersion=1
dot11RSNAStatsSelectedPairwiseCipher=00-50-f2-2
dot11RSNAStatsTKIPLocalMICFailures=0
dot11RSNAStatsTKIPRemoteMICFailures=0
hostapdWPAPTKState=11
hostapdWPAPTKGroupState=0
rx_packets=18
tx_packets=17
rx_bytes=3295
tx_bytes=3490
inactive_msec=134370
connected_time=832

To:

flags=[AUTH]
aid=0
capability=0x0
listen_interval=0
supported_rates=
timeout_next=NULLFUNC POLL
rx_packets=2
tx_packets=2
rx_bytes=48
tx_bytes=143
inactive_msec=1980

When I have only 20some devices it works always, but with more devices 
something goes wrong....

I'm running hostapd in debug mode now, and I have found station:
2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0
That deauthenticate with AP, but I don't know why, 
reason_code=3 "station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS"

Any help would be appreciated ;)

Best Regards
Marek

[-- Attachment #2: hostapd.log --]
[-- Type: text/x-log, Size: 3411 bytes --]

1494425876.349802: nl80211: BSS Event 59 (NL80211_CMD_FRAME) received for wlan2
1494425876.349952: nl80211: RX frame da=7c:dd:90:84:79:cc sa=2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 bssid=7c:dd:90:84:79:cc freq=2437 ssi_signal=-43 fc=0xc0 seq_ctrl=0x450 stype=12 (WLAN_FC_STYPE_DEAUTH) len=26
1494425876.350132: wlan2: Event RX_MGMT (19) received
1494425876.350254: wlan2: mgmt::deauth
1494425876.350382: wlan2: deauthentication: STA=2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 reason_code=3
1494425876.350518: 1494425876.350526: wlan2: STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 IEEE 802.11: deauthenticated
1494425876.350683: 1494425876.350691: wlan2: STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 MLME: MLME-DEAUTHENTICATE.indication(2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0, 3)
1494425876.350845: 1494425876.350853: wlan2: STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 MLME: MLME-DELETEKEYS.request(2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0)
1494425876.351468: nl80211: sta_remove -> DEL_STATION wlan2 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 --> 0 (Success)
1494425876.351681: ap_free_sta: cancel ap_handle_timer for 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0
1494425876.351978: nl80211: Drv Event 20 (NL80211_CMD_DEL_STATION) received for wlan2
1494425876.352135: nl80211: Delete station 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0
1494425876.352441: nl80211: BSS Event 59 (NL80211_CMD_FRAME) received for wlan2
1494425876.352599: nl80211: RX frame da=7c:dd:90:84:79:cc sa=2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 bssid=7c:dd:90:84:79:cc freq=2437 ssi_signal=-41 fc=0xb0 seq_ctrl=0x460 stype=11 (WLAN_FC_STYPE_AUTH) len=30
1494425876.352783: wlan2: Event RX_MGMT (19) received
1494425876.352900: mgmt::auth
1494425876.353251: authentication: STA=2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 auth_alg=0 auth_transaction=1 status_code=0 wep=0 seq_ctrl=0x460
1494425876.353425:   New STA
1494425876.354104: ap_sta_add: register ap_handle_timer timeout for 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 (300 seconds - ap_max_inactivity)
1494425876.354721: nl80211: sta_remove -> DEL_STATION wlan2 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 --> -2 (No such file or directory)
1494425876.354943: nl80211: Add STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0
1494425876.355185:   * supported rates - hexdump(len=0): [NULL]
1494425876.355346:   * capability=0x0
1494425876.355458:   * aid=1 (UNASSOC_STA workaround)
1494425876.355675:   * listen_interval=0
1494425876.355810:   * flags set=0x0 mask=0xa0
1494425876.356195: 1494425876.356205: wlan2: STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 IEEE 802.11: authentication OK (open system)
1494425876.356594: 1494425876.356604: wlan2: STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 MLME: MLME-AUTHENTICATE.indication(2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0, OPEN_SYSTEM)
1494425876.356958: 1494425876.356966: wlan2: STA 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 MLME: MLME-DELETEKEYS.request(2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0)
1494425876.357128: authentication reply: STA=2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 auth_alg=0 auth_transaction=2 resp=0 (IE len=0)
1494425876.357266: nl80211: send_mlme - da= 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0 noack=0 freq=0 no_cck=0 offchanok=0 wait_time=0 fc=0xb0 (WLAN_FC_STYPE_AUTH) nlmode=3
1494425876.357400: nl80211: send_mlme -> send_frame
1494425876.357502: nl80211: send_frame - Use bss->freq=2437
1494425876.357600: nl80211: send_frame -> send_frame_cmd
1494425876.357956: nl80211: Drop oldest pending send action cookie 0x9b89
1494425876.358476: nl80211: Drv Event 19 (NL80211_CMD_NEW_STATION) received for wlan2
1494425876.358651: nl80211: New station 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0
1494425876.358936: nl80211: BSS Event 59 (NL80211_CMD_FRAME) received for wlan2
1494425876.359086: nl80211: RX frame da=7c:dd:90:84:79:cc sa=2c:3a:e8:00:56:6e bssid=7c:dd:90:84:79:cc freq=2437 ssi_signal=-51 fc=0xc0 seq_ctrl=0x350 stype=12 (WLAN_FC_STYPE_DEAUTH) len=26

Re: Cubieboard2 + hostapd + 100 wireless devices

[Stanislaw Gruszka]

Hi

On Wed, May 10, 2017 at 04:30:35PM +0200, Marek Floriańczyk wrote:
> I'm running hostapd in debug mode now, and I have found station:
> 2c:3a:e8:00:33:e0
> That deauthenticate with AP, but I don't know why, 
> reason_code=3 "station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS"

Not sure about ESP module, but mac80211 sends deauth frame with reason=3
among some other cases when system suspend.

Stanislaw