wireless problem

[eigenman]

Hi,

I have an atheros based wireless ethernet on my home computer, and I'm having a bit of problem with it. I've set up the system to use static IP, with a fixed router, as using the following commands:

modprobe ath_pci
wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta
iwconfig ath0 essid MusicHouse rate 2M
ifconfig ath0 up 192.168.1.50
route add default gw 192.168.1.1

So far so good, and when I run this the internet works out fine. The problem is that after a while, I just lose the internet connection, and I can't figure out why. I can lose the connection faster if I run "iwscan list" few times.
Before, I used to stop the internet service, and restart it to make things work, but I just learned that running that command "iwconfig ath0 essid MusicHouse" brings back the internet. I am at complete loss on what I can do to fix this.

Cheers,
Eigenman

PS I used to have it set up to use dhcp, but that was much more flakey. This way, the problem seems to be a bit more isolated.

[nadi]

hei
You are not alone. I have also an atheros wireless card in my laptop and connection is broken from time to time. It is not consistent: sometimes it can take hours and soetimes just minutes. I am bringing back the network with an /etc/conf.d/local.start script I have made. More than that: I cannot initiate my wireless connection with /etc/init.d/net.ath0 restart when using kernel 2.6.15-r1 or similar. However, when rebooting with kernel 2.6.12, the connection is up at boot. I wonder if the problem is with a bug in the madwifi-driver.

Nadi

[eigenman]

Does this problem exist only on atheros chipsets? A quick search on the madwifi mailing list didn't show me anything interesting. For the record, this is what my iwconfig -v shows:
iwconfig Wireless-Tools version 28
Compatible with Wireless Extension v11 to v20.

Kernel Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v19.

ath0 Recommend Wireless Extension v13 or later,
Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v19.

I'm not sure if it is useful or not, but just in case.

Eigenman

[Daniel Tourde - Caelae.se]

Same problems here:

gcc 4.1, glibc 2.4, kernel 2.6.16-r2, x86
madwifi: 0.1502-20060414
wpa_supplicant 0.5.2
=> Does not connect on my router at boot

gcc 3.4.5, glibc 2.3.5, kernel 2.6.15-r4, amd64
madwifi: 0.1502-20060414
wpa_supplicant 0.5.2
=> connect to the router at boot.

Strange to say the least...

Daniel

[rjrooke]

wpa_supplicant has started crashing (??not running when I lose connection) - I believe since upgrade to 5.2 - running atheros chips and amd64 here...

[Monkeh]

I have similiar issues, except the Atheros part in my case is my AP.

[jarealist]

I'm experiencing the same problem and I wonder if this could be the problem. Though i don't
know how to fix it.

When I run "iwlist ath0 scan" I'm getting two (2) cells listed with my router address. The
first one without an ESSID and the second one with the correct ESSID.

iwlist ath0 scan
ath0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:09:5B:AD:83:E0
ESSID:""
Mode:Master
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=52/94 Signal level=-43 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100
Cell 02 - Address: 00:09:5B:AD:83:E0
ESSID:"***********"
Mode:Master
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=55/94 Signal level=-40 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100


Edit #1-

SOLVED: This was caused by my Netgear router Authentication Type setting. It was on "Open System". Changinging it to "Automatic" got rid of
the duplicate cell without the ESSID.

[Daniel Tourde - Caelae.se]

In my case it was a problem with bash. Shortly:
bash-3.1 -> troubles
bash-3.0 -> fine...

Daniel

[uxbod]

similar problems under x86_64 https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-454296.html?sid=86283a867b040c626664cb6c72065e9a

[eigenman]

Well, at least this problem is not isolated to my computer.
Should I make a bug report to someone about this?
Does anyone have a workaround for this problem? I was thinking of having a crontab that resets the network connection every minute, but that seems like a terrible idea. Is there an easy way of figuring out if my connection is working in the script, so if it is not, it will reset the connection?

Cheers,
Eigenman

[Elv13]

almost same here, atheros chips, netgear router

wireless work fine, but i am not able et set essid, it always conect to the worst avalible...
tried iwconfig ath0 essid "" and mac adress but it still conecting on some linksys or d-link instead of my spot

[langthang]

[eigenman]

[Elv13]

when you will find why it always try to conect to the same network and not the configurated one, tell us how

i will make a littel investigaion on kernel patch sinc 2.6.14, one seem to cause the problem becose me too it was working before