Compex WLE600VX WiFi AC => FreeBSD 12 support

BSDPeta · Sep 30, 2020

Hello,

I would like to ask about the current status of WIFI AC support on FreeBSD 12.x. Specifically, I am interested in the support of a Compex WLE600VX WiFi card, which I would like to run under OPNsense 20.7.x (based on FreeBSD 12). Currently the WIFI card is not recognized out of the box under OPNsense...

olli@ · Sep 30, 2020

Currently, the best way to have fast Wifi with FreeBSD is to connect an external AP (access point) with a LAN cable, and run the AP in bridge mode or client mode. I’ve been using a “Devolo Access Point One” like that, it works very well.

aponomarenko · Sep 30, 2020

Is it 168c:003c? Try to find drivers by https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/new-hardware-database-for-bsd-systems.75651/ or https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-it-fits-bsd.76186/

olli@ · Sep 30, 2020

aponomarenko said:
Is it 168c:003c? Try to find drivers

No, that won’t work, because it’s not a question of just finding a driver.
FreeBSDs WLAN stack currently does not support 802.11ac (a.k.a. “WiFi 5”), let alone 802.11ax (a.k.a. “WiFi 6”).
Using an appropriate driver might get you WLAN access, but only with the older (and slower) B/G/N modes, not AC or AX.

As I mentioned above, currently the only way to get fast WLAN access with FreeBSD is to use an external access point in bridge/client mode.

aponomarenko · Sep 30, 2020

olli@ said:
No, that won’t work, because it’s not a question of just finding a driver.
FreeBSDs WLAN stack currently does not support 802.11ac (a.k.a. “WiFi 5”), let alone 802.11ax (a.k.a. “WiFi 6”).
Using an appropriate driver might get you WLAN access, but only with the older (and slower) B/G/N modes, not AC or AX.

As I mentioned above, currently the only way to get fast WLAN access with FreeBSD is to use an external access point in bridge/client mode.

I doubt the driver for this old card (QCA986x/988x) exists in FreeBSD-*. Need this code to make it work somehow even in b/g/n mode.

T-Daemon · Sep 30, 2020

aponomarenko said:
Need this code to make it work somehow even in b/g/n mode.

There is a more active work on a ath10k driver:

Compex WLE600VX Qualcomm-Atheros QCA9882 support · Issue #38 · erikarn/athp

Hello, Is this card Compex WLE600VX supported by this athp driver and does it support AP mode ? I plan to use it in OPNsense as an Wi-Fi AP. If so how do I compile this driver (I'm not very familia...

github.com

T-Daemon · Sep 30, 2020

Alternatively, to get 802.11ac on FreeBSD is using a Linux driver on OpenWRT or linux in bhyve:

WiFi with AC on FreeBSD

Solved - use a virtual network interface on a host?

Is there a way to use a virtual network interface on a physical FreeBSD host? TL;DR - yes - use epair interfaces. Background: I have this new and quite cheap laptop (Lenovo ideapad 530S-14ARR). It was on outlet sale, therefore cheap. It doesn't have a wired ethernet interface, and the wireless...

forums.freebsd.org

diizzy · Oct 1, 2020

olli@ said:
Currently, the best way to have fast Wifi with FreeBSD is to connect an external AP (access point) with a LAN cable, and run the AP in bridge mode or client mode. I’ve been using a “Devolo Access Point One” like that, it works very well.

Indeed, I've been using this method for years just fine. OpenWrt (master/trunk) work really well with ath10k hardware/devices (ipq4018/19) but it's not for everyone.