TL-WN725N ver 3.8 not working with FreeBSD 14.3

[jeff_]

Hi,

Just another data point for whoever needs it. I tried out the tp-link tl-wn725n ver 3.8 usb adapter since other avenues were not working out, eg mediatek pci adapter and wifibox (for some reason it does not see the tap interface that indeed shows up via ifconfig). Maybe earlier versions work. Kind of stuck with ethernet for the time being when running freebsd.

The rtwn driver does see the tl-wn725n device as seen in dmesg but no interface appears.

-jeff

 

[T-Daemon]

The rtwn driver does see the tl-wn725n device as seen in dmesg but no interface appears.

Do you mean by seen, seen as "rtwn0" in dmesg?

If that's the case, you need to configure the "wlan" interface yourself.

See handbook chapter 7.4. Wireless Networks.

 

[jeff_]

Do you mean by seen, seen as "rtwn0" in dmesg?
...
See handbook chapter 7.4. Wireless Networks.

Thanks and yes, the rtwn0 interface from the rtwn driver is what showed in dmesg. I was a bit worn down by trying to get the other avenues working at that point and when no interface appeared in ifconfig I really didn't feel like troubleshooting it. Also I think that since the ethernet interface autoconfigured, I probably assumed the wireless would too, or at the least show up in ifconfig. Anyway, I got all working from boot and am writing this reply using the adapter. The handbook was indeed helpful though it felt a bit misleading and/or incomplete at times. I could talk about that but without prompting I won't. Thanks again. FreeBSD is a very clean system compared to linux. My last encounter with BSD was when I installed NetBSD on a machine back in the 80s.

-jeff

 

[Phishfry]

Did you install any firmware for your device?

pkg install wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod
This should install all the Realtek wifi firmware.

Oops there is also a metaport: wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod to try.
pkg install wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod

wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw88 (rtw88) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8703b-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw88 (rtw8703b) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8723d-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw88 (rtw8723d) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8821c-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw88 (rtw8821c) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8822b-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw88 (rtw8822b) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw88-kmod-rtw8822c-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw88 (rtw8822c) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw89 (rtw89) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod-rtw8851b-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw89 (rtw8851b) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod-rtw8852a-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw89 (rtw8852a) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod-rtw8852b-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw89 (rtw8852b) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod-rtw8852c-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw89 (rtw8852c) WiFi NIC driver
wifi-firmware-rtw89-kmod-rtw8922a-20241017.1402000_2 Firmware modules for the rtw89 (rtw8922a) WiFi NIC driver

 

[Phishfry]

vermaden has an good write up here:

tl-wn725n

Versions 2 and 3 (V2 and V3) use different RTL8188EUS chip ... and that one I did not tested.

I do not see that model in the list of wifi-firmware.

 

[jeff_]

Did you install any firmware for your device?
....

vermaden has an good write up here:

tl-wn725n
...

Thanks, I was able to get the adapter going with a bit of work after the pointer from T-Daemon. The 2 key mechanisms were connecting the driver object rtwn0 to a wlan0 interface object via entries in /etc/rc.conf and getting wpa_supplicant to run at startup via a @reboot entry in /etc/crontab. There may be other ways to achieve the same goal; the handbook seems to indicate another way. This is the one I stumbled upon.