wi(4)

NAME

wi - Lucent Hermes, Intersil PRISM and Spectrum24 IEEE
802.11 driver

SYNOPSIS

To  compile this driver into the kernel, place the following
lines in your
kernel configuration file:
      device wi
      device wlan
Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot  time,
place the
following line in loader.conf(5):
      if_wi_load="YES"

DESCRIPTION

The wi driver provides support for wireless network adapters
based around the Lucent Hermes, Intersil PRISM-II, Intersil PRISM-2.5,
Intersil Prism-3, and Symbol Spectrum24 chipsets. All five chipsets
provide a similar interface to the driver.
Supported features include 802.11 and 802.3 frames, power
management, BSS, IBSS, WDS and old-style Lucent ad-hoc operation modes.
Cards based on the Intersil PRISM chips also support a host-based access
point mode which allows a card to act as a normal access point (with
some assistance from the wi driver). The Lucent Hermes and Symbol Spec
trum24 chipsets do not contain this functionality. The PRISM family of chips
do not support the WDS functionality. All host/device interaction is via
programmed I/O, even on those cards that support a DMA interface.
The wi driver encapsulates all IP and ARP traffic as 802.11
frames, however it can receive either 802.11 or 802.3 frames. Transmit
speed is selectable between 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5 Mbps and 11Mbps depend
ing on your hardware. Most hardware supports 11Mbps where the signal
quality allows, but falls back to slower speeds when it does not. Except
for the Lucent WaveLAN Bronze cards, all cards supported by the wi driver
support WEP for encryption. To enable encryption, use ifconfig(8) as
shown below.
By default, the wi driver configures the card for BSS opera
tion (aka infrastructure mode). This mode requires the use of an ac
cess point (base station).
The wi driver also supports a point-to-point mode where sta
tions can communicate amongst themselves without the aid of an access
point. Note that there are two possible point-to-point modes. One mode,
referred to as ``ad-hoc demo mode'', or ``legacy Lucent ad-hoc mode'',
predates the IEEE 802.11 specification and so may not interoperate with
cards from different vendors. The standardized point-to-point mode is
called IBSS (or confusingly just ad-hoc mode), but is not supported by
cards with very old firmware revisions. If your cards supports IBSS
mode, it is recommended that you use it in preference to the ``ad-hoc
demo mode'' in new installations.
Cards supported by the driver based on the Intersil PRISM
family of chips also have a host-based access point mode which allows the
card to act as an access point (base station). Access points are different
than operating in IBSS mode. They operate in BSS mode. They allow for
easier roaming and bridge all Ethernet traffic such that machines con
nected via an access point appear to be on the local Ethernet segment.
For more information on configuring this device, see ifcon
fig(8).
Cards supported by the wi driver come in a variety of pack
ages, though the most common are of the PCMCIA type. In many cases, the
PCI version of a wireless card is simply a PCMCIA card bundled with a
PCI adapter. The PCI adapters come in two flavors: true PCMCIA bridges
and dumb PCMCIA bridges. A true PCMCIA bridge (such as those sold by Lu
cent) will attach as a real PCMCIA controller. The wireless card will then
attach to the PCMCIA bus. Wireless cards in PCMCIA slots may be inserted
and ejected on the fly.
A dumb bridge, on the other hand, does not show up as a true
PCMCIA bus. The wireless card will simply appear to the host as a normal
PCI device and will not require any PCMCIA support. Cards in this type
of adapter should only be removed when the machine is powered down.
The following cards are among those supported by the wi
driver:
Card Chip Bus 3Com AirConnect 3CRWE737A Spectrum24 PCMCIA 3Com AirConnect 3CRWE777A Prism-II PCI Accton airDirect WN3301 PCMCIA ACTIONTEC HWC01170 Prism-2.5 PCMCIA Adaptech ANW-8030 Prism-3 PCMCIA Addtron AWP-100 Prism-II PCMCIA Adtec Adlink/340C Prism-II PCMCIA Airvast WN 100 Prism-3 PCMCIA Airway 802.11 Adapter PCMCIA Agere Orinoco Hermes PCMCIA Allied Telesis WR211PCM Prism-II PCMCIA ArTem OnAir Prism? PCMCIA Asus WL100 Prism-2.5 PCMCIA Avaya Wireless Prism-II PCMCIA Bay eMobility 11B Prism-2.5? PCMCIA Blue Concentric Circle WL-379F Prism-II CF BreezeNet Wireless Prism-II PCMCIA Buffalo WLI-PCM-S11 Prism-II PCMCIA Buffalo WLI-PCM-L11G Hermes PCMCIA Buffalo WLI-CF-S11G Prism-II CF Buffalo WLI2-CF-S11G Prism 2.5 CF Cabletron RoamAbout Hermes PCMCIA Compaq Agency NC5004 Prism-II PCMCIA Compaq WL100 Prism-II PCMCIA Compaq WL110 Hermes PCMCIA Compaq WL200 Prism-II PCMCIA Contec FLEXLAN/FX-DS110-PCC Prism-II PCMCIA Corega PCC-11 Prism-II PCMCIA Corega PCCA-11 Prism-II PCMCIA Corega PCCB-11 Prism-II PCMCIA Corega CGWLPCIA11 Prism-II PCI Dell TrueMobile 1150 Hermes PCMCIA Dlink Air 660 Prism-II PCMCIA Dlink DWL520 Prism-2.5 PCI Dlink DWL650 Prism-2.5 PCMCIA ELECOM Air@Hawk/LD-WL11/PCC PCMCIA ELSA MC-11 PCMCIA ELSA XI300 Prism-II PCMCIA ELSA XI800 Prism-II CF EMTAC A2424i Prism-II PCMCIA Ericsson Wireless LAN CARD C11 Spectrum24 PCMCIA Farallon Skyline Prism-II PCMCIA Gemtek WL-311 Prism-2.5 PCMCIA Hawking Technology WE110P Prism-2.5 PCMCIA Home Wireless Networks Prism-II PCMCIA IBM High Rate Wireless Hermes PCMCIA ICOM SL-1100 Prism-II PCMCIA I-O DATA WN-B11/PCM Prism-II PCMCIA Intel PRO/Wireless 2011 Spectrum24 PCMCIA Intersil Prism II Prism-II PCMCIA Intersil Mini-PCI Prism-2.5 PCI Intersil ISL37100P Prism-3
PCMCIA Intersil ISL37110P Prism-3
PCMCIA Intersil ISL37300P Prism-3
PCMCIA Laneed Wireless PCMCIA Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 Prism-II PCMCIA Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 2.5 Prism-2.5 PCMCIA Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11 3.0 Prism-3 PCMCIA Linksys WCF11 Prism-3 PCMCIA Linksys WCF12 Prism-3 CF Lucent WaveLAN Hermes PCMCIA Melco Airconnect Prism-II PCMCIA Microsoft MN-520 WLAN Prism-II PCMCIA NANOSPEED ROOT-RZ2000 Prism-II PCMCIA NCR WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11 PCMCIA NDC/Sohoware NCP130 Prism-II PCI NEC CMZ-RT-WP Prism-II PCMCIA NEC PK-WL001 Lucent PCMCIA NEC PC-WL/11C Prism-II PCMCIA Netgear MA311 Prism-2.5 PCI Netgear MA401 Prism-II/2.5 PCMCIA Netgear MA401RA Prism-II PCMCIA Netgear MA701 Prism-II CF NOKIA C020 WLAN Prism-II PCMCIA NOKIA C110 WLAN Prism-2.5 PCMCIA NTT-ME 11Mbps Wireless LAN Prism-II PCMCIA Planex GeoWave/GW-NS110 Prism-II PCMCIA Planex GW-NS11H Prism-II PCMCIA Proxim Harmony Prism-II PCMCIA Proxim RangeLAN-DS Prism-II PCMCIA Samsung MagicLAN SWL-2000N Prism-II PCMCIA SENAO SL-2511CD Prism-3 PCMCIA Siemens SpeedStream SS1021 Prism-II PCMCIA SMC 2602 EZ Connect (3.3V) Prism-II PCI or
PCMCIA SMC 2632 EZ Connect Prism-II PCMCIA Socket Low Power WLAN-CF Prism-II CF Sony PCWA-C100 Lucent PCMCIA Sony PEGA-WL110 Prism-2.5 PCMCIA Symbol Spectrum24 Spectrum24 PCMCIA Symbol LA-4100 Spectrum24 CF TDK LAK-CD011WL Prism-II PCMCIA Toshiba Wireless LAN Card Prism-II PCMCIA U.S. Robotics Wireless Card 2410 Prism-II PCMCIA YIS YWL-11B Prism-II PCMCIA
Several vendors sell PCI adapters built around the PLX Tech
nology 9050 or 9052 chip. The following such adapters are supported or ex
pected to work:
3Com AirConnect 3CRWE777A (3.3V) Belkin F5D6000 (a rebadged WL11000P) Eumitcom WL11000P Global Sun Technology GL24110P (untested) Global Sun Technology GL24110P02 LinkSys WDT11 (a rebadged GL24110P02) Netgear MA301 US Robotics 2415 (rebadged WL11000P) Wisecom Wireless LAN PCI Adapter
The following adapters have the same model numbers as those
listed above, but might not work if the actual card is after the change
away from the Prism family:
DLink DWL520

EXAMPLES

Join an existing BSS network (ie: connect to an access
point):: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00
Join a specific BSS network with network name ``my_net'':: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid; my_net
Join a specific BSS network with WEP encryption:: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid; my_net wepmode on wepkey 0x8736639624
Join a Lucent legacy demo ad-hoc network with network name
``my_net'':: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.20 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid; my_net media DS/11Mbps mediaopt adhoc,link0
Join/create an IBSS network with network name ``my_net'':: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.22 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid; my_net media DS/11Mbps mediaopt adhoc
Create a host-based access point (Prism only):: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid; my_ap media DS/11Mbps mediaopt hostap
Create a host-based access point with WEP enabled (Prism on
ly):: ifconfig wi0 inet 192.168.0.10 netmask 0xffffff00 ssid; my_ap wepmode on wepkey 0x1234567890 media; DS/11Mbps mediaopt hostap
Create a host-based wireless bridge to fxp0 (Prism only):: ifconfig wi0 inet up ssid my_ap media DS/11Mbps me; diaopt hostap
sysctl net.inet.ip.check_interface=0
ifconfig bridge0 create
ifconfig bridge0 addm wi0 addm fxp0 up
This will give you the same functionality as an access
point.

DIAGNOSTICS

wi%d: init failed The WaveLAN card failed to become ready
after an initialization command was issued.
wi%d: failed to allocate %d bytes on NIC The driver was un
able to allocate memory for transmit frames in the NIC's on-board RAM.
This can also be an indication of an incorrectly configured interrupt.
wi%d: device timeout The WaveLAN card failed to generate an
interrupt to acknowledge a transmit command.

HISTORY

The wi device driver first appeared in FreeBSD 3.0.

AUTHORS

The wi driver was written by Bill Paul
<wpaul@ctr.columbia.edu>. This man page comes from OpenBSD.

CAVEATS

Different regulatory domains have different default channels
for adhoc mode. See ifconfig(8) for information on how to change the
channel. See wicontrol(8) for information on different regulatory do
mains.
The Intersil Prism family of chips' host-based access point
mode has bugs for station firmware versions prior to 0.8.3. The driver
currently precludes hostap functionality with older station firmware.
The best version of the station firmware for the Prism family of chips
seems to be 1.4.9. Some users of Prism-II and 2.5 based cards report
that station firmware version 1.3.4 works better for them in hostap than
1.4.9. Older versions of the Prism station firmware have a number of is
sues with hostap mode. The IBSS/adhoc mode appears to work well on
station firmware 1.3.1 and later. The IBSS/adhoc mode appears to
have problems for some people with older versions of station firmware.
Lucent cards prior to firmware version 6.0.6 do not support
IBSS mode. These cards support only the pre-802.11 mode known as ``demo
ad-hoc mode'' which does not interoperate with stations in IBSS
mode.
Prism cards prior to version 0.8.0 do not support IBSS mode.
Symbol cards prior to version 2.50.00 do not support IBSS
mode.

BUGS

Not all the new messages are documented here, and many of
them are indications of transient errors that are not indications of se
rious problems.
WL200 PCI wireless cards are based on a Cirrus Logic CL
PD6729 bridge chips glued to an Intersil Prism-II PCMCIA chipset w/o the
PC Card form factor being present. These chips are special and require
special care
to use properly. One must set hw.pcic.pd6729_intr_path="2"
in /boot/loader.conf. This tells the PC Card system to use PCI
interrupts for this odd beast. It is not possible to know automatical
ly which kind of interrupts to use. OLDCARD devices (pcic(4) and card(4))
support this device. NEWCARD devices (pccbb(4) and pccard(4)) do not
support it at this time.
BSD July 16, 2005

docs.sk

comprehensive documentation repository

See also

wi(4)

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLES

DIAGNOSTICS

SEE ALSO

HISTORY

AUTHORS

CAVEATS

BUGS