Re: Suggestions for a wireless chipset for 802.11s and/or hostap mode

Hey Bjoern,

Thank you for taking the time to respond!

On Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 08:31:10PM +0000, Bjoern A. Zeeb wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Jun 2024, Shawn Webb wrote:
> 
> > On Thu, Jun 13, 2024 at 11:21:22PM +0000, Shawn Webb wrote:
> > > Hey all,
> > > 
> > > Given either an m.2 or mPCIe interface, what would be my best option
> > > for a wireless network adapter that, at a minimum, supports hostap
> > > mode? Hoping for 802.11n or 802.11ac for hostap mode.
> 
> 11n the options are documented for the drivers and nothing has changed
> in years.  Theres a few options to pick from if you want hostap.
> Most of that hardware is a decade old.
> 
> 11ac nothing there yet.
> 
> > > I know mesh networking isn't supported (yet) on FreeBSD. I'm hoping
> 
> Sorry, but mesh is in FreeBSD (or at least a state of it) and has been
> for ages.  People used to use it on research in the past.
> I believe it is even compiled in by default these days:
> 
> % grep -r MESH sys/*/conf/*
> sys/amd64/conf/GENERIC:options  IEEE80211_SUPPORT_MESH  # enable 802.11s draft support
> sys/i386/conf/GENERIC:options   IEEE80211_SUPPORT_MESH  # enable 802.11s draft support
> sys/powerpc/conf/GENERIC:options        IEEE80211_SUPPORT_MESH
> sys/powerpc/conf/GENERIC64:options      IEEE80211_SUPPORT_MESH  # enable 802.11s draft support
> sys/powerpc/conf/GENERIC64LE:options    IEEE80211_SUPPORT_MESH  # enable 802.11s draft support

Back in 2018, 802.11s support wasn't functionally complete. I had
tried to set up a mesh network with multiple PC-Engines devices, each
using an ath(4) card. Consulting the resident wifi guru back then,
Adrian Chadd, I learned that the wireless mesh implementation still
had a long ways to go before it could be used in production.

Has something changed since then?

I have a couple PC-Engines devices with ath(4) cards gathering dust.
Perhaps I'll try a test deployment of 802.11s and report back.

Thanks,

-- 
Shawn Webb
Cofounder / Security Engineer
HardenedBSD

Tor-ified Signal: +1 303-901-1600 / shawn_webb_opsec.50
https://git.hardenedbsd.org/hardenedbsd/pubkeys/-/raw/master/Shawn_Webb/03A4CBEBB82EA5A67D9F3853FF2E67A277F8E1FA.pub.asc