Problems with RaLink rt61pci/rt2561 wifi card

[Adrian Chadd]

Hi,

It sounds like it could be:

* low TX power from your device;
* Really bad RX gain settings somehow;
* other fruity radio related stuff.

The trouble is going to be diagnosing it. What I do in these instances
is use a known-good setup (i have a bunch of laptops with AR9280's in
them for this reason) to use in monitor mode - I can then get a rough
estimate of TX power by just sniffing the frames your device is
sending.

That'd hopefully identify whether it's a TX or an RX problem.

If the device works in monitor mode, you could try that:

tcpdump -ni wlan0 -y IEEE802_11_RADIO

Connect, then walk away from the AP. See if the RX RSSI fields in the
tcpdump drop suddenly. If you get a few metres away and you're still
receiving things strong, it may be a TX issue. If you suddenly stop
hearing anything, it's likely an RX issue.

Good luck!


Adrian