6 ms·

FreeBSD Cope with WiFi Fuckup

42 points by yarapavan 4y ago

paulcarroty 4y ago
FreeBSD Cope: writing drivers is boring, just install Linuxator for everything.
- toast0 4y ago
  Writing drivers is boring and shitty, especially when the hardware manufacturer won't give anybody actual documentation. If your choice is porting a Linux driver because it's the closest thing to documentation or just making the Linux driver run in the system with compat shims, then compat shims is the way.
jopnv 4y ago
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  What bad advice are you seeing here?
  - striking 4y ago
    Maybe GP is reacting strictly to the title and doesn't realize it's an article about coping with FreeBSD's WiFi issues.
  - jopnv 4y ago
    Anything other than “switch to another OS” is bad advice.
    - smoldesu 4y ago
      What's a suitable drop-in replacement for FreeBSD?
      - rnd0 4y ago
        For wifi? Windows. /me takes tongue out of cheek
      - CoolCold 4y ago
        Coming from the reverse, "what is FreeBSD suitable drop-in for". Personally I don't know the answer, may be OpenBSD? On end user side I believe 3 other major players - Windows, Macos, Linux are better nowadays.
- ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago
  > I can make up bad advice too. For example: forget about your wifi troubles, turn off your computer and go outside. In fact, that's quite good advice.
binkHN 4y ago
Yes, fast Wi-Fi is a challenge with the BSDs. That said, the venerable OpenBSD supports 11ac for some chipsets.
daneel_w 4y ago
OpenBSD is in the same situation, and it's particularly bad in the case of running the interface in HostAP mode (Wi-Fi access point). How I cope: a $30 Wi-Fi "range extender" whose hobbled firmware I supplanted with OpenWRT, now operating in bridged mode as an extension of my LAN.
- anthk 4y ago
  OpenBSD's wifi support it's far better.
  - daneel_w 4y ago
    Maybe in a relative sense, but OpenBSD's Wi-Fi situation is poor. Period.
    - midislack 4y ago
      It's actually great, it just doesn't always support the newest standards.
yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
I wonder how hard it would be to port this to illumos. I think all the underlying technology is already there (bhyve, mostly), although I suspect the networking tools are different enough that that would require some work. Edit: I wrote this about wifibox, although reskimming over the page a lot of the rest of the advice really does work there as well. In broad strokes, this page really does amount to a list of ways to get Wi-Fi or at least network access if your operating system doesn't natively support the Wi-Fi card actually in your laptop. Even running Linux in a virtual machine with the hardware passed through would probably work on ex. Haiku just with the details changed.
- tialaramex 4y ago
  > would probably work on ex. Haiku just with the details changed. Haiku doesn't have virtualization so you can't make this work.
giomasce 4y ago
A few years ago Linux used Windows drivers via ndiswrapper. Now BSD uses Linux drivers via virtualization. The circle of life.
- drewg123 4y ago
  FreeBSD used Windows NDIS binary drivers as well. The current way FreeBSD runs Linux drivers is by providing compat shims, not via any virtualization.
  - cperciva 4y ago
    Some people are running wifi via a Linux in bhyve (wifibox). Making it easier to port Linux drivers to run in native FreeBSD (via linuxkpi) is definitely a better route though.
    - drewg123 4y ago
      Ah, I hadn't realized that (though I should have, I have passed devices through to bhyve as well). I actually think running RHEL binary drivers (where there is a defined KBI), might be the best route.
dddddaviddddd 4y ago
Personally I find that wifibox is seamless, giving me modern 802.11ac speeds on my FreeBSD laptop. Not ideal, of course, but it removes a major pain point.
- dilippkumar 4y ago
  Unrelated: What's the current state of FreeBSD on a laptop? What's the recommended hardware setup? Is it something I'd feel confident travelling with as my primary computing machine?
  - vermaden 4y ago
    It all depends on your needs. I am using FreeBSD on my desktops/laptops since about 2006. I work with Linux systems (mostly RHEL/SLES/Ubuntu) and some other UNIX systems daily and I still prefer to use FreeBSD for its features and simplicity. More about these here: - https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/quare-freebsd/ https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/quare-freebsd/ You can use for example ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th edition for some more modern hardware. I really love this old 7-row classic ThinkPad keyboard so I use ThinkPad W520 from 2011 (last one with such keyboard). Here is a list with FreeBSD laptops with various features tested: - https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops I write and maintain my own 'FreeBSD Desktop' series here: - https://vermaden.wordpress.com/freebsd-desktop/ https://vermaden.wordpress.com/freebsd-desktop/ ... but there are plenty of other such guides - just type "FreeBSD laptop" or "FreeBSD desktop" to get more howtos. Regards.
- edgyquant 4y ago
  I’ve found people are just use to their OS. None of them are seamless.

42 points by yarapavan 4y ago

paulcarroty 4y ago

FreeBSD Cope: writing drivers is boring, just install Linuxator for everything.

toast0 4y ago
Writing drivers is boring and shitty, especially when the hardware manufacturer won't give anybody actual documentation. If your choice is porting a Linux driver because it's the closest thing to documentation or just making the Linux driver run in the system with compat shims, then compat shims is the way.

jopnv 4y ago

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
What bad advice are you seeing here?
- striking 4y ago
  Maybe GP is reacting strictly to the title and doesn't realize it's an article about coping with FreeBSD's WiFi issues.
- jopnv 4y ago
  Anything other than “switch to another OS” is bad advice.
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    What's a suitable drop-in replacement for FreeBSD?
    - rnd0 4y ago
      For wifi? Windows. /me takes tongue out of cheek
    - CoolCold 4y ago
      Coming from the reverse, "what is FreeBSD suitable drop-in for". Personally I don't know the answer, may be OpenBSD? On end user side I believe 3 other major players - Windows, Macos, Linux are better nowadays.
ThePowerOfFuet 4y ago
> I can make up bad advice too. For example: forget about your wifi troubles, turn off your computer and go outside. In fact, that's quite good advice.

binkHN 4y ago

Yes, fast Wi-Fi is a challenge with the BSDs. That said, the venerable OpenBSD supports 11ac for some chipsets.

daneel_w 4y ago

OpenBSD is in the same situation, and it's particularly bad in the case of running the interface in HostAP mode (Wi-Fi access point). How I cope: a $30 Wi-Fi "range extender" whose hobbled firmware I supplanted with OpenWRT, now operating in bridged mode as an extension of my LAN.

anthk 4y ago
OpenBSD's wifi support it's far better.
- daneel_w 4y ago
  Maybe in a relative sense, but OpenBSD's Wi-Fi situation is poor. Period.
  - midislack 4y ago
    It's actually great, it just doesn't always support the newest standards.

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago

I wonder how hard it would be to port this to illumos. I think all the underlying technology is already there (bhyve, mostly), although I suspect the networking tools are different enough that that would require some work. Edit: I wrote this about wifibox, although reskimming over the page a lot of the rest of the advice really does work there as well. In broad strokes, this page really does amount to a list of ways to get Wi-Fi or at least network access if your operating system doesn't natively support the Wi-Fi card actually in your laptop. Even running Linux in a virtual machine with the hardware passed through would probably work on ex. Haiku just with the details changed.

tialaramex 4y ago
> would probably work on ex. Haiku just with the details changed. Haiku doesn't have virtualization so you can't make this work.

giomasce 4y ago

A few years ago Linux used Windows drivers via ndiswrapper. Now BSD uses Linux drivers via virtualization. The circle of life.

drewg123 4y ago
FreeBSD used Windows NDIS binary drivers as well. The current way FreeBSD runs Linux drivers is by providing compat shims, not via any virtualization.
- cperciva 4y ago
  Some people are running wifi via a Linux in bhyve (wifibox). Making it easier to port Linux drivers to run in native FreeBSD (via linuxkpi) is definitely a better route though.
  - drewg123 4y ago
    Ah, I hadn't realized that (though I should have, I have passed devices through to bhyve as well). I actually think running RHEL binary drivers (where there is a defined KBI), might be the best route.

dddddaviddddd 4y ago

Personally I find that wifibox is seamless, giving me modern 802.11ac speeds on my FreeBSD laptop. Not ideal, of course, but it removes a major pain point.

dilippkumar 4y ago
Unrelated: What's the current state of FreeBSD on a laptop? What's the recommended hardware setup? Is it something I'd feel confident travelling with as my primary computing machine?
- vermaden 4y ago
  It all depends on your needs. I am using FreeBSD on my desktops/laptops since about 2006. I work with Linux systems (mostly RHEL/SLES/Ubuntu) and some other UNIX systems daily and I still prefer to use FreeBSD for its features and simplicity. More about these here: - https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/quare-freebsd/ https://vermaden.wordpress.com/2020/09/07/quare-freebsd/ You can use for example ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th edition for some more modern hardware. I really love this old 7-row classic ThinkPad keyboard so I use ThinkPad W520 from 2011 (last one with such keyboard). Here is a list with FreeBSD laptops with various features tested: - https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops https://wiki.freebsd.org/Laptops I write and maintain my own 'FreeBSD Desktop' series here: - https://vermaden.wordpress.com/freebsd-desktop/ https://vermaden.wordpress.com/freebsd-desktop/ ... but there are plenty of other such guides - just type "FreeBSD laptop" or "FreeBSD desktop" to get more howtos. Regards.
edgyquant 4y ago
I’ve found people are just use to their OS. None of them are seamless.