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JohnnySSH

Member

Registered: 2013-05-04

Posts: 82

Edimax EW-7733UnD wireless driver support for 5GHz access

Hi,

I've recently bought a USB wireless adapter: Edimax EW-7733UnD:

http://www.edimax.co.uk/en/support_deta … &pl2_id=44

and couldn't find any Linux drivers for it from the manufacturers site.....

Currently the stick works really well using the RT3573STA driver from the AUR.... :-)

However, I was just wondering if the driver supported the "extended" rate of the stick which is claimed at 450Mbps or if it would work with 5GHz access points either?

My Cisco 1142 access point has dual radios for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz however, I am unable to detect the 5GHz range at all??

iwlist comes up with the 5GHz range supported:

ra0       17 channels in total; available frequencies :
          Channel 01 : 2.412 GHz
          Channel 02 : 2.417 GHz
          Channel 03 : 2.422 GHz
          Channel 04 : 2.427 GHz
          Channel 05 : 2.432 GHz
          Channel 06 : 2.437 GHz
          Channel 07 : 2.442 GHz
          Channel 08 : 2.447 GHz
          Channel 09 : 2.452 GHz
          Channel 10 : 2.457 GHz
          Channel 11 : 2.462 GHz
          Channel 12 : 2.467 GHz
          Channel 13 : 2.472 GHz
          Channel 36 : 5.18 GHz
          Channel 40 : 5.2 GHz
          Channel 44 : 5.22 GHz
          Channel 48 : 5.24 GHz
          Current Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)

My access point is setup for 5GHz and another one of my machines, a Lenovo X220 connects fine to the selected band.

In addition the access point supports rates up to 300Mbps and currently I seem to only be connecting at a rate of up to 144Mbps:

ra0       Ralink STA  ESSID:"essid"  Nickname:"RT2870STA"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.457 GHz  Access Point: <MAC>   
          Bit Rate=65 Mb/s   
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Link Quality=100/100  Signal level:-55 dBm  Noise level:-69 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

so I was wondering about the extended rate too if that is/or would be supported?

Though am really happy with it as it's really stable and got excellent range :-)

Thanks.

JohnnySSH

Member

Registered: 2013-05-04

Posts: 82

Re: Edimax EW-7733UnD wireless driver support for 5GHz access

Ok turns out that this was more of an "Access Point" issue then the actual NIC itself.

This is a great guide:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireles … annel.html

Hence by setting the "channel" variable in the Cisco IOS one can actually "match up" the two devices:

iwlist ra0 freq

          Channel 36 : 5.18 GHz
          Channel 40 : 5.2 GHz
          Channel 44 : 5.22 GHz
          Channel 48 : 5.24 GHz

...meaning that if one tests the AP frequency spectrum between 36-48 the NIC will detect it. Then it's just a matter of seeing which one is the least congested in order to get the highest data-rate (b/w).

As can be seen below; channel 40 achieves a bitrate of 300Mbps. The "Dynamic Frequency Selection" DFS won't operate on a compatible channel so the NIC's transceiver and filters won't be able to detect or select the appropriate frequency range.

          Cell 08 - Address: 10:BD:18:C8:A6:A1
                    Protocol:802.11a/n
                    ESSID:"<>"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:5.2 GHz (Channel 40)
                    Quality=42/100  Signal level=-73 dBm  Noise level=-68 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:300 Mb/s
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : CCMP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK

Some more information can be found here:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireles … #wp1037361

Hence the actual specs of the AP:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collate … 02793.html

Last edited by JohnnySSH (2013-10-02 18:50:48)