Can't see wifi on channel 13

Phalkon · 2016-03-23 17:00:37

Hi,

a wifi I was using for some time suddenly disappeared from the Network Manager menu.
I did manage to catch one beacon with airodump and discovered that it is on channel 13.
I'm not sure if it was moved to channel 13 or if it was always on the same channel. Nevertheless I tried creating directory "modrobe.d" in "etc" and a file "options" in the directory with following line:

options cfg80211 ieee80211_regdom="EU"

as instructed here: https://www.linuxquestions.org/question … -a-774287/
However it did not help.

When I tried using installation cd of arch linux, I was able to see the wifi and connect to it without problems.

I tried 2 wifi cards. Broadcom and USB Atheros. Neither could see the wifi.

I don't have access to the router and given that I am the only one who has problems and that these problems started recently, I don't want to bother anyone to change the channel. I think that the problem is on my side. And I really doubt that the admin changed the channel as there is no need to do such a thing.

But what could cause my laptop not to see channel 13? Given that I tried 2 seperate wifi cards, it shouldn't be cause by a card or its driver. (certainly it's not the card itself, because I can connect to the wifi using livecd).
Any ideas what could cause this?

Last edited by Phalkon (2016-03-23 17:02:55)

ugjka · 2016-03-23 17:16:26

Try iw reg set EU

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wi … ory_domain

Phalkon · 2016-03-23 18:07:24

wiki wrote:

Note: Your device may be set to country "00", which is the "world regulatory domain" and contains generic settings. If this cannot be unset, CRDA may be misconfigured.

I had to reinstall crda and now I can change the regdomain.

But even if I change it to Japan:

$  iw reg get
global
country JP: DFS-JP
	(2402 - 2482 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
	(2474 - 2494 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-OFDM
	(4910 - 4990 @ 40), (N/A, 23), (N/A)
	(5030 - 5090 @ 40), (N/A, 23), (N/A)
	(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW
	(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW
	(5490 - 5710 @ 160), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS
	(59000 - 66000 @ 2160), (N/A, 10), (N/A)

global
country JP: DFS-JP
	(2402 - 2482 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
	(2474 - 2494 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-OFDM
	(4910 - 4990 @ 40), (N/A, 23), (N/A)
	(5030 - 5090 @ 40), (N/A, 23), (N/A)
	(5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), AUTO-BW
	(5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW
	(5490 - 5710 @ 160), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS
	(59000 - 66000 @ 2160), (N/A, 10), (N/A)

I still get a list of only 11 frequencies, even though there are 14 allowed in Japan : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_W … e_concerns

$  iw list | grep -A 15 Frequencies:
		Frequencies:
			* 2412 MHz [1] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2417 MHz [2] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2422 MHz [3] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2427 MHz [4] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2432 MHz [5] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2437 MHz [6] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2442 MHz [7] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2447 MHz [8] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2452 MHz [9] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2457 MHz [10] (20.0 dBm)
			* 2462 MHz [11] (20.0 dBm)
	Supported commands:
		 * new_interface
		 * set_interface
		 * new_key

Last edited by Phalkon (2016-03-23 18:33:52)

Phalkon · 2016-04-16 12:21:25

At this point I would say that it's either a hardware or a driver problem.

Does anybody know if my wifi card (Broadcom Corporation BCM43227 802.11b/g/n) can connect to channels higher than 11?

Or is it a driver problem? I tried broadcom-wl and b43-firmware, but neither could see wifi signals on channels higher than 11.

R00KIE · 2016-04-16 13:14:01

You should check the output of dmesg. I believe some cards specify a country/region that is intersected with what you configure in crda, so you can end up with more restrictions that what is specified in crda.

graysky · 2016-04-16 13:20:47

I can't add to the technical discussion, but if you're wanting channel 13 because you think it will offer freedom from interference, that isn't true as far as I know: https://www.quora.com/Would-choosing-ch … connection

Phalkon · 2016-04-16 23:07:49

I didn't find anything in dmesg, but I tried to include everything useful.

[   13.139909] bcma: bus0: Found chip with id 43227, rev 0x00 and package 0x08
[   13.139938] bcma: bus0: Core 0 found: ChipCommon (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x800, rev 0x25, class 0x0)
[   13.139962] bcma: bus0: Core 1 found: IEEE 802.11 (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x812, rev 0x1E, class 0x0)
[   13.140009] bcma: bus0: Core 2 found: PCIe (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x820, rev 0x12, class 0x0)
[   13.140033] bcma: bus0: Core 3 found: SDIO Device (manuf 0x4BF, id 0x829, rev 0x07, class 0x0)
[   13.151251] bcma: bus0: Bus registered
[   15.845251] b43-phy0: Broadcom 43227 WLAN found (core revision 30)
[   15.845962] b43-phy0: Found PHY: Analog 9, Type 4 (N), Revision 16
[   15.845972] b43-phy0: Found Radio: Manuf 0x17F, ID 0x2057, Revision 9, Version 1
[   16.356124] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
[   16.498185] b43 bcma0:1 wlp3s0b1: renamed from wlan0
[   29.046980] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   47.125011] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   48.194897] b43 bcma0:1 wlp3s0b1: disabling HT/VHT due to WEP/TKIP use
[   50.788661] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   51.175350] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   51.349610] b43 bcma0:1 wlp3s0b1: disabling HT/VHT due to WEP/TKIP use
[   51.862081] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   52.322073] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   52.632696] b43 bcma0:1 wlp3s0b1: disabling HT/VHT due to WEP/TKIP use
[   53.168823] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   54.072247] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   55.227882] b43 bcma0:1 wlp3s0b1: disabling HT/VHT due to WEP/TKIP use
[   56.239049] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)
[   59.522640] b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 784.2 (2012-08-15 21:35:19)

Also, the "iw reg" resets itself to GB on reboot. But GB should see channel 13 anyway, so that shouldn't matter.
I have usb atheros that works fine... guess I should just buy atheros card. Broadcom is simply buggy on linux.

Or there is a chance that the card simply can't see channels higher than 11, but I would rather bet on linux drivers (mosty because I don't want to install windows just to make sure).

headkase · 2016-04-17 00:52:20

Is the broadcom hardware built-in or is it a separate card? If separate, which country was it purchased in? Which country do you live in?

Phalkon · 2016-04-19 10:15:13

It is mini wifi PCIe card which came with the laptop, purchased in Czech Republic which is the country I currently live in.

R00KIE · 2016-04-19 11:21:51

Just now I have noticed that crda is not working properly. Usually crda is called to updated the regdom to whatever you have configured in /etc/conf.d/wireless-regdom and you should see some messages from cfg80211 in dmesg but it isn't working.

I wonder if crda (or something else) is broken and no one noticed it or if things are handled differently now and it is me who haven't noticed the change.

Edit:
Looking though the journal history and pacman logs, things seem to have broken after an update to the kernel, linux (4.4.5-1 -> 4.5-1).

Last edited by R00KIE (2016-04-19 11:25:10)

Arch Linux

#1 2016-03-23 17:00:37

Can't see wifi on channel 13

#2 2016-03-23 17:16:26

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#3 2016-03-23 18:07:24

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#4 2016-04-16 12:21:25

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#5 2016-04-16 13:14:01

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#6 2016-04-16 13:20:47

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#7 2016-04-16 23:07:49

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#8 2016-04-17 00:52:20

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#9 2016-04-19 10:15:13

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

#10 2016-04-19 11:21:51

Re: Can't see wifi on channel 13

Board footer