[Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

vanquish · 2013-12-28 18:05:02

hi everyone,

i've changed from debian to archlinux. system works just fine. most things are done.

one thing is nonsatisfying solved (only a comfort issue )

i've got two wlan adapters on my laptop. one is integrated. the other one is an usb adapter (i need it for some reason!).

both working just fine if using them seperately (wap_supplicant/wpa_gui). wpa_gui is showing only one adapter (initialized by wpa_supplicant; only one is possible?).

as interfaces/ifup etc. is not the usual/expected way to do those things @ arch linux i want to ask if it's possible to manage both interfaces showing up @ wpa_gui to choose that one i'm intended use. i don't need a gui for this! any other automatic way to manage things would help (netctl?).

maybe there is a tutorial about this specific topic i've not seen.

thank's in advance and sorry for my bad english.

//edit: Issue is solved.

Last edited by vanquish (2013-12-29 18:06:04)

WonderWoofy · 2013-12-28 18:51:50

I think that unless you describe why it is that you need two devices, it will be pretty hard to help you. 'Some reason' is not really an explanation of the desired goal.

Edit: Also, welcome to the Arch Linux Forums and Arch Linux in general. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Last edited by WonderWoofy (2013-12-28 18:52:15)

vanquish · 2013-12-29 18:04:20

thank you for your reply WonderWoofy.

well the reason why i'm doing this is:

it is not possible to change the integrated wlan chip on my notebook (due to bios lock; no patching possible - it's crypted ).
it's a damn broadcom chip with weak drivers for linux. the outcome of this is a poor signal quality.
if i'm more far away from my wlan i'm loosing connection sometimes.
--> for better performance i've got a wlan stick for usb.

but in the meanwhile i've solved my problem installing network-manager (recognizing both adapters).
now i can choose which one i want to use. the only thing i had to do was to fix the ifnames (udev-rule).

Issue is solved.

Last edited by vanquish (2013-12-29 18:04:56)

WonderWoofy · 2013-12-29 18:12:31

I have a broadcom BMC43228 and it is not supported by open drivers. But I am able to use broadcom's wl driver and it works quite well. Have you looked into the broadcom Arch Wiki page? I also find this table on the b43 wireless page to be quite helpful in determining what options might be available for a given broadcom card.

Last edited by WonderWoofy (2013-12-29 18:12:48)

vanquish · 2013-12-29 18:40:51

well I've already got broadcom-wl-dkms from aur. the driver works. but the signal strength is about ~ -60 dbm (0,5 m from the wlan router). that is very poor. i would expect ~ -20 dbm. the router works just fine. the signal is good with my android phone and my other notebook (intel wlan). formerly installed windows 8 and it's drivers were a bit better ~ -40 dbm. the chipset is a broadcom bcm 4313 14e4:4727. it's just a poor piece of hardware with poor drivers.

WonderWoofy · 2013-12-29 18:46:37

The b43 page I linked above seems to indicate that card is also supported by the in-tree kernel module as well (brcm80211), does that work at all? I'm honestly just curious, as I have not come across one of these chipsets before.

Also, I'm also curious as to what kind of machine you have there. I have a Lenovo Edge E430, and although it took quite a bit of research and hunting, I was able to find every possible wireless card that is compatible with this whitelist. I have three of those cards, the only one that is truly shitty is the Realtek.

vanquish · 2013-12-29 19:15:51

b43 .. disconnects
brcmsmac .. no chance to get suitable firmware ... kernel fw initializing failed ... latest firmware (git) failed to load fw during boot
broadcom-wl is the best i've got

i have to say that it's a bit confusing as so many versions around. maybe there is a better solution!?
i would prefer the brcmsmac solution ... but i've no clue how to get the right firmware.

P.S. It's an Lenovo B590. ^^

Last edited by vanquish (2013-12-29 19:16:23)

WonderWoofy · 2013-12-29 19:30:42

Interesting indeed. Thanks for answering my inquiries.

I have no idea about the non-Thinkpad line of Lenovo's, but for the Thinkpad line they make available all kinds of documentation. There is a pdf of FRU (Field Replaceable Unit) numbers for specific machines. I fear though with the Lenovo machines, there isn't the same kind of build options per model, so it may actually be limited to only that one FRU in the whitelist.

vanquish · 2013-12-29 19:44:22

you're welcome.

most things on this machine working like on thinkpad machines ... thinkpad_acpi & keys.

WonderWoofy · 2013-12-29 23:26:50

Yeah that is interesting that it uses the thinkpad_acpi.

tomk · 2013-12-30 00:48:03

Glad you got it working, just thought I'd add that your thread title is misleading. You don't need to "manage two wlan adapters", you need to get just one of them working satisfactorily. You evidently prefer your USB device, so all you have to do is not load a driver for the Broadcom device.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-12-28 18:05:02

[Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#2 2013-12-28 18:51:50

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#3 2013-12-29 18:04:20

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#4 2013-12-29 18:12:31

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#5 2013-12-29 18:40:51

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#6 2013-12-29 18:46:37

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#7 2013-12-29 19:15:51

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#8 2013-12-29 19:30:42

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#9 2013-12-29 19:44:22

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#10 2013-12-29 23:26:50

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

#11 2013-12-30 00:48:03

Re: [Solved] Managing TWO WLAN Adapters

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