# Tell pls: Mini PCI-E Wi-Fi module with HOSTAP, Dual band



## ogogon (Dec 5, 2018)

Colleagues, tell me, please!

I need to find hardware for one project.
This should be a mini PCI-e Wi-Fi card, that supports HOSTAP mode. It is highly desirable that it be dual-band - 2.4 & 5 GHz. Without protocol 'n' - not suitable.
The formfactor can be any - and full and half.

(Of course, it should work stably with FreeBSD 11.2+)

*If someone knows the hardware that corresponds to these pipelines - please tell me his model.*
Thank you in advance for the answer to the essence of the question.

Ogogon.


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## SirDice (Dec 5, 2018)

ogogon said:


> It is highly desirable that it be dual-band - 2.4 & 5 GHz. Without protocol 'n' - not suitable.


That appears to be a _contradictio in terminis_. The 5Ghz band is only available on 802.11a, 802.11n and 802.11ac.


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## ogogon (Dec 5, 2018)

SirDice said:


> That appears to be a _contradictio in terminis_. The 5Ghz band is only available on 802.11a, 802.11n and 802.11ac.


And in this we have no subject for dispute. I wrote that I need 'n' necessarily!

By the way, do you have the answer to the question asked?

Ogogon.


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## Phishfry (Dec 5, 2018)

What form factor? MiniPCIe full length slot or half?
Atheros works great.
You emphasis on Dual Band is perplexing. FreeBSD + Linux can only use one band at a time (Per Radio-with 2 modules you can do dual band).
Lookup AR9380 on ebay for cheap dual band module. Mikrotik has nice modules but they are single band.
I am using this on my APU2:
https://mikrotik.com/product/R11e-5HnD


```
root@APU2:~ # pciconf -lv ath0
ath0@pci0:4:0:0:    class=0x028000 card=0xd01419b6 chip=0x0033168c rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Qualcomm Atheros'
    device     = 'AR958x 802.11abgn Wireless Network Adapter'
    class      = network
```


```
root@APU2:~ # ifconfig wlan0
wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    ether 4c:5e:0c:11:65:38
    hwaddr 4c:5e:0c:11:65:38
    inet 192.168.100.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.100.255
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
    media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect mode 11na <hostap>
    status: running
    ssid APU channel 157 (5785 MHz 11a ht/40+) bssid 4c:5e:0c:11:65:38
    regdomain FCC country US ecm authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy MIXED
    deftxkey 2 TKIP 2:128-bit TKIP 3:128-bit txpower 23 mcastrate 6
    mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60 ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 shortgi wme
    burst dtimperiod 1 -dfs
    groups: wlan
```


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## SirDice (Dec 5, 2018)

ogogon said:


> I wrote that I need 'n' necessarily!


Not exactly. Must be a language barrier because I understood you specifically did NOT want 802.11n. 



ogogon said:


> Without protocol 'n' - not suitable.


I read this as, "I don't want 11n, it's not suitable". And that would pretty much eliminate the 5 GHz band.



Phishfry said:


> FreeBSD + Linux can only use one band at a time.


I think most wireless access points. It may be dual-band but it's actually two separate wireless networks, at least that's how my LAPAC1750 works.


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## Phishfry (Dec 5, 2018)

I amended my answer to include dual radio scenario.
Browsing eBay I found a seller selling one of my favorite dual band modules: Ubiquity SR71. This price is awesome. These usually go for $50USD.
These are even good on laptops because they don't have a big heatsink like some others.


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## ogogon (Dec 5, 2018)

Phishfry said:


> What form factor? MiniPCIe full length slot or half?


In my case, both sizes are suitable.



Phishfry said:


> You emphasis on Dual Band is perplexing. FreeBSD + Linux can only use one band at a time (Per Radio-with 2 modules you can do dual band).


I apologize, but I have not been following the details of the development of this equipment for a long time.
It turns out that the gain from a dual-band adapter in the case of an access point is not very big. It will still be tuned to only one channel in only one of the two bands.

In other words, the developers set up two separate radio modules in dual-band access points. And the system sees them as separate two interfaces.
(By the way, can I run two instances of hostapd with different configuration files without conflict?)


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## ogogon (Dec 5, 2018)

SirDice said:


> Not exactly. Must be a language barrier because I understood you specifically did NOT want 802.11n.
> I read this as, "I don't want 11n, it's not suitable". And that would pretty much eliminate the 5 GHz band.


I apologize. You rightly noticed that English is not native for me and I, having no ill intent, made an ambiguous wording.



SirDice said:


> I think most wireless access points. It may be dual-band but it's actually two separate wireless networks, at least that's how my LAPAC1750 works.


Thank you, I already understood this from the explanation of our colleague.
Although it is strange for me. There are already adapters where simultaneously working Wi-Fi and Blueooth are combined in one module. It is logical to expect the appearance of devices where Wi-Fi adapters simultaneously working on different bands are combined.


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## Phishfry (Dec 6, 2018)

ogogon said:


> can I run two instances of hostapd with different configuration files without conflict


https://w1.fi/cgit/hostap/plain/hostapd/README


> If you have more that one wireless
> LAN card, you can use one hostapd process for multiple interfaces by
> giving a list of configuration files (one per interface) in the command



`hostapd -b /etc/hostapd_wlan0.conf /etc/hostapd_wlan1.conf`
You must create and populate these configuration files.

https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=222090
https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-wireless/2017-September/007786.html

My settings for a single interface.
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/help-plumbing-a-wireless-ap.60519/#post-348330


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