# Compex WLE600VX WiFi AC => FreeBSD 12 support



## BSDPeta (Sep 30, 2020)

Hello,

I would like to ask about the current status of WIFI AC support on FreeBSD 12.x. Specifically, I am interested in the support of a Compex WLE600VX WiFi card, which I would like to run under OPNsense 20.7.x (based on FreeBSD 12). Currently the WIFI card is not recognized out of the box under OPNsense...


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## olli@ (Sep 30, 2020)

Currently, the best way to have _fast_ Wifi with FreeBSD is to connect an external AP (access point) with a LAN cable, and run the AP in bridge mode or client mode. I’ve been using a “Devolo Access Point One” like that, it works very well.


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## aponomarenko (Sep 30, 2020)

Is it 168c:003c? Try to find drivers by https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/new-hardware-database-for-bsd-systems.75651/ or https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-it-fits-bsd.76186/


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## olli@ (Sep 30, 2020)

aponomarenko said:


> Is it 168c:003c? Try to find drivers


No, that won’t work, because it’s not a question of just finding a driver. 
FreeBSDs WLAN stack currently does _not_ support 802.11ac (a.k.a. “WiFi 5”), let alone 802.11ax (a.k.a. “WiFi 6”).
Using an appropriate driver might get you WLAN access, but only with the older (and slower) B/G/N modes, not AC or AX.

As I mentioned above, currently the only way to get fast WLAN access with FreeBSD is to use an external access point in bridge/client mode.


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## aponomarenko (Sep 30, 2020)

olli@ said:


> No, that won’t work, because it’s not a question of just finding a driver.
> FreeBSDs WLAN stack currently does _not_ support 802.11ac (a.k.a. “WiFi 5”), let alone 802.11ax (a.k.a. “WiFi 6”).
> Using an appropriate driver might get you WLAN access, but only with the older (and slower) B/G/N modes, not AC or AX.
> 
> As I mentioned above, currently the only way to get fast WLAN access with FreeBSD is to use an external access point in bridge/client mode.



I doubt the driver for this old card (QCA986x/988x) exists in FreeBSD-*. Need this code to make it work somehow even in b/g/n mode.


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## T-Daemon (Sep 30, 2020)

aponomarenko said:


> Need this code to make it work somehow even in b/g/n mode.


There is a more active work on a ath10k driver:









						Compex WLE600VX Qualcomm-Atheros QCA9882 support · Issue #38 · erikarn/athp
					

Hello, Is this card Compex WLE600VX supported by this athp driver and does it support AP mode ? I plan to use it in OPNsense as an Wi-Fi AP. If so how do I compile this driver (I'm not very fam...




					github.com


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## T-Daemon (Sep 30, 2020)

Alternatively, to get 802.11ac on FreeBSD is using a Linux driver on OpenWRT or linux in bhyve:



			WiFi with AC on FreeBSD
		










						Solved - use a virtual network interface on a host?
					

Is there a way to use a virtual network interface on a physical FreeBSD host? TL;DR - yes - use epair interfaces.  Background: I have this new and quite cheap laptop (Lenovo ideapad 530S-14ARR). It was on outlet sale, therefore cheap. It doesn't have a wired ethernet interface, and the wireless...




					forums.freebsd.org


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## diizzy (Oct 1, 2020)

olli@ said:


> Currently, the best way to have _fast_ Wifi with FreeBSD is to connect an external AP (access point) with a LAN cable, and run the AP in bridge mode or client mode. I’ve been using a “Devolo Access Point One” like that, it works very well.


Indeed, I've been using this method for years just fine. OpenWrt (master/trunk) work really well with ath10k hardware/devices (ipq4018/19) but it's not for everyone.


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