Which router(s) support 108 Mbps with the 11a/b/g II card?

[nonyNony]

I have recently attempted to configure the following products -


NetGear WGU624
D-Link DI-784
Linksys WRT55AG

to provide 108 Mbps [turbo] 802.11a connections with the 11a/b/g Mini PCI Adapter II card in my T43p, and have been unsuccessful to date.

I'm running -

Access Connections v3.71
Atheros Driver ar5211.sys v4.0.100.140

Also tried the "abolt/disableTurboG" registry tweaks to no avail.

The router vendors are telling me to go to IBM, and IBM isn't particularly interested in working with me on this.

Has anyone had sucess with any other Atheros chipset-based routers?

Perhaps turbo mode has been deliberately disabled by the IBM/Lenovo development folks for some valid reason.

Any insight would be appreciated.

-neil

[doppelfish]

Perhaps turbo mode has been deliberately disabled by the IBM/Lenovo development folks for some valid reason.

They haven't disabled anything. See this PcWorld article, which refers to this study, which, in turn, tell us that the 108Mbps "turbo" mode is a proprietary thing only found in Atheros equipment, and why you and those around you will be better off with the 'normal' 54Mbps as delivered by the good ol' 801.11g or 801.11a.

cheers,
-- fish

[Nolonemo]

Tom's Hardware had a somewhat deeper investigation, you can search their site for it if you're interested (Broadcom products suffer from it most). Of course, if you don't have any other networks around, you don't have to worry about the bad neigbor effect.

Bear in mind that super G only kicks in when your're transferring large files, so if you want to test it out, try transferring a GB file from PC to PC to really load the wifi system & look at your tx rate then. For small files you'll stay in 54 mpbs.

BTW, I'm using a DI-624 with the 3Com 108g xjack card (Atheros chipset) but don't get consistent SuperG on large transfers, but haven't bothered to really did into it.

[nonyNony]

Interesting articles. But my problem still remains -

I want to run in turbo mode, and cannot associate to any of the routers that I have tried using the 11a/b/g II card.

I am led to believe that this is doable, and pehaps its as simple as adding/modifying a few registry values.

Anyone have an IBM development contact in Research Triangle Park?

[Nolonemo]

Try removing access connections and using the atheros client software instead.

Atheros says this card uses the AR5001X+ chipset, to try using the latest driver, v4.1.2.56, here http://rapidshare.de/files/2273065/4.1. ... r.zip.html Should include the client software.

Remove access connections and the old drivers before installing.

If you're running XP, I recommend setting a system restore point first.

[nonyNony]

Thanks for the lead. I will cite your post tomorrow (if necessary) when I speak with the Atheros execs.

I have a problem with doing mumbo-jumbo installation exercises, so i won't do the ritual that you suggest. Plz don't take this the wrong way.

And I will also speak with FCC to get a clarification on the Broadcom v Atheros issues.

-neil

[Nolonemo]

I'm not sure what the mumbo jumbo part of what I suggested is. Sounds like being "right" is more important to you than getting the thing working.

[nonyNony]

I don't feel comfortable installing unsupported drivers, and would prefer to enable turbo mode via the appropriate registry settings.

Looks like there are roughly 150 parameters that can be applied to the IBM-supported driver to control the operational characteristics and protocols of the radio, some of which control "turbo" mode.

-neil

[GomJabbar]

I don't feel comfortable installing unsupported drivers, and would prefer to enable turbo mode via the appropriate registry settings.

Looks like there are roughly 150 parameters that can be applied to the IBM-supported driver to control the operational characteristics and protocols of the radio, some of which control "turbo" mode.

-neil

I understand that you would prefer a registry tweak, and I wish you well in finding one. I just thought I would put in my two cents worth.

I installed unsupported Intel drivers which I downloaded from the Intel website for my Intel 2200 BG wireless. The drivers were more stable than the supported drivers that I downloaded from IBM/Lenovo. The only problem was, they weren't compatible with Access Connections and I lost the Fn + F5 functionality for turning the wireless radio on and off. You gain and you lose. I found a workaround using the IBM supplied drivers so that I could get the Fn + F5 functionality back and still have stability.

IMHO installing unsupported drivers is not very risky except perhaps with CRT displays, and it's really not too hard to do. It could be worth it if your goal is important to you. Just make sure you have a copy of the installation program for the previous drivers in case the results aren't what you want - although you can usually just chose to roll back the driver to the previous version in device manager.

IMHO installing firmware updates is somewhat more risky. Often the update cannot be rolled back. You may be able to do this if you have a copy of the older firmware update software. However, manufacturers often don't have older firmware update software available for download. Sometimes a firmware update can damage a device if it doesn't install properly.

I've messed around in the registry and fixed a few things. But if you experiment around too much without keeping a record, you may forget all the changes you made if you want or need to go back to the original state.

[Nolonemo]

One last word on "unsupported drivers." The Atheros drivers I gave the OP a link to are the latest Atheros reference drivers. Once IBM gets around to it, they (like every other manufacturer that uses the Atheros chipset) will modify (and likely cripple certain features of) the reference drivers for use on their own card. I'd be more comfortable installing the reference drivers than editing my registry (though I've been known to do registry hacking when it was required in other situations). In any event, the risk to you from installing the Atheros reference drivers is virtually nil.

However, I would only apply IBM sanctioned firmware to the card. It's possible that IBM has crippled SuperG in the firmware, in which case you're SOL IMO, because in that case nothing you do in the drivers or registry will make a difference.

However, if the problem is crippled firmware, you might be able to unpack and edit the IBM firmware, if IBM has simply edited the Atheros reference firmware and commented out the code that enables certain features. See discussion on editing latest DI-624 firmware to enable Static Turbo in DLink forum on dslreports.com, towards the middle of this thread:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark, ... ~days=9999

[nonyNony]

wireless4laptop, reports success with turbo connections using the current version of Access Connections (3.71) and the IBM-supported driver (v4.0.100.140) , in the following thread -

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=11021

Who knows, maybe I can enable turbo too.

-neil

[nonyNony]

Here are my latest observations-

A profile that is created with Access Connections forces a value of NetBand that disables both dynamic and static turbo, in addition to the other SuperA/G performance enhancements

Specifically, NetBand is set to 0x01, 0x04, 0x08, 0x0D for 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and Auto, respectively, when using AC to create a profile.

NetBand is bit-mapped as follows

0 - 802.11a
1 - Super A
2 - 802.11b
3 - 802.11g
4 - Super G

Since AC sets bits 1 and 4 to zero, you won't get a performance-enhanced mode.


However, I have been able to create dynamic turbo profiles using the Atheros client Utility (ACU).

Specific registry values are -

wModeSelect = 31 ; enables the configuration of all of the supported wireless modes in the driver and allows ACU to configure them.

abolt = 5 or 7 or 31 or 63;
Bit-2 sets dynamic turbo
Bit-0 sets static turbo

(I have been using a value of 63)

capLinkSp = 0 ; required for 108 Mbps operation

disableTurboG = 0 ;required for static turbo (if supported by the hardware) not required for dynamic turbo.

The 11a/b/g will do static turboG. The 11a/b/g II will not do static turbo, using the above methods, but will do dynamic turbo in both the 2GHz and 5GHz bands.

I am still unable to set up an 802.11a adhoc mode connection using either AC or ACU or forced registry values.

Any ideas?

Please note that these findings are only applicable to the FCC-approved radios and drivers, when operating in the US.


-neil