On 12/29/05, James K. Lowden <jklowden@schemamania.org> wrote:
> I wonder if someone could help me debug a wifi (non)connection?  ifconfig
> and wiconfig seem to say wi0 is working, but tcpdump shows no traffic and
> the client can't see it.
>
> The NetBSD end is meant to be an access point:
>
> $ dmesg | grep wi0
> wi0 at pci0 dev 14 function 0: Intersil Prism2.5 Wireless Lan
> wi0: interrupting at irq 5
> wi0: 802.11 address 00:60:b3:6d:8c:c6
> wi0: using RF:PRISM2.5 MAC:ISL3874A(Mini-PCI)
> wi0: Intersil Firmware: Primary (1.1.1), Station (1.8.0)
> wi0: 11b rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps
>
> The other end is an iBook running OS X.  It reports no signal (even only =
a
> few feet away) although it works in other wireless environments with no
> problem.  My understanding is that both the Mac Airport card and the
> Intersil are 802.11b.
>
> NetBSD's tcpdump reports no packets between the interfaces, although the
> iBook sees my neighbors' packets.
>
> Status output follows.  How can I figure out which end is broken?
>
> Many thanks for any advice.
>
> --jkl
>
>
> Here's the status of wi0:
>
> $ ifconfig wi0
> wi0: flags=3D8863<UP,BROADCAST,NOTRAILERS,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu
> 1500
>         ssid forest nwkey *****
>         powersave off
>         bssid 00:60:b3:6d:8c:c6 chan 3
>         address: 00:60:b3:6d:8c:c6
>         media: IEEE802.11 autoselect hostap (DS2 hostap)
>         status: active
>         inet 192.168.2.254 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
>
> and the wiconfig output:
>
> NIC serial number:                      [ 99SA01000000 ]
> Station name:                           [  ]
> SSID for IBSS creation:                 [ forest ]
> Current netname (SSID):                 [ forest ]
> Desired netname (SSID):                 [ forest ]
> Current BSSID:                          [ 00:60:b3:6d:8c:c6 ]
> Channel list:                           [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ]
> IBSS channel:                           [ 3 ]
> Current channel:                        [ 3 ]
> Comms quality/signal/noise:             [ 0 81 27 ]
> Promiscuous mode:                       [ Off ]
> Port type:                              [ 6 ]
> MAC address:                            [ 00:60:b3:6d:8c:c6 ]
> TX rate (selection):                    [ 0 ]
> TX rate (actual speed):                 [ 2 ]
> Beacon Interval (current) [msec]:       [ 100 ]
> Maximum data length:                    [ 2304 ]
> RTS/CTS handshake threshold:            [ 2347 ]
> fragmentation threshold:                [ 2346 ]
> RSSI -> dBm adjustment:                 [ 100 ]
> Create IBSS:                            [ Off ]
> Microwave oven robustness:              [ 0 ]
> Roaming mode(1:firm,3:disable):         [ 1 ]
> Access point density:                   [ 1 ]
> Power Mgmt (1=3Don, 0=3Doff):               [ 0 ]
> Max sleep time (msec):                  [ 100 ]
> Vendor info:                            [ Unknown ID: 31 version: 1.8 ]
> WEP encryption:                         [ On ]
> Authentication type
> (1=3DOpenSys, 2=3DShared Key):              [ 1 ]
> TX encryption key:                      [ 1 ]
> Encryption keys:                        [  ][  ][  ][  ]

First question: If your mac box can see your neighbor's network, is
your NetBSD box in the same proximity so that it should be able to see
as well? If so, wiconfig -D can at least show if it can see anything.

Maybe I missed this, but are you sure the adapter in the NetBSD box
works in another box? I hate to ask those types of questions of
someone who's been around the block :)

Andy