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kaloz / mwlwifi

mac80211 driver for the Marvell 88W8864 802.11ac chip
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WRT12000 V1 txpower not adjustable #332

Closed schm0 closed 5 years ago

schm0 commented 6 years ago

Hi!

I have the feeling my wrt1200 v1 always uses the maximum tx power. When i set the tx power to something really low, like 1mw, i still get full signal on my devices. Distance is like ~3m and through 1 wall. iw shows the correct tx power. But this seems wrong to me. The v1 version should not have a power table that is locked by eeprom?

kubrickfr commented 6 years ago

This has been discussed ad-nauseum in the various issues here. For example: https://github.com/kaloz/mwlwifi/issues/291

This is not a technical problem, this is a problem with the interpretation of FCC rules

schm0 commented 6 years ago

No. The wrt1200 v1 doesn't use a power table that is locked by eeprom. So power levels should be adjustable. I think it is sending way over the allowed 100mw. All other devices around me, set to 100% power and same distance, giving me around 2-3 bars on my devices. While the wrt1200 gives me full bars most of the time.

I think all v2 devices use a eeprom locked power table.

yuhhaurlin: Sorry. If device is programmed with EEPROM power table, power can't be changed.

What is the purpose of having a power table in eeprom, when it is not possible to adjust the power (down)? So all v2 devices with eeprom locked power table are sending at max power all the time? Seems like a clear bug to me.

yuhhaurlin commented 5 years ago

Mwlwifi does not allow adjust power setting now.

schm0 commented 5 years ago

Isn't this a violation of FCC regulations?

yuhhaurlin commented 5 years ago

There is request to set lower power level, however mwlwifi doesn't support it now.

kubrickfr commented 5 years ago

There is request to set lower power level, however mwlwifi doesn't support it now.

Is there an issue to track the progress of this request?

yuhhaurlin commented 5 years ago

I think I have no time to implement it.

kubrickfr commented 5 years ago

This is very sad. Can you share with us what you're hoping to be able to achieve in the next quarter so that we can manage our expectations?

aaron1959 commented 5 years ago

It is a violation of F.C.C. rules to use "minimum power necessary to make reliable connection". The language seems to be the issue they can't understand the F.C.C. doesn't demand a locked power table.

BrainSlayer commented 5 years ago

a router without power reduction possiblity is really a mess. its part of the problem of the 2.4 ghz signal hell in our world.

aaron1959 commented 5 years ago

It's RF pollution, what there doing by locking these routers is like using 500 HP engine for a shopping cart. Makes no sense for everyone to be running at high power all the time it is definitely a violation of F.C.C. rules to not be able to reduce power.

kubrickfr commented 5 years ago

once again @yuhhaurlin , I know it may not be in your power, but you'd be amazed with what people here could do if you get Marvell to release the firmware documentation. If you don't have the time to work on this project, that would really help.