otus(4) - NetBSD Manual Pages

Command:
Section:
Arch:
Collection:
>>>
OTUS(4)                 NetBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual                OTUS(4)


NAME

     otus -- Atheros USB IEEE 802.11a/g/n wireless network device


SYNOPSIS

     otus* at uhub? port ?


DESCRIPTION

     The otus driver supports USB 2.0 wireless network devices based on
     Atheros Communications AR9001U chipset.

     The AR9001U chipset is made of an AR9170 MAC/Baseband and an AR9101
     (1T2R), AR9102 (2T2R) or AR9104 (dual-band 2T2R) Radio.

     These are the modes the otus driver can operate in:

     BSS mode       Also known as infrastructure mode, this is used when asso-
                    ciating with an access point, through which all traffic
                    passes.  This mode is the default.

     monitor mode   In this mode the driver is able to receive packets without
                    associating with an access point.  This disables the
                    internal receive filter and enables the card to capture
                    packets from networks which it wouldn't normally have
                    access to, or to scan for access points.

     The otus driver can be configured to use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
     or Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK).  WPA is the de facto
     encryption standard for wireless networks.  It is strongly recommended
     that WEP not be used as the sole mechanism to secure wireless communica-
     tion, due to serious weaknesses in it.

     The otus driver can be configured at runtime with ifconfig(8) or on boot
     with ifconfig.if(5).


FILES

     The driver needs at least version 1.0 of the following firmware files,
     which are loaded when an interface is attached:

           /libdata/firmware/if_otus/otus-init
           /libdata/firmware/if_otus/otus-main

     Although these firmware files are freely redistributable, their usage is
     restricted.


HARDWARE

     The following adapters should work:

           Arcadyan WN7512
           CACE AirPcap Nx
           D-Link DWA-130 rev D1
           D-Link DWA-160 rev A1
           D-Link DWA-160 rev A2
           IO-Data WN-GDN/US2
           NEC Aterm WL300NU-G
           Netgear WNDA3100
           Netgear WN111 v2
           Planex GW-US300
           SMC SMCWUSB-N2
           TP-Link TL-WN821N
           Ubiquiti SR71 USB
           Unex DNUA-81
           Z-Com UB81
           Z-Com UB82
           ZyXEL NWD-271N


EXAMPLES

     The following ifconfig.if(5) example configures otus0 to join whatever
     network is available on boot, using WEP key ``0x1deadbeef1'', channel 11,
     obtaining an IP address using DHCP:

           nwkey 0x1deadbeef1 chan 11
           dhcp

     Join an existing BSS network, ``my_net'':

           # ifconfig otus0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net

     To use WPA, see wpa_supplicant(8) and wpa_supplicant.conf(5).


DIAGNOSTICS

     otus%d: error %d, could not read firmware %s  For some reason, the driver
     was unable to read the microcode file from the filesystem.  The file
     might be missing or corrupted.

     otus%d: device timeout  A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmis-
     sion did not complete in time.  The driver will reset the hardware.  This
     should not happen.


SEE ALSO

     arp(4), ifmedia(4), netintro(4), usb(4), wpa_supplicant.conf(5),
     ifconfig(8), wpa_supplicant(8)


HISTORY

     The otus driver first appeared in OpenBSD 4.6.  It was ported to NetBSD
     by Anon Ymous and first appeared in NetBSD 6.0.


AUTHORS

     The otus driver was written by Damien Bergamini <damien@openbsd.org>
     based on source code licensed under the ISC released in 2008 by Atheros
     Communications for Linux.


CAVEATS

     The AVM FRITZ!WLAN USB Stick N adapter is currently not supported.

     The otus driver does not support any of the 802.11n capabilities offered
     by the AR9001U chipset.  Additional work is required in ieee80211(9)
     before those features can be supported.

     The otus driver also does not currently support EDCA as this is missing
     in the NetBSD network stack.  The hooks for it are in the driver code.

NetBSD 7.0                     November 4, 2010                     NetBSD 7.0