# [Solved]quit/wlan signal weak in gentoo while strong in WIN7

## double_crane

my laptop wlan0 device is realtek 8723ae

my modem and wireless AP is in a room about 10+ meters  away from my bedroom, with two walls between them.

when I use ,WIN7 , in my bedroom ,the signal is about 4/5 grid/(lattice)，and Network Quality is just enough to use.

but in gentoo , I have selected CONFIG_realtek 8723ae in kernel drivers CONFIG and copy rtlwifi/rtl8723_B.bin firmware to /lib/firmware.

the wifi can be used, but only in the wifi AP room , as long as I go out of that room, the wifi net won''t be connected , no matter I make the AP noEncryption or WPA-PSK Encryption

I have tried ndiswrapper to use windows driver ,but it print error ,says my kernel doesn't support WXET_PRIV and a lot other ERROR messages.

so , is that the drivers problem,  or kernel CONFIG  , or  something others?

thank you.Last edited by double_crane on Fri Jul 26, 2013 1:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## defer-

Try the following (txpower 15 is maximum for my card).

```
iwconfig wlan0 txpower 15

iwconfig wlan0 power off
```

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## double_crane

 *defer- wrote:*   

> Try the following (txpower 15 is maximum for my card).
> 
> ```
> iwconfig wlan0 txpower 15
> 
> ...

 

thank you

I had tried that yesterday night

my max txpower is 20;

it's the default value when boot.

the dBm is about the same in WIN7 and Gentoo.

what I doubt is that the lost package  tolerance‘s difference。

in Gentoo

```

iwconfig

signal quality: [color=red]is about 40/70. dbm is about -50 ~~-70dbm[/color]

```

so the progress to authenticate and get valid ip address may be difficult .

while in win, the dBm is about the same, but I can connect to the AP correctly

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## mir3x

1st: txpower doensn't help much, don't bother with that, neither touch other settings

2st: I dont know where u get firmware, just  do make firmware_install in kernel dir

3st: some drivers are just crappy under linux, but some are crappy under windows

4st: use wpa_supplicant, idk how its possible but it works much better than anything else,

killall network managers first and dhcXXX and anything uses wlanX

start it manually for now (/etc/init.d/wpa_supplicant start) , then run dhcpcd wlanX

run wpa_cli, check if its disconnects,  if yes then  ... { continue searching help  :Very Happy: ,

u could test other kernel or try another firmware eg from package linux-firmware }

if no,  then add services to start

5)sample wpa_supplicant.conf:

ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=wheel 

network={

ssid="network"

scan_ssid=1

key_mgmt=WPA-PSK

psk="password"

}

6) remeber that wifi signal can pass barely 3 walls ( probably with not much signal left )

7) u can use wavemon (its just nice utility) to monitor if u r connected and check signal

 :Cool:  dont compare link quality and signal level between other cards, some cards cheat, or show different results, some cars can connect and dont loose signal with few pW, and other could fail when showing signal in some mW )

9) if there is a lot other neworks on the same channel + neigbourhood channels, try switching to some empty channel

10) and last : if u have enabled wps in router, disable it, and change password for security reasons

last thing -> u can check ultimately if your driver could connect in good manner 

emerge aircrack-ng

disable your card, by ifconfig wlanX down

run airmon-ng -c X ( where X is your channel number), check RX, or RXQ(dont remeber exactly) column at your router , if its below 100 or at least 90 , it would mean that u will have connection problems,

if its 100, u should connect

( but not all  cards could work with airmon-ng, card must support monitor mode)

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## double_crane

thank you 

I am using wpa-supplicant as Gentoo install doc recommend.

I use wavemon to see the signal quality when dhcp, it is from 26dBm (70/70,no lost) to -80dBm(about 20/70) ,about -68dBm in average.

I use some software in windows to see the wifi signal quality , it's about the same too.

but in win I can connect the AP, though the speed of surfing the Internet may be much lower than in the AP room.

while I can never connect to the AP in linux,not only Gentoo but also ubuntu livecd .

the dBm is about the same ,will it still be the drivers difference?

Or will it be the kernel or filesystem's problem ?  But the ubuntu(offical kerne) and gentoo are also unable to connect to the AP

So , what may be the reason lead to this mostly?

I just quit making wifi work in Gentoo as it does in win7, but I'm a bit confused

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## mir3x

Linux driver might be bad, or maybe u should configure WEXT in kernel (at least to get ndiswrapper working, but maybe that the issue?)

I couldnt find in make xconfig any WEXT or CONFIG_WEXT

but its definitily there ( maybe u must trigger something like CFG80211, enable it and u will see CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT, maybe rest will appear ? )

my config says it:

CONFIG_WEXT_CORE=y

CONFIG_WEXT_PROC=y

CONFIG_WEXT_PRIV=y

CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT=y

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## double_crane

 *mir3x wrote:*   

> my config says it:
> 
> CONFIG_WEXT_CORE=y
> 
> CONFIG_WEXT_PROC=y
> ...

 

what 's the kernel version of yours?

mine is gentoo-sources-3.8.13

and WEXT_CORE PROC is there ,I can select them.

I had checked the Kconfig file in that dictrory.

below WEXT_PRIV this no source code to be compile. only a word binary(what's the word, means two value,I can't remember clearly.)

thank you all the same

may be I should mark this post as solved I quit

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## mir3x

>> what 's the kernel version of yours?

3.10.x-pf (pf doesnt have anything wireless related, other than in standard)

Anyway, maybe simplest way to get wifi working will be to put smartphone near doors and working as second access point  :Very Happy:  ( smartphones have usually poor signal sending, but receiving is decent )

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