NAME
rum
- Ralink Technology USB IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless network device
SYNOPSIS
rum* at uhub? port ?
DESCRIPTION
The
rum
driver supports USB 2.0 wireless adapters based on the Ralink RT2501USB
and RT2601USB chipsets.
The RT2501USB chipset is the second generation of 802.11a/b/g adapters from
Ralink.
It consists of two integrated chips, an RT2571W MAC/BBP and an RT2528 or
RT5226 radio transceiver.
The RT2601USB chipset consists of two integrated chips, an RT2671 MAC/BBP and
an RT2527 or RT5225 radio transceiver.
This chipset uses the MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) technology with
multiple antennas to extend the operating range of the adapter and to achieve
higher throughput.
MIMO is the basis of the forthcoming IEEE 802.11n standard.
These are the modes the
rum
driver can operate in:
- BSS mode
-
Also known as
infrastructure
mode, this is used when associating with an access point, through
which all traffic passes.
This mode is the default.
- IBSS mode
-
Also known as
IEEE ad-hoc
mode or
peer-to-peer
mode.
This is the standardized method of operating without an access point.
Stations associate with a service set.
However, actual connections between stations are peer-to-peer.
- Host AP
-
In this mode the driver acts as an access point (base station)
for other cards.
- 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.
rum
supports software WEP.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is the de facto encryption standard
for wireless networks.
It can be typically configured in one of three modes:
no encryption; 40-bit encryption; or 104-bit encryption.
Unfortunately, due to serious weaknesses in WEP protocol
it is strongly recommended that it not be used as the
sole mechanism to secure wireless communication.
WEP is not enabled by default.
CONFIGURATION
The
rum
driver can be configured at runtime with
ifconfig(8)
or on boot with
ifconfig.if(5)
using the following parameters:
- bssid bssid
-
Set the desired BSSID.
- -bssid
-
Unset the desired BSSID.
The interface will automatically select a BSSID in this mode, which is
the default.
- chan n
-
Set the channel (radio frequency) to be used by the driver based on
the given channel ID
n.
- -chan
-
Unset the desired channel to be used by the driver.
The driver will automatically select a channel in this mode, which is
the default.
- media media
-
The
rum
driver supports the following
media
types:
- autoselect
-
Enable autoselection of the media type and options.
- DS1
-
Set 802.11b DS 1Mbps operation.
- DS2
-
Set 802.11b DS 2Mbps operation.
- DS5
-
Set 802.11b DS 5.5Mbps operation.
- DS11
-
Set 802.11b DS 11Mbps operation.
- OFDM6
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 6Mbps operation.
- OFDM9
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 9Mbps operation.
- OFDM12
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 12Mbps operation.
- OFDM18
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 18Mbps operation.
- OFDM24
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 24Mbps operation.
- OFDM36
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 36Mbps operation.
- OFDM48
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 48Mbps operation.
- OFDM54
-
Set 802.11a/g OFDM 54Mbps operation.
- mediaopt opts
-
The
rum
driver supports the following media options:
- hostap
-
Select Host AP operation.
- ibss
-
Select IBSS operation.
- monitor
-
Select monitor mode.
- -mediaopt opts
-
Disable the specified media options on the driver and return it to the
default mode of operation (BSS).
- mode mode
-
The
rum
driver supports the following modes:
- 11a
-
Force 802.11a operation.
- 11b
-
Force 802.11b operation.
- 11g
-
Force 802.11g operation.
- nwid id
-
Set the network ID.
The
id
can either be any text string up to 32 characters in length,
or a series of hexadecimal digits up to 64 digits.
An empty
id
string allows the interface to connect to any available access points.
By default the
rum
driver uses an empty string.
Note that network ID is synonymous with Extended Service Set ID (ESSID).
- nwkey key
-
Enable WEP encryption using the specified
key.
The
key
can either be a string, a series of hexadecimal digits (preceded by
`0x'),
or a set of keys of the form
``n:k1,k2,k3,k4'',
where
`n'
specifies which of the keys will be used for transmitted packets,
and the four keys,
``k1''
through
``k4'',
are configured as WEP keys.
If a set of keys is specified, a comma
(`,')
within the key must be escaped with a backslash.
Note that if multiple keys are used, their order must be the same within
the network.
rum
is capable of using both 40-bit (5 characters or 10 hexadecimal digits)
or 104-bit (13 characters or 26 hexadecimal digits) keys.
- -nwkey
-
Disable WEP encryption.
This is the default mode of operation.
FILES
The following firmware file is loaded when an interface is brought up:
- /libdata/firmware/rum/rum-rt2573
-
See
firmload(9)
for how to change this.
HARDWARE
The following adapters should work:
- Airlink101 AWLL5025
-
- ASUS WL-167g ver 2
-
- Belkin F5D7050 ver 3
-
- Belkin F5D9050 ver 3
-
- CNet CWD-854 ver F
-
- Conceptronic C54RU ver 2
-
- D-Link DWL-G122 rev C1
-
- D-Link WUA-1340
-
- Edimax EW-7318USG
-
- Gigabyte GN-WB01GS
-
- Hawking HWUG1
-
- LevelOne WNC-0301USB
-
- Linksys WUSB54G rev C
-
- Planex GW-USMM
-
- Senao NUB-3701
-
- Sitecom WL-113 ver 2
-
- Sitecom WL-172
-
- TP-LINK TL-WN321G
-
EXAMPLES
The following
ifconfig.if(5)
example configures rum0 to join whatever network is available on boot,
using WEP key
``0x1deadbeef1'',
channel 11:
-
inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 nwkey 0x1deadbeef1 chan 11
The following
ifconfig.if(5)
example creates a host-based access point on boot:
-
inet 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 media autoselect \
mediaopt hostap nwid my_net chan 11
Configure rum0 for WEP, using hex key
``0x1deadbeef1'':
-
# ifconfig rum0 nwkey 0x1deadbeef1
Return rum0 to its default settings:
-
# ifconfig rum0 -bssid -chan media autoselect \
nwid "" -nwkey
Join an existing BSS network,
``my_net'':
-
# ifconfig rum0 192.168.1.1 netmask 0xffffff00 nwid my_net
DIAGNOSTICS
- rum%d: failed loadfirmware of file %s
-
For some reason, the driver was unable to read the microcode file from the
filesystem.
The file might be missing or corrupted.
- rum%d: could not load 8051 microcode
-
An error occurred while attempting to upload the microcode to the onboard 8051
microcontroller unit.
- rum%d: device timeout
-
A frame dispatched to the hardware for transmission 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),
ifconfig.if(5),
hostapd(8),
ifconfig(8),
firmload(9)
Ralink Technology:
http://www.ralinktech.com
HISTORY
The
rum
driver first appeared in
NetBSD4.0
and
OpenBSD4.0.
AUTHORS
The
rum
driver was written by
Niall O'Higgins <niallo@openbsd.org>
and
Damien Bergamini <damien@openbsd.org>
.
CAVEATS
The
rum
driver supports automatic control of the transmit speed in BSS mode only.
Therefore the use of a
rum
adapter in Host AP mode is discouraged.