Description of problem: iwconfig wlan0 sens -65 is refused Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): NetworkManager-0.8.1-10.git20100831.fc14.i686 How reproducible: Every time Steps to Reproduce: 1. As root: iwconfig wlan0 sens -65 2. 3. Actual results: Get terminal output as: Error for wireless request "Set Sensitivity" (8B08) : SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported. Expected results: The system should set the sens value to the number I entered Additional info: The man command for iwconfig suggests that command is permitted!
lspci gives for the wireless: 02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01) and [root@samsung2 ~]# lsmod|grep ath ath5k 143403 0 mac80211 188716 1 ath5k ath 7145 1 ath5k cfg80211 110951 3 ath5k,mac80211,ath If this is any help?
It seems this driver does not support altering the sens value! I tested a different laptop with a different driver and this second one does support changing sens! 03:03.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection (rev 05) [root@lapmike2 ~]# lsmod|grep ipw ipw2200 116546 0 libipw 21037 1 ipw2200 cfg80211 110951 2 ipw2200,libipw lib80211 4107 3 lib80211_crypt_ccmp,ipw2200,libipw For that laptop I can change the value of sens! This one only allows positive numbers but does not allow negative values i.e. in dBm! However is it possible to change sensitivity for the ath5k driver via sysfs ? Does this driver support changing sensitivity at all? Is roaming therefore possible with the ath5k driver? (a consequence of not being able to set sens)
Setting that value for mac80211-based drivers is simply not supported. Roaming support is a different issue -- mac80211-based drivers are simple and don't roam on their own. It is up to a userland component (e.g. wpa_supplicant) to do the roaming.