How to - get Netgear WG111v2 working stable at 30 dBm

romagnolo · 01-31-2010, 11:47 AM

Get a Realtek rtl8187l based usb-adapter (such as netgear wg111v2) work in linux is not tricky, but how to get high tx power and driver stability?

You could have tried ndiwrapper, as i did, and got stuck with a kernel module pretty buggy and crashy, or could have just used the common native driver, without hi-power feature.

To achieve my zen state, i had to work around with a base native driver, a feature-filling patch to apply to it, and the only working kernel supposed to work with, 2.6.27.

That's a brief step by step path:

get the base driver (rtl8187 in our case) and decompress:
http://dl.aircrack-ng.org/drivers/

get the featuring patch "rtl8187_2.6.27.patch" from:
http://patches.aircrack-ng.org/
and extract it in the base driver directory

then apply it with:
~$ patch -Np1 -i rtl8187_2.6.27.patch

remove old modules, compile and install new one (as root)
~# rmmod r8187 rtl8187
~$ make
~# make install

Now you should have a new net device (wlan#) under iwconfig you can use as usual.

To turn on the hi-power capability:
~# iwpriv wlan0 highpower 1

and set the transmission power value (may be dangerous, see below):
~# iwconfig wlan0 txpower <value of 0 to 35> # i use 30, should be around one watt

and wuelà you're done you have your pen running strong and stable on the 2.6.27 kernel.

For a detailed reference and clarification about txpower sets, see the aircrack page:
http://aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=r...8706121df3cd73

;-)

salasi · 01-31-2010, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by romagnolo

and set the transmission power value (may be dangerous, see below):
~# iwconfig wlan0 txpower <value of 0 to 35> # i use 30, should be around one watt

I think you should be clear that dangerous in this case may not just include damage to hardware, but may also include danger to health (both controversial and dependant upon the conditions, but do the research before you rush in to these higher powers without further thought). And it may also be illegal, but the regulations vary by country.

romagnolo · 12-23-2011, 08:47 PM

It may be dangerous to health in the lullaby case you keep the radio at contact with your ear; also 30 dBmW = 1 Watt is less then a UMTS or a GSM.
However I can say now that it definitely broken after 2 years of almost 24/7 service, so not big concern for hardware.
And yes, it could be illegal for sensible hearts.