View Full Version : StarOS v1.13.3b8-3886 ready for testing
Changes between v1.13.3b7 and v1.13.3b8:
Fixed: ACK timeout adjustment on Atheros-based cards now works as expected. In previous releases, this option had no effect.
Update: Atheros AP-mode update.
To enable Atheros support, you can purchase an Atheros-enabled key from your reseller, or online via www.license-keys.com. All Server keys include the Atheros license. Do not generate a key that is locked to an Atheros card, as the key itself determines if the Atheros support is activated.
Atheros cards tested: D-Link DWL-AB520, DWL-AG520, DWL-G520, Proxim 8482-WD
Cards reported to work: WG311 (802.11G)
Any and all comments are welcome.
DESKTOP SYSTEMS
Desktop Server Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strs-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strs-1.13.3b8-3886.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strs-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
Desktop Router Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strr-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strr-1.13.3b8-3886.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strr-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
SPECIAL PURPOSE SYSTEMS
Soekris & MODO Router Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrs-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrs-1.13.3b8-3886.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrs-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
WRAP Router Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrw-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrw-1.13.3b8-3886.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrw-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
Routerboard Router Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrb-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrb-1.13.3b8-3886.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/strrb-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
CPE SYSTEMS
SBC CPE Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/cpe-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/cpe-1.13.3b8-3886.in
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/cpe-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
Desktop CPE Edition:
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/cpev-1.13.3b8-3886.iso
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/cpev-1.13.3b8-3886.bin
http://www.star-os.com/downloads/oem-vnc/cpev-1.13.3b8-3886.raw
bobbyc
12-01-2003, 07:05 PM
Thanks!
Now go on vacation!
upgraded a wrap board and a desktop system with WG311's from router 3850 to 3886 Link is 2.5 miles. Ack was previously set to 60. After upgrade to 3886, the link would not pass traffic. The client side kept switching channels, when it would land on the proper channel, it would momentarily display the bssid, but then change back to ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff once it continued. Rate on both ends were set to auto. Tried changing ack to 50 on both sides, no effect, also tried locking rate to 12mb/s. No affect. Changed ack to 0 on client side, no effect. Changed ack to 0 on AP side, link came back up. Changed ack back to 50 on client side, and ping times were erratic. Changed ack back to 0 on client side and speeds back to auto, everything working now. Basically, client wouldn't associate to AP when AP had non-0 value for ACK.
btw client side showed a good signal/link even if the bssid was ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff, just wouldn't pass traffic. AP showed association as well.
With the new ACK implementatation, do not use a value less than 200.
Thanks!
mlarsen
12-02-2003, 03:21 PM
Hi guys,
I put the build 3886 firmware on both ends of my 15 mile link and it is working. It isn't very fast, but it is pretty reliable. I was able to send 1000 1472byte packets across and it didn't drop a single one. Considering the poor quality of the signal (-84) that is pretty impressive.
Matt Larsen
mlarsen@inventivemedia.net
I am glad to hear! Are you using the ack settings at all? If you are, can you list your numbers under the ACK timing thread? It would be nice to accumulate some numbers for future reference.
Thanks!
mlarsen
12-02-2003, 03:57 PM
Here are my settings:
AP
BSS Channel: auto
Transmit Rate: 6
ACK: 500
Tx Power Override: 30
Operating Mode: 802.11a
SU
BSS Channel: auto
Transmit Rate: 6
ACK: 500
Tx Power Override: 30
Operating Mode: 802.11a
Speed is about equivalent to a 144K IDSL link. Not very fast.
I can give you a login if you wish to take a peek.
Matt Larsen
mlarsen@inventivemedia.net
Thank you for the information.
Davader
12-02-2003, 07:53 PM
If we may ask: What hardware are you using?
Antennas, etc. Part Numbers help.
Thanks.
Also guys checkout this site: http://www.direct2data.com/index2.asp
Their 802.11b card is impressive. I got one and the range is AWESOME!!!
Connected to Star-OS (prism 2.5 card, 12dbi sector, 500mw YDI amp). Getting half-mile at 11mb!! on their PCMCIA card. And inside buildings (double pane windows) !!!.
Only works on Windows 2000/XP machines, and no external antenna connection, but that never stops us, right?
What a card for Star-OS if it would run on Linux. They have 802.11a/g plans as well.
http://www.80211gnews.com/publications/page354-409828.asp
I Think the date was wrong on the article.
Mike
radev
12-03-2003, 04:09 AM
Several times i tested changing information with the webadmin fot user accounts.
most of the time changed the speed limitation, after that i klik reboor, and the webadmin tels me it radius is restarted.
I force a logof (in the status window at the client) en i will do a new login, at this moment there ate no changed.
the changes will only activate when i go to the staros machine of with putty and say restart (radius) (of stop/start)
after this (and again a forced logoff and logon) it is working...
so i think whe webadmin does not realy restart the service.....
bobbyc
12-03-2003, 09:42 AM
Mike, is there a external antenna connector on their card? If so what kind?
Bob C
Davader
12-03-2003, 05:57 PM
No external connector on the card. I only have the one right now for testing. I'm getting more, so I can open one up, and see.
It's a new patented card, so no telling what to expect.
Their access point (32 user limit) is due out soon and a USB (Orinoco USB style, 1.1v USB) model.
I'm more interested in the client card for range, and penetration capabilities. So far it blows a Senao 200mw card AWAY!! This thing is one sensitive card. How about a 20 SNR at half a mile, in the house (a very well insulated house).
This is the laptop card for HOTSPOTS, period.
Their USB model will be the same card in a somewhat familiar Orinoco USB style. Haven't seen it yet, but it's coming in 6-8 weeks, same for thei AP. The AP and their card, gets you 5000ft in real world open space.
I can't confirm this, I'd believe it though, based on the range I'm getting with the card and a Star-OS AP.
georgew
12-04-2003, 09:19 AM
checkout this site: http://www.direct2data.com/index2.asp
Their 802.11b card is impressive. I got one and the range is AWESOME!!!
Connected to Star-OS (prism 2.5 card, 12dbi sector, 500mw YDI amp). Getting half-mile at 11mb!! on their PCMCIA card. And inside buildings (double pane windows) !!!.
Only works on Windows 2000/XP machines, and no external antenna connection, but that never stops us, right?
What a card for Star-OS if it would run on Linux. They have 802.11a/g plans as well.
I'm in discussions with the director of sales for Direct2Data, and he tells me that their BB/MAC provider (whatever BB/MAC is) has already released linux drivers. He is asking questions about market potential that Tony and Lonnie should answer, but it sounds like these guys are not going to be too hard to work with.
After reviewing their patents, it appears that they have made some really basic changes to traditional radio theory, getting results that conventional theory do not support. I have talked to other engineers in the past that have told me that conventional theory only applies to conventional electronics, and that these limits are not difficult to exceed in the lab. the Direct2Data people appear to have improved the efficiency and methods used to encode and decode data from radio signals, in a manner compatable with conventional technology.
If you take the power put out by a transmitter, and remove the power losses to harmonics and other wasted energy, and focus all of the energy in the narrow band of the carrier, you could double or triple the signal strength without increasing the output power... Making similar improvements in signal decoding, the overall range is increased by an order of magnatude.
The biggest problem is all of the noise from crappy radios running through noisy amps that everyone else is using. So while this product is great news, the 802.11a product is where the real difference will be made...
I ordered my cards yesterday, they are here today... I'll let you know how they work.
Hopefully later today I will know which chipset they use and with any luck it will be something already supported by StarOS.
georgew
12-04-2003, 10:13 AM
The direct 2 data products use the Zydas chipset.
Zydas has released linux drivers. In theory all you have to do in install the Zydas drivers in StarOS. Presumably we need to get some disclosures from Zydas to support distance settings.
The atheros chipset was "poopooed" because it include some analog components that would be replaced with the D2D technology.
BB/Mac means "Base Band/Mac".
jlawrence
12-04-2003, 10:24 AM
It would be interesting to see real world comparisions with the orinocos.
Hopefully it'll be easy for Lonnie/Tony to add the drivers to star-os.
As you say, it's with the 802.11a stuff where this technology will be important. Can't wait to start testing 802.11a links in the UK so I can see what sort of distances are possible.
Is anyone achieving any decent ranges with 802.11a and a limit of 2W eirp ?
It wouldn't hurt my feeling if they used the same pigtail as the orinocos.
I wouldn't mind seeing a "Short Card" or antennaless version either.
Wayne
georgew
12-04-2003, 06:47 PM
Well, I busted my card open to look inside. There is a hand-written date in it, it was made the day before yesterday.. oooOOoo, the solder is still warm.
It looks like attaching a pigtail is trivial. There is no antenna connector...
The fcc testing yielded 21.4db output, around 130mw.
Network stumbler doesn't like the card, and so far I have not found a way to get a snr reading. It does appear to have much better sensitivity than an Orinoco card. On the Orinoco I was getting a 20db snr, and a spotty 5mbit connection. With the Horizon card I was getting a "88%" connection, whatever that means. The connect speed was a solid 11mbit.
funkywizard
12-04-2003, 08:09 PM
trivial, without an antenna connector? Do you mean connecting a pigtail would *not* be trivial?
georgew
12-04-2003, 08:26 PM
No, I mean it is a trivial job to scrape the copper ground plane clean so you can solder the braid of the cable down, and the signal lead has a clean plated hole you can solder the center connector to. It's a lot easier than attaching an mmcx connector to the pigtail cable.
Cracking the shell open was easy, you just strike the plastic shell on the edge with a hammer untill it opens like a clam, then pull back on the top and pull it off. The only damage I did while doing this was breaking the plastic weld. A small amopunt of model cement would re-weld the shell, and it would be as good as new. Dremel a slot for the pigtail before you close up, and only glue the coners so you can break back into it if you have to rework the pigtail.
Of course you will need to remove the antenna, and the large ground plane under the antenna is also a good place to do the soldering...
georgew
12-05-2003, 06:47 PM
I updated my pptp server to this version a couple days ago... it caused two of my pptp clients to stop working at all. This was on the same link that I was having problems with the StarOS pptp client, but the draytek pptp clients worked... Now the draytek clients don't work. I was somewhere around 1.12.x to 1.13.1 when it was working before. I'll try b9 next...
georgew
12-06-2003, 11:56 AM
b9 appears to have solved the problem.
Glad to hear, thank you for letting us know.
bobbyc
01-13-2004, 12:58 AM
georgew,
Did anything ever become of the direct2data hardware you were playing with?
Bob C
georgew
01-13-2004, 10:31 PM
I have a number of users using them in laptops, however I had no luck getting linux drivers.
The VP of sales for d2d told me that the baseband chip maker had released linux drivers. However the chipmaker would not respond to my queries. Searches on the web show that the linux prism2 driver is documented to support the chipset, however this does not appear to be the case, as no one who has tried to use cards based on the chipset has had any success.
The VP of sales for d2d is not convinced there is a market, and has offered no further help. He has also not heard of such things as distance tuning, which may simply be that he is not an engineer... but it also means that, at the very least, the person in charge of selling them is not aware of our needs at all.
Are wireless ISP's a significant market, or not?
jlawrence
01-14-2004, 01:44 AM
would you like to post an email address for him. If he receives enough requests for drivers, he may change his wrong opinion.
georgew
01-14-2004, 07:53 AM
It would be better if people go in the front door, the way I did...
I sent email to sales asking about an OEM type of relationship so we could get driver source, and my email was kicked up to the sales vp.
But yes, everyone should write them and let them know a market exists outside of their little bubble.
They are working on an access point, and I told him he should just license StarOS, and he would have a better AP than anything else on the market.... The only thing StarOS lacks is the driver for his cards.