On Wed, Aug 31, 2016 at 5:16 PM, T Gillett <tgill...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Unfortunately it appears that in recent NUC versions (Skylake), Intel have > changed from using PCIe cards for the wifi module to fixed modules on the > motherboard thus preventing any changes to the wifi hardware. > > http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/03/review-much-improved > -iris-gpu-makes-the-skylake-nuc-a-major-upgrade/ > Tragic, I too noticed that. Interestingly, Gigabyte BRIX devices are using the Intel wifi and bluetooth > modules as M.2 cards. > > http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/list.aspx?s=47&ck=104 > Excellent information! Curt Thompson's also recommended we look into the $130+ ZOTAC CI323 he's had great luck with, or more to the point higher-end ZOTAC units that accept Legit Internal WiFi modules as you describe? (Almost anything that's not artificially capped to 12 WiFi devices, as Intel's seems to be...) Clarif: many of our deployments now demand that WiFi be fully contained *inside* the school server / Internet-in-a-Box unit, keeping a lid on endless theft/configuration/breakage/loss/sustainability hassles. On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 8:19 AM, T Gillett <tgill...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> One more thought - have you looked at the dedicated Access Points that >> are made by Intel to see what they are using for the wifi chipset and >> drivers? >> >> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/products/co >> ntent-access-point.html >> >> This may give you a clue as to a suitable wifi card for the NUC. >> >> T >> >> On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 8:13 AM, T Gillett <tgill...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Hi Adam >>> >>> "Any other angles of attack??" >>> >>> I thought of testing the NUCs with a copy of OpenWrt just to see if the >>> wifi would behave differently. >>> This has been found to be the case with some types of router hardware >>> (eg TP-Link) where the (closed) OEM firmware will not support large numbers >>> of wifi connections, but the hardware works perfectly well using OpenWrt >>> and its open source Linux wifi drivers. >>> >>> Unfortunately it seems that while running OpenWrt on x86 is well enough >>> supported, the Intel wifi chipsets used in the NUCs are not so well >>> supported. (There may be a message in this. Intel probably never intended >>> the devices to be used as serious wifi Access Points) >>> >>> An alternative approach may be to change the wifi in the NUC for >>> something for which there are Linux drivers available that are known to >>> work as APs. >>> >>> I see that Intel offer a range of wifi cards for the NUC and it may be >>> that one of their offerings will work correctly as an AP if set up with a >>> suitable Linux driver. >>> >>> The wifi cards appear to be half size PCI-e cards, so an alternative may >>> be to use a card with a different chipset, from a different supplier. >>> >>> I realise that changing the wifi card is not an ideal solution if the >>> NUC comes with a card already installed, but it seems that you are getting >>> to the bottom of the barrel in terms of finding a solution. >>> >>> Can you buy the NUCs without a wifi card fitted? >>> >>> Of course adding a 'real' wifi router on the network port of the NUC >>> would give you a good solution from a wifi perspective (particularly as you >>> can use better antennas), albeit at the cost of having two pieces of >>> hardware to install and support. >>> >>> Regards >>> Terry >>> >>> On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 1:26 AM, Adam Holt <h...@laptop.org> wrote: >>> >>>> On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 12:55 AM, Anish Mangal <anis...@umich.edu> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> FWIW, on an older 2nd gen NUC I also see max 10-12 connections on the >>>>> WiFi. I dont know if I have tried the latest kernel on that, so your >>>>> finding is atleast consistent with older gen NUCs. >>>>> >>>> >>>> FYI Kernel 4.4.14 (Fedora 22's latest upon yum update) is no better: >>>> 12 simultaneous WiFi connections is still the maximum we're able to >>>> sustain from random OS's to NUC6i3SYH's internal WiFi (*) >>>> >>>> Sadly the latest WiFi driver from Intel also does not help: (for 6i3's >>>> internal WiFi "Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260") >>>> http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i >>>> -o/wireless-networking/000005511.html >>>> https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/_media/en/users/drivers/iwl >>>> wifi-8000-ucode-25.30.13.0.tgz >>>> >>>> (*) Curious Anomaly: Android WiFi connections made within the "first 12 >>>> WiFi connections" can hold on to their DHCP/WiFi connections, remaining >>>> active and usable as 13th and 14th connections etc, as other laptops >>>> connect, *until they disconnect from WiFi*. But when 12 laptops (or >>>> iOS) have connected to WiFi, and one of these Android WiFi connections >>>> happens to drop, it will not be able to reconnect to WiFi -- until one of >>>> the 12 laptops (or iOS) disconnects. Baffling that DHCP issues more than >>>> 12 IP simultaneous IP addresses in these exceptional cases, when Android >>>> has snuck in connecting early on. >>>> >>>> Other OS's (Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS) however do not demonstrate >>>> Android's unusual/sneaky/resilient behavior. In any case, this Android >>>> curiosity (however tantalizing, no idea how Android's apparently able to >>>> circumvent the "max 12" limit) does not solve the larger/general problem of >>>> supporting all OS's! >>>> >>>> Any other angles of attack?? >>>> >>>> Beyond that number of users, one should anyway consider a router. >>>>> >>>>> Off the shelf routers like 701nd support around 15 users, but with >>>>> openwrt they have been reported to support upwards of 30. >>>>> >>>>> On Sat, Aug 27, 2016 at 4:56 AM, James Cameron <qu...@laptop.org> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Doesn't sound right. >>>>>> >>>>>> What happened to stop the test? >>>>>> >>>>>> Isn't the CentOS 7.2 kernel used in your test way older than the RPi3 >>>>>> kernel? >>>>>> >>>>>> It would appear that CentOS 7.2 released with kernel 3.10 dated 30 >>>>>> June 2013, with minimal changes patched into it since. Perhaps it >>>>>> needs another fix. >>>>>> >>>>>> RPi3 kernel with Rasbian is 4.4 dated 1 November 2015. >>>>>> >>>>>> Bisect the problem broadly. Try the latest kernel. >>>>>> >>>>>> There have been many wireless driver and wireless networking changes >>>>>> between the two kernels. There's a possibility it may be one of them >>>>>> you have hit. >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> James Cameron >>>>>> http://quozl.netrek.org/ >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> Server-devel mailing list >>>>>> Server-devel@lists.laptop.org >>>>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Anish >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Server-devel mailing list >>>>> Server-devel@lists.laptop.org >>>>> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> <http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel> >>>>> Unsung Heroes of OLPC, interviewed live @ >>>>> <http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/server-devel>http://unleashkids.org >>>>> ! >>>>> >>>> >>> >> > -- Unsung Heroes of OLPC, interviewed live @ http://unleashkids.org !
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