How to modify orange pi pc plus wifi intensity

[Char11e]

I want to modify the antenna strength of wlan0 in orangepipcplus, but using software settings does not work.

[Char11e]

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"R15-3437"  Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.417 GHz  Access Point: A4:2A:95:33:34:3B
          Bit Rate:72.2 Mb/s   Sensitivity:0/0
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=97/100  Signal level=40/100  Noise level=0/100
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

wlan1     unassociated  Nickname:"<WIFI@REALTEK>"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
          Sensitivity:0/0
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

 

 

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.1.100  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255
        inet6 fe80::81:64ff:fe17:113d  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 02:81:64:17:11:3d  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 249637  bytes 216991539 (216.9 MB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 273259  bytes 225570858 (225.5 MB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
        device interrupt 35

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 346  bytes 44456 (44.4 KB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 346  bytes 44456 (44.4 KB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.0.214  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.0.255
        inet6 fe80::606f:e755:6337:dbe5  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether 12:81:64:17:11:3d  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 62772  bytes 196306992 (196.3 MB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 184  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 18238  bytes 6340912 (6.3 MB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 2 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan1: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether 12:81:64:17:13:3d  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

 

 

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iw dev wlan0 info
Interface wlan0
        ifindex 3
        wdev 0x1
        addr 12:81:64:17:11:3d
        ssid R15-3437
        type managed
        wiphy 0
        txpower 12.00 dBm
pi@orangepipcplus:~$ ^C
pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iw dev wlan0 set txpower fixed 2000
pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iw dev wlan0 info
Interface wlan0
        ifindex 3
        wdev 0x1
        addr 12:81:64:17:11:3d
        ssid R15-3437
        type managed
        wiphy 0
        txpower 12.00 dBm
pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iw dev wlan0 set txpower fixed 1500
pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iw dev wlan0 info
Interface wlan0
        ifindex 3
        wdev 0x1
        addr 12:81:64:17:11:3d
        ssid R15-3437
        type managed
        wiphy 0
        txpower 12.00 dBm

 

[Char11e]

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ uname -a
Linux orangepipcplus 6.6.44-current-sunxi #1 SMP Sat Aug 3 06:54:42 UTC 2024 armv7l armv7l armv7l GNU/Linux
pi@orangepipcplus:~$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Armbian 24.8.0-trunk.581 jammy"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
VERSION="22.04.4 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="https://www.armbian.com"
SUPPORT_URL="https://forum.armbian.com"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://www.armbian.com/bugs"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.armbian.com"
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy
ARMBIAN_PRETTY_NAME="Armbian 24.8.0-trunk.581 jammy"

 

[Char11e]

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo lshw -C network
  *-network:0
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 12
       logical name: eth0
       serial: 02:81:64:17:11:3d
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       capabilities: ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=st_mac100 driverversion=6.6.44-current-sunxi duplex=full ip=192.168.1.100 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
  *-network:1
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 13
       bus info: mmc@1:0001:1
       logical name: wlan0
       serial: 12:81:64:17:11:3d
      capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl8189fs driverversion=6.6.44-current-sunxi ip=192.168.0.214 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
  *-network:2
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 14
       bus info: mmc@1:0001:1
       logical name: wlan1
       serial: 12:81:64:17:13:3d
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl8189fs driverversion=6.6.44-current-sunxi multicast=yes wireless=unassociated

 

[Char11e]

I'm not sure if this is related to a limitation of the rtl8189fs firmware.

 

I tried closing the wlan0 interface first and then configuring txpower, but it didn't seem to work.
After executing the command, check dmesg and no relevant logs are found.

[Char11e]

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 txpower 20
Error for wireless request "Set Tx Power" (8B26) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted.

pi@orangepipcplus:~$ sudo iw dev wlan0 set txpower fixed 2000
pi@orangepipcplus:~$

 

I tried to use iwconfig and iw commands to configure txpower.

However, iwconfig will give an error response of "Set tx power".
iw does not respond to any messages.

[Igor]

1 hour ago, Char11e said:

I'm not sure if this is related to a limitation of the rtl8189fs firmware.

 

This cheap (WiFi) hardware was pushed to the market in unfinished state and since ever, with negative budget this is the only way, kept at basic operational state:

• "does it connect?" "yes it does",
• "does it work satisfactory? "yes it does". 
• "does AP works" "perhaps"

as this was already difficult and expensive for time, but enough for all home users. Drivers are by Armbian only kept maintained to meet kernel API changes, while real driver maintenance was abandoned by everyone years ago. It is unlikely that what you are looking for will ever be fixed. But sources are open, perhaps. You only need to find and fix this problem or compensate someone weeks or months to get this feature fixed ... if you have a biz case / budget to support this. Without our maintenance work, you would not have this question in first place as WiFi support would be gone. I don't think you will find anyone that will do this instead of you for a feature almost nobody needs. Good luck.

 

My 2c.

[robertoj]

Use a high db USB WiFi dongle, with separate 5V supply if possibel 

[Char11e]

Thank you for your explanation and contribution, I appreciate and admire it.

 

https://linux-sunxi.org/Wifi#RTL8189FTV

I will try to look into rtl8189fs, thank you very much!

[Char11e]

Hi @Igor, 

 

Thank you for your useful and honest advice. I appreciate it.

 

https://github.com/CGarces/rtl8192eu-linux-driver/commit/d32dfa2c2b2a1b8e75d163d23e9e18f750ebfbe4

 

I have found that someone has provided a fix for Tx power in the rtl8192eu driver.
I am currently compiling and testing this method to work in the RTL8189FS driver.