I'm attempting to create a 5GHz access point running off of Ubuntu 20.04. My wireless adapter is the Intel Corporation Cannon Point-LP CNVi.
Side note: 2.4GHz access points work all day long, but I require 5GHz.
I've verified that the adapter supports AP as well as 5GHz frequencies using iw list:
Supported interface modes:
* IBSS
* managed
* AP
* AP/VLAN
* monitor
* P2P-client
* P2P-GO
* P2P-device
--
Frequencies:
* 5180 MHz [36] (22.0 dBm)
* 5200 MHz [40] (22.0 dBm)
* 5220 MHz [44] (22.0 dBm)
* 5240 MHz [48] (22.0 dBm)
* 5260 MHz [52] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5280 MHz [56] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5300 MHz [60] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5320 MHz [64] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5340 MHz [68] (disabled)
* 5360 MHz [72] (disabled)
* 5380 MHz [76] (disabled)
* 5400 MHz [80] (disabled)
* 5420 MHz [84] (disabled)
* 5440 MHz [88] (disabled)
* 5460 MHz [92] (disabled)
* 5480 MHz [96] (disabled)
* 5500 MHz [100] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5520 MHz [104] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5540 MHz [108] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5560 MHz [112] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5580 MHz [116] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5600 MHz [120] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5620 MHz [124] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5640 MHz [128] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5660 MHz [132] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5680 MHz [136] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5700 MHz [140] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5720 MHz [144] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5745 MHz [149] (22.0 dBm)
* 5765 MHz [153] (22.0 dBm)
* 5785 MHz [157] (22.0 dBm)
* 5805 MHz [161] (22.0 dBm)
* 5825 MHz [165] (22.0 dBm)
* 5845 MHz [169] (disabled)
* 5865 MHz [173] (disabled)
* 5885 MHz [177] (disabled)
* 5905 MHz [181] (disabled)
I've set my country code as US using iw reg set US, output of iw reg get:
global
country US: DFS-FCC
(2400 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
(5150 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (N/A), AUTO-BW
(5250 - 5350 @ 80), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW
(5470 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 23), (0 ms), DFS
(5730 - 5850 @ 80), (N/A, 30), (N/A)
(57240 - 71000 @ 2160), (N/A, 40), (N/A)
phy#0 (self-managed)
country US: DFS-UNSET
(2402 - 2437 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
(2422 - 2462 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
(2447 - 2482 @ 40), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
(5170 - 5190 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS
(5190 - 5210 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS
(5210 - 5230 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS
(5230 - 5250 @ 160), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS
(5250 - 5270 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5270 - 5290 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5290 - 5310 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5310 - 5330 @ 160), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5490 - 5510 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5510 - 5530 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5530 - 5550 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5550 - 5570 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5570 - 5590 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5590 - 5610 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5610 - 5630 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5630 - 5650 @ 240), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5650 - 5670 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5670 - 5690 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5690 - 5710 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5710 - 5730 @ 80), (6, 22), (0 ms), DFS, AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ, PASSIVE-SCAN
(5735 - 5755 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ
(5755 - 5775 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ
(5775 - 5795 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-160MHZ
(5795 - 5815 @ 80), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-160MHZ
(5815 - 5835 @ 20), (6, 22), (N/A), AUTO-BW, NO-HT40MINUS, NO-HT40PLUS, NO-80MHZ, NO-160MHZ
For a little while, channels 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165 were all showing as flagged "no IR", meaning you cannot initiate radiation ie. create an access point off this channel. They weren't flagged no IR in the beginning, and now they aren't flagged again, I'm not sure what changed exactly.
My hostapd.conf file:
ssid=ap_test
wpa_passphrase=123456789
country_code=US
interface=wlp0s20f3
driver=nl80211
wpa=2
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
rsn_pairwise=CCMP
hw_mode=a
ieee80211n=1
require_ht=1
ieee80211ac=1
require_vht=1
channel=153
When I attempt to run hostapd using "hostapd hostapd.conf.test" I receive the following output (as well as the same output for all of the other 5GHz channels):
Configuration file: hostapd.conf.test
wlp0s20f3: interface state UNINITIALIZED->COUNTRY_UPDATE
Channel 153 (primary) not allowed for AP mode, flags: 0x20073 NO-IR
wlp0s20f3: IEEE 802.11 Configured channel (153) not found from the channel list of current mode (2) IEEE 802.11a
wlp0s20f3: IEEE 802.11 Hardware does not support configured channel
Could not select hw_mode and channel. (-3)
wlp0s20f3: interface state COUNTRY_UPDATE->DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: AP-DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: Unable to setup interface.
wlp0s20f3: interface state DISABLED->DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: AP-DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING
hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlp0s20f3 wasn't started
nl80211: deinit ifname=wlp0s20f3 disabled_11b_rates=0
I attempted to utilize DFS to make use of the DFS (radar detection) channels, but it doesn't work either (and DFS might not even be usable for my purposes anyways):
Configuration file: hostapd.conf
wlp0s20f3: interface state UNINITIALIZED->COUNTRY_UPDATE
wlp0s20f3: interface state COUNTRY_UPDATE->DFS
wlp0s20f3: DFS-CAC-START freq=5720 chan=144 sec_chan=0, width=0, seg0=0, seg1=0, cac_time=60s
DFS start_dfs_cac() failed, -1
Interface initialization failed
wlp0s20f3: interface state DFS->DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: AP-DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: Unable to setup interface.
wlp0s20f3: interface state DISABLED->DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: AP-DISABLED
wlp0s20f3: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING
hostapd_free_hapd_data: Interface wlp0s20f3 wasn't started
nl80211: deinit ifname=wlp0s20f3 disabled_11b_rates=0
From what I can tell, I SHOULD be able to use the channels not flagged no-IR, but it still gives me the no-ir flag error when attempting to use these channels. Are they improperly flagged on my end or are they actually not allowed to be used?
From what I understand this could be a limitation of the Linux firmware, and I would need to patch my kernel to get it to work as I want it to. Just looking for some more clarity on this issue. I'm completely at a loss and looking for any kind of direction on this.
Update: iw list is now showing the channels as no-ir once again. Again, don't know what changed to cause this to happen:
Frequencies:
* 5180 MHz [36] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5200 MHz [40] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5220 MHz [44] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5240 MHz [48] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5260 MHz [52] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5280 MHz [56] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5300 MHz [60] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5320 MHz [64] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5340 MHz [68] (disabled)
* 5360 MHz [72] (disabled)
* 5380 MHz [76] (disabled)
* 5400 MHz [80] (disabled)
* 5420 MHz [84] (disabled)
* 5440 MHz [88] (disabled)
* 5460 MHz [92] (disabled)
* 5480 MHz [96] (disabled)
* 5500 MHz [100] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5520 MHz [104] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5540 MHz [108] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5560 MHz [112] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5580 MHz [116] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5600 MHz [120] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5620 MHz [124] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5640 MHz [128] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5660 MHz [132] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5680 MHz [136] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5700 MHz [140] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5720 MHz [144] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
* 5745 MHz [149] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5765 MHz [153] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5785 MHz [157] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5805 MHz [161] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5825 MHz [165] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
* 5845 MHz [169] (disabled)
* 5865 MHz [173] (disabled)
* 5885 MHz [177] (disabled)
* 5905 MHz [181] (disabled)