AWB US211

AWB US211 is the USB WiMAX adapter with a Beceem chipset.

Driver Installation

The following steps were completed successfully using Ubuntu 12.04.

Files in the following tarball are required to install the driver: http://wimax.orbit-lab.org/downloads/BeceemSource.tar.gz . The tarball is quite large (~150 MB) and may take a few minutes or more to download. Download the tarball and extract the files:

# mkdir ~/Downloads
# cd ~/Downloads
# wget http://wimax.orbit-lab.org/downloads/BeceemSource.tar.gz
# tar -xzf BeceemSource.tar.gz

The following packages must be installed via apt-get:

# apt-get update
# apt-get install libssl-dev linux-headers-$(uname -r) make patch unzip

It's most likely the linux header files are downloaded into the directory /usr/src. To check:

# ls -ltr /usr/src
total 8
drwxr-xr-x 24 root root 4096 May 13 11:36 linux-headers-3.8.0-31
drwxr-xr-x  7 root root 4096 May 13 11:36 linux-headers-3.8.0-31-generic

Download the source files for the linux kernel distribution into /usr/src and create a symlink to simplify installation when building the driver:

# pushd /usr/src
# apt-get source linux-image-$(uname -r)
# ln -s <linux-source-directory> linux
# popd

Note: <the linux-source-directory> should be suffixed with the kernel version.

Install libeap Library

Patch and install the wpa_supplicant using the commands:

# cd ~/Downloads/BeceemSource/
# tar -xzf wpa_supplicant-0.7.3.tar.gz
# cd wpa_supplicant-0.7.3
# patch -p1 < ../wpa_supplicant-0.7.3-generate-libeap-peer.patch
# make -C src/eap_peer
# make -C src/eap_peer install

This library is required to install the wimaxd utility, and does not get installed properly by the script provided in the Sprint tarball.

Build the Driver and Load the Driver Module

Unpack the Sprint tarball and run the script. This will build and install the driver:

# cd ~/Downloads/BeceemSource/
# tar -xzf Sprint4GDeveloperPack-1.6.1.2.2.tar.gz
# cd Sprint4GDeveloperPack-1.6.1.2.2
# ./install.sh

The installer will prompt for various file paths, if the symlink was created in the previous step then the default choices should be correct.

On some recent kernels, you will need to blacklist the bcm_wimax driver to prevent it from claiming the device on start up.

# echo "blacklist bcm_wimax" > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-bcm-wimax.conf

Reboot the machine:

# reboot

Once the machine comes back up again run the following command to add the new driver to the startup modules:

# modprobe drxvi314

Check if the module loaded correctly:

# lsmod | grep drxvi314
drxvi314              309219  0

Check if above driver registered properly with the system:

# dmesg | grep usbbcm

This should output a line that includes " usbcore: registered new interface driver usbbcm"

Verify USB Dongle is Present in System and Configure Center Frequency

In a another terminal window, tail the syslog file. This will show the system messages for the wimax commands down below. This is for informational purpose.

# tail -f /var/log/syslog

List the USB devices and verify if the Wimax adapter is present:

# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 198f:0220 Beceem Communications Inc. BCSM250 WiMAX Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

One of the devices should include "Beceem Communications Inc." if the installation was successful. The Bus and Device number may be different.

Copy the following files with the commands:

# cp /usr/src/USB_350/Source/CSCM/BeceemCSCM/wimaxd.conf /etc
# cp /lib/firmware/macxvi350.bin /lib/firmware/macxvi200.bin

Edit the new /etc/wimaxd.conf file as desired, the file is heavily commented and should be self explanatory. Make sure that the network's center frequency can be found in the CenterFrequencyMHz parameter of the config file, the GENI network center frequency (2590) is not one of the default frequencies. The firmware file is copied because the utilities expect that both the macxvi350.bin and macxvi200.bin will be present when utilities are run.

Start the Server and Connect

Start the wimax daemon:

# wimaxd -c /etc/wimaxd.conf
********** CSCM Server Started ********** 05/13/14 10:24:11

Use the connection utility to search for the base station and check for similar output:

# wimaxc search
Beceem CM Server Version 1.1.7.0
Network search returned 1 base station.
Idx BSID                    Pre      Freq      BW  RSSI  CINR
 0  01:01:44:51:db:00:00:01 0x00 2590.000  10.000   -56    31

If networks are found then the installation is complete and the wimax interface will try to connect to a base station. The syslog file should show a similar output:

May 13 10:24:27 localhost kernel: [  260.814967] LinkControlResponseMessage:PHY_SYNC_ACHIVED
May 13 10:24:34 localhost kernel: [  268.573803] LinkControlResponseMessage:PHS Support Status Recieved In LinkUp Ack : 1
May 13 10:24:34 localhost kernel: [  268.573806]
May 13 10:24:35 localhost kernel: [  269.186284] CmControlResponseMessage:### TID RECEIVED 35968

Configure and Test the Interface

Once connected the wimax dongle should come up as an eth interface. Match the dongle's MAC address to eth interface. In this example, the MAC address of the wimax dongle used is b8:61:6f:0d:a0:6d. To see a list of interfaces:

# ifconfig -a
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:03:1d:0c:7d:d0
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:20 Memory:f0700000-f0720000

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:03:1d:0c:7d:d1
          inet addr:10.10.7.10  Bcast:10.10.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::203:1dff:fe0c:7dd1/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:710 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:576 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:71675 (71.6 KB)  TX bytes:92532 (92.5 KB)
          Interrupt:17 Memory:f0600000-f0620000

eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr b8:61:6f:0d:a0:6d
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1400  Metric:1
          RX packets:35246 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:11366 (11.3 KB)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:35 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:35 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:2590 (2.5 KB)  TX bytes:2590 (2.5 KB)

The wimax dongle came up on eth2. We'll configure this interface as working example:

# ifconfig eth2 10.41.41.29 netmask 255.255.0.0 up

Now check eth2 interface.

# ifconfig eth2
eth2      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr b8:61:6f:0d:a0:6d
          inet addr:10.41.41.29  Bcast:10.41.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::ba61:6fff:fe0d:a06d/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1400  Metric:1
          RX packets:41362 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:13174 (13.1 KB)  TX bytes:168 (168.0 B)

Test the interface by pinging the gateway (10.41.0.1):

# ping 10.41.0.1 -c 5
PING 10.41.0.1 (10.41.0.1) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 10.41.0.1: icmp_req=1 ttl=254 time=61.7 ms
64 bytes from 10.41.0.1: icmp_req=2 ttl=254 time=59.9 ms
64 bytes from 10.41.0.1: icmp_req=3 ttl=254 time=57.9 ms
64 bytes from 10.41.0.1: icmp_req=4 ttl=254 time=61.9 ms
64 bytes from 10.41.0.1: icmp_req=5 ttl=254 time=60.9 ms

--- 10.41.0.1 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4005ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 57.951/60.522/61.963/1.494 ms

To run a speed test via webservice, download speedtest-cli script:

# apt-get install python-pip
# pip install speedtest-cli
# pip install speedtest-cli --upgrade

Update the routing table to ensure all traffic routed through the eth2 interface. First delete the default gateway:

# route del default

Now set default gateway via eth2:

# route add default gw 10.41.0.1 eth2

View the routing table entries:

# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
default         wmgw.outdoor.or 0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth2
10.10.0.0       *               255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 eth1
10.41.0.0       *               255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 eth2

After the routing table has been updated, run the speedtest-cli script. The uplink and downlink speeds will be shown as measure by speedtest:

root@node7-11:~# speedtest-cli --source 10.41.41.29
Retrieving speedtest.net configuration...
Retrieving speedtest.net server list...
Testing from Rutgers University (128.6.192.190)...
Selecting best server based on ping...
Hosted by Atlantic Metro (New York City, NY) [42.62 km]: 19.948 ms
Testing download speed........................................
Download: 6.90 Mbits/s
Testing upload speed..................................................
Upload: 0.81 Mbits/s