VAR-SOM-MX6 - Wireless LAN

Setup

VAR-SOM-MX6 V2.X (WiLink8):

Before you begin working with WL183x Wi-Fi you should properly configure it (only once) for your usage scenario:

$ cd /usr/bin/wlconf/
$ ./configure-device.sh
select one out of : WL1831, WL1835, WL1837.

As a result some additional information may be required like 1/2 antenna connected
<reboot system!>

The default configuration is for WL1837

Test

Scan for wireless networks:

$ ifconfig wlan0 up
$ iw dev wlan0 scan | grep SSID

Connecting to a WPA encrypted network:
If you are using Krogoth distro, please remember that Wifi interface is controlled by connman.
Before continuing with this procedure, remember to disable wifi control running

$ connmanctl disable wifi

If you are using Debian, please note that Wifi interface is controlled by Network Manager.
Before continuing with this procedure, remember to disable wifi control running

$ nmcli radio wifi off

Find your network from the above scan command.

$ mv /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf.org
$ wpa_passphrase <YourAP> <YourPassword> >/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
$ wpa_supplicant -B -Dnl80211 -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

wait for:

wlcore: Association completed.

Disable eth0:

$ ifconfig eth0 down

Run DHCP:

$ udhcpc -iwlan0
$ ifconfig

Useful link for common iw commands: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_network_configuration#Manual_setup

Access Point

This example will demonstrate you how to use the VAR-SOM-MX6 as an access point. It will forward packets from wlan0 to eth0. DHCPD:

$ vi /etc/udhcpd.conf 
# Sample udhcpd configuration file (/etc/udhcpd.conf)
# The start and end of the IP lease block
start           192.168.5.20    #default: 192.168.0.20
end             192.168.5.25    #default: 192.168.0.254
# The interface that udhcpd will use
interface   wlan0               #default: eth0
#Example
opt     dns     8.8.8.8  8.8.4.4 # public google dns servers
option  subnet  255.255.255.0
opt     router  192.168.5.1
option  lease   864000          # 10 days of seconds

This is a network example. You need to set the IP address based on your network.
Wireless configuration can be setup in file /etc/hostapd.conf before launching hostapd for configuring access point name, requiring password, etc.
For example:

$ vi /etc/hostapd.conf

You can set the following parameters:

ssid=VARI_AP
wpa=2
rsn_pairwise=CCMP
wpa_passphrase=12345678
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
ieee80211n=1
channel=1
hw_mode=g
interface=wlan0

Ensure that wpa_supplicant is not holding the device

$ killall wpa_supplicant
$ killall hostapd

IP Forwarding:

$ echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
$ ifconfig wlan0 192.168.5.1
$ hostapd -B /etc/hostapd.conf -P /var/run/hostapd.pid
$ udhcpd /etc/udhcpd.conf
$ iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE

As a next step one should take a look at /etc/hostapd.conf. You may want to configure password access point name etc.

MAC address settings

In order to use the built-in TI unique mac address of the module, change the wl1271-nvs.bin file using the calibrator application:

$ calibrator set nvs_mac /lib/firmware/ti-connectivity/wl1271-nvs.bin 00:00:00:00:00:00
reboot system!

Note: This operation should be done only once

Wi-Fi Certification Tests

Texas Instruments provides detailed description of procedures required to pass Wi-Fi certification tests:
https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/swru562/swru562.pdf

https://www.ti.com/tool/WL18XX-CERTIFICATION

Bluetooth RF Testing

Texas Instruments used to provide a detailed description of the procedures required for Bluetooth RF Testing at:
https://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Bluetopia_PM_Bluetooth_RF_Testing

Since January 2021, the above page no longer exists, but its contents are still available from the Wayback Machine Internet Archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20210115014622/https://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/WL18xx_Bluetopia_PM_Bluetooth_RF_Testing

VAR-SOM-MX6 Wireless LAN

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