Trying to figure out wireless connectivity
New to RHEL. When I plug a cable into my laptop the OS recognized the network but I cannot figure out how to get the OS to recognize my wireless card. I try running 'iw' but get "nl80211 not found". My laptop is an Alienware and the wireless card is a "Killer Wireless-a/c/ac 1525 Wireless" Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Responses
Guru
2404 points
Sounds like a driver issue. I'm sure Jamie can give you a more definite answer. :)
Can you post the output returned by:
lspci -nn | grep net
Red Hat
Guru
7252 points
WikiDevi says the PCI ID is probably [168c:003e] which you'll see at the end of the lspci -nn | grep -i net line. If so:
This device is supported upstream by the ath10k driver, but that driver isn't in RHEL7 yet.
Private Bug 1257698 - [RFE] Add ath10k driver exists to add ath10k to RHEL7, and is requested for RHEL 7.3 but the work has not been completed yet.
For now you could probably use kmod-ath10k from ELRepo, but this is not supplied or supported by Red Hat. The ELRepo community will be able to support any queries you have about getting it working. You may need to get a firmware file from the manufacturer's website.
Another option is to replace the wireless LAN card with one that is supported by RHEL. I am not sure if your laptop supports changing the wireless card, sometimes vendors lock the BIOS so only certain cards can be used, Dell/Alienware support should be able to confirm. One possible card is Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 [8086:08b2] which is what I have in my work laptop, though there are many other options and Red Hat do not endorse any particular vendor over another.
Guru
2404 points
I confirm that ELRepo's kmod-ath10k package does have support for your Atheros wireless device [168c:003e]. So, follow the instructions on the ELRepo Home Page and set up the repo. Then install the package by 'yum install kmod-ath10k' .
I am having the same troubles but with an older laptop that is about 9 years old. Here is the output from the command lspci -nn | grep -i net:
09:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller [11ab:4354] (rev 12) 0b:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Limited BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY [14e4:4315] (rev 01)
Your wireless chip is made by Broadcom, and would be supported by the "b43" kernel module. However, this module does not seem to be included in the RHEL 7.x kernels at least:
[root@localhost ~]# grep B43 /boot/config-3.10.0-514.el7.x86_64
# CONFIG_B43 is not set
# CONFIG_B43LEGACY is not set
# CONFIG_SSB_B43_PCI_BRIDGE is not set
In addition to the module, you would the appropriate firmware file(s) for your card. You must download Broadcom's Windows driver for your card and use a "b43-fwcutter" tool to extract the firmware from the driver, since Broadcom won't allow for the firmware files to be distributed.
More info about getting the firmware on this page: http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43/
The Linux wireless wiki page on b43: https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers/b43
Since your laptop is old, the proprietary Linux driver from Broadcom might also be usable if the OS installation is not too new for it: https://www.broadcom.com/support/download-search/?pf=Wireless+LAN+Infrastructure
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