Question about dswifi v0.3 test app

[MechaBouncer]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and had a stupid question about the test app for dswifi. I tried looking around the forum, readme, Wiki, and so on, but could not find it (unless I just plain missed it) so I registered here to ask. My question is, what does the C?, C+, and C- line mean when in Wardriving mode? Thanks.

[sgstair]

Simple explanation:

The "C" scores are a compatibility rating

C+ should always work with the lib

C? will often work with the lib, but no guarantee

C- will rarely work with the lib

 

More in depth explanation:

C+ signifies that the router only specifies 1-2MBit as it's base (required) rate set, which the DS is fully capable of working with.

C? is shown when the router requires 1mbit, 2mbit, 5.5mbit, and 11mbit - this requires the ds to lie about it's capabilities in order to connect, and the AP may send out data faster than the DS can handle it, require the AP to retransmit it at progressively lower rates until the DS can receive it (and some data may be lost)

C- means that other rates besides 1, 2, 5.5, and 11 mbit are required by the router in order to connect - while it may still be possible to connect, the problems with receiving high rate information are even worse with these kinds of routers unless they're unnaturally smart. For most routers in this category, data gets retransmitted a lot of times before the DS can actually receive it, adding a lot of lag and unreliability to the connection, if the AP even bothers to transmit at a low enough rate that the DS can receive it :\

 

-Stephen

[MechaBouncer]

Thanks a lot! Makes perfect sense because I remember having to specifically set my router to 1-2 Mbit for it to work with the DS WiFi network.

 

I hadn't made my SSID visible yet to actually connect to it. I should probably just do that to make sure everything works properly. What with DHCP, WEP, and firmware setting support, I suspect the only thing stopping it is the hidden SSID and that it will work if I just make it visible.

 

Anyway, thanks again for the explanation. It seemed to be the only thing I couldn't find an answer to.