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TL-WN722N usb wireless stick in Linux

Written by at May 4, 2012

Using TP-Link, TL-WN722N usb wifi dongle in Linux, you could use the dongle to access wifi hotspot or you could using it as a access point to provide wifi connectivity for other devices.

Hardware infomation

Software information

  • OS: Slackware 13.37

Driver installation

Simply plug the stick will not work. First, it complain ar9271.fw not found. Although I found the fw file, the system having kernel core dump when loading the kernel module. Anyway, you should use the latest driver from Linux wireless to use the stick.

wget http://wireless.kernel.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 

tar -jxvf compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 
cd compat-wireless-2012-04-26/
./scripts/driver-select ath9k_htc 
make 
make install

The kernel module will install into /lib/modules/2.6.37.6/updates, which won’t affect OS kernel module.

Anyway you may need reboot your machine after install the latest kernel modules.

Firmware

You system should complain Failed to get firmware htc_9271.fw. You could get the firmware by:

git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/dwmw2/linux-firmware.git
cp htc_9271.fw /lib/firmware/

Your system could use the stick now. e.g., ifconfig wlan0 should give you something.

Linux WPA/WPA2/IEEE 802.1X Supplicant

To connect wifi router using WPA/WPA2,

  • edit wpa_supplicant.conf 
    network={
  scan_ssid=0
  ssid="XYZ XYZ"
  proto=WPA RSN
  key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
  pairwise=CCMP TKIP
  group=CCMP TKIP WEP104 WEP40
#  psk=your_64_char_psk_here
  psk=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  priority=10
}
  • psk could get from 
    wpa_passphrase 'XYZ XYZ' <psk secret>
  • Connect the wifi router and get IP address 
    wpa_supplicant -B -Dwext -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
dhcpcd -t 10 wlan0

Setup an Access Point

To set up an WPA/WPA2 access point using Linux,

  • Get hostapd
  • Build it 
    tar zxvf hostapd-0.7.3.tar.gz
cd hostapd-0.7.3/hostapd
cp defconfig .config
  • Modify .config, suggested options: 
    CONFIG_DRIVER_NL80211=y
CONFIG_IEEE80211N=y

    • make it

  • Modify hostapd.conf, suggested options: 
    interface=wlan0
ssid=xyzxyzxyz
hw_mode=g
channel=
wmm_enabled=1
ieee80211n=1
ht_capab=[HT40-][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40]
wpa=3
wpa_passphrase=<a share secret>
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
wpa_pairwise=TKIP
rsn_pairwise=CCMP
  • Setup dhcpd.conf to offer dhcp function 
    subnet 192.168.66.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  option domain-name-servers 192.168.66.1;
  option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
  option broadcast-address 192.168.66.255;
  option routers 192.168.66.1;
  range 192.168.66.100 192.168.66.200;
  max-lease-time 7200;
  default-lease-time 3600;
}
  • Start the AP now! 
    ifconfig wlan0 192.168.66.1 up
/usr/sbin/dhcpd wlan0
./hostapd hostapd.conf