Wi-fi roaming from the command line

[tempestuous]

Does the use of wpa_supplicant for WEP/WPA encryption have any impact on system performance?

In theory, yes. But I haven't tested the theory.

It would make an interesting experiment to check CPU usage (with conky) while downloading a large file using WEP decryption via iwconfig, versus WEP decryption via wpa_supplicant.

Then do the same test again using WPA with the Ralink driver and iwpriv commands, versus wpa_supplicant.

I'm guessing the difference in CPU usage would only be noticeable with an i486 or Pentium1.

[allanlewis]

Does the use of wpa_supplicant for WEP/WPA encryption have any impact on system performance?

In theory, yes. But I haven't tested the theory.

It would make an interesting experiment to check CPU usage (with conky) while downloading a large file using WEP decryption via iwconfig, versus WEP decryption via wpa_supplicant.

Then do the same test again using WPA with the Ralink driver and iwpriv commands, versus wpa_supplicant.

That would be interesting Any volunteers?

I'm guessing the difference in CPU usage would only be noticeable with an i486 or Pentium1.

That's what I would think too.

[Gizzo]

I'm a new puppy user and whilst I was getting my wpc54gs up and running I noticed a significant increase in performance using ndiswrapper as opposed to bcm43xx.
Indeed, the bcm driver was only good for getting the card up to scan for networks. When it came to establishing a wpa connection it got to 8% and then the red bar maxxed-out. End of wpa connection.

I can't say I'd ever thought too much about wifi performance before I read this thread and experienced the above.

Is this expected, or is it just buggy?

Any thoughts are most appreciated.