WiFi FTM Linux Tool
FAQ
1. Why am I getting negative distances? [+]
For short actual distances between STA and AP, the ranging system returns negative results. We believe that this is undesirable result of the ranging algorithm. There is a fixed offset of 5 meters, for these Intel cards, can be added to the results to correct for the underestiamtion
2. Are there other WiFi cards support FTM protocol? [+]
Yes, there are multiple chipsets support FTM. However, for the client/station side, our tool works only with the Intel 8260 card. On the other hand, for the AP side, we tested multiple commercial APs and found the APs that are based on Qualcomm IPQ4018 chipset, return accurate/stable results.
3. Why am I unable to configure AP to work at 5 GHz band? [+]
These devices do not support AP mode in the 5GHz band, because they are not able to detect radar transmissions in order to evacuate the channels. However, you can use commercial APs that support FTM protcol and can operate at 5GHz band.
4. Can this tool report CSI information, phase, information per antenna? [+]
Unfortunately, our tool cannot report this information due to firmware limitations
5. How can I know if an AP support FTM protocol or not? [+]
The IEEE 802.11-2016 standard mandates that the APs, that support FTM as responder, shall publish this information in the beaconing frames (in the extended capabilities record). However, we found commercial APs that support FTM, and do not publish that. Therefore, in our tool, we check for this information in the beaconing frames and leave the choice to the user to decide to range all the surrounding APs or not.
6. What is the resolution of the time measurements? [+]
In the standard, it is only mentioned that the timestamps should be reported in the units of picoseconds without clarifying the exact resolution. The driver also reports the round trip time in picoseconds.