What is iwlwifi's "lar_disable"?
I’m seeing a lot of posts reference lar_disable like this one for instance. I’m wondering what it does. modinfo iwlwifi just says,
parm: lar_disable:disable LAR functionality (default: N) (bool)
What is “LAR functionality”?
LAR functionality is a reference to Location-Aided Routing Protocols.
Example papers:
- Location-Aided Routing (LAR) in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
- Secure Location-Aided Routing Protocols With Wi-Fi Direct For Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks
LAR functionality for WIFI modules is not connected to Location-Aided Routing, but Location-Aware Regulatory. Let me disambiguate those two terms.
Location-Aided Routing
decides how to send you packets in the fastest way and shortest distance in Ad-Hoc networks, i.e. IoT (Internet of Things) or other on-location usages, such as army or emergency response units.
Location-Aware Regulatory
gives a country code to your wifi module on automatic basis based on the location you are in (European Union states have different regulations from US or China for radiation, mainly in 5GHz band). It was possible to turn it off previously, using the lar_disable parameter, although it was removed somewhere around 2019/2020, so now the country code is only set automatically and there is almost nothing you can do about it, mostly within INTEL cards. Qualcomm, Realtek and all those other guys should not, as of now 2023, force onto you the country’s regulation using the country code. You see iwlwifi is Linux’ driver for Intel Wireless WiFi. See this link.