WFB-NG — Ground Station (Ubuntu)

Example for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (kernel 5.15).

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Newer Ubuntu versions break the patched Wi-Fi card drivers — use exactly 22.04 LTS. Do not plug in USB cards during OS installation to avoid driver conflicts.

Installation

1. Dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install dkms git python3-all-dev net-tools virtualenv fakeroot \
  debhelper python3-twisted libpcap-dev python3-pyroute2 python3-future \
  python3-all libsodium-dev

2. Card driver:

• RTL8812AU — patched driver v5.2.20 from svpcom/rtl8812au. Avoid v5.6.4.2 — it has reduced transmit power.
• RTL8812EU — patched driver from svpcom/rtl8812eu.

After installation, blacklist the stock Realtek drivers so the system does not load the wrong one:

cat > /etc/modprobe.d/wfb.conf <<EOF
blacklist 88XXau
blacklist 8812au
blacklist rtl8812au
blacklist rtl88x2bs
options 88XXau_wfb rtw_tx_pwr_idx_override=30
EOF
sudo update-initramfs -u

3. BPF JIT optimization — speeds up packet processing:

echo "net.core.bpf_jit_enable = 1" | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

4. NetworkManager — prevent it from taking over the Wi-Fi card. Add to /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf:

[keyfile]
unmanaged-devices=interface-name:wlan0

If you use dhcpcd, also add denyinterfaces wlan0 to /etc/dhcpcd.conf.

5. Install WFB-NG (use your interface name from iwconfig):

git clone -b stable https://github.com/svpcom/wfb-ng.git
cd wfb-ng
sudo ./scripts/install_gs.sh "wlan0"

6. Config — edit /etc/wifibroadcast.cfg (channel/region/streams) and place /etc/gs.key. For a full parameter reference and key generation guide, see Configuration.

Start and monitor

# Ground station
sudo systemctl enable --now wifibroadcast@gs
systemctl status wifibroadcast@gs

# Drone (camera)
sudo systemctl enable --now wifibroadcast@drone

# Link monitor (RSSI, FEC, packet loss)
wfb-cli gs

# Logs for diagnostics
journalctl -xu wifibroadcast@gs -n 100

Viewing video

The video stream (usually H.265) is pushed over UDP to port 5600. Open it in PixelPilot, QGroundControl or GStreamer:

• QGroundControl — UDP h.265, address 0.0.0.0:5600, enable Low Latency Mode.
• GStreamer — receive RTP/UDP on 5600 and decode H.265.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause / fix
No video at all	Different wifi_channel on drone and GS — compare /etc/wifibroadcast.cfg
Decryption errors	gs.key and drone.key are not from the same pair — regenerate with wfb_keygen
Link drops / low bitrate	mcs_index too high for the conditions — lower it; check antennas and power
Card won't start	No monitor mode/injection, or an unpatched driver
RF Kill active	Run rfkill list all to check; rfkill unblock all to unblock
NetworkManager takes over the card	Add unmanaged-devices to NetworkManager.conf (step 4 above)

For automatic bitrate adaptation to link conditions, see Adaptive-Link.