thetechhimself
Occasional Visitor
Reimaged from scratch 22.04.1 and just loaded new firmware… it hits 400mbs on speed tests, fast, but won’t break. I previously had backport drivers and whatnot in place (I’d thrown the kitchen sink I could think of at this) so I just wiped the slate clean. Nothing.Ok, so Linux for WIFI can get tricky depending on what you're doing.
For hosting an AP in the past I used a qnap qwa-ac2600 adapter until I got sick of waiting for an AX card for the internal AP function. At which point I went with an external AP of NWA210AX.
I didn't test the MTK as a client option because that wasn't the intent of use for me. With the QNAP though I could saturate the line up to ~980mbps with an AX200/210 client adapter.
Killer is a waste of time and just hype to get more money out of gamers. Now, the AX411 with DCT on the other hand actually does what it says it will do by combining both 2.4 / 5 ghz bands into a single connection as I've seen 1.5gbps from it. The downside is you have to have ADL or newer CPU for CNVIO2 cards to operate at peak performance.
Two parts of the equation though.... AP + Client... if they don't have the features needed to get beyond 1gbps then it's a waste of time. If the port on the AP is 1gbps it's a waste of time. If the LAN connections don't exceed 1gbps it's a waste of time. The complete path end to end between devices needs to match up for the speeds you're trying to accomplish.
On the wired side I'm running 5GE because my NAS drives hit 400MB/s+ and when I want to copy things quickly an ethernet between laptop / server delivers those speeds and leaves room for other traffic to not be impacted.
So, the other trick to Linux + AX200/210 cards is to update the firmware files from Intel and put them into /lib/firmware. I go through my system and remove most of the intel files though to keep it efficient on boot instead of searching through the multiple files and it just reduces the clutter.
Code:sudo lspci -s 00:14.3 -vvv 00:14.3 Network controller: Intel Corporation Alder Lake-S PCH CNVi WiFi (rev 11) Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 00b4 Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx+ Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx- Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes Interrupt: pin C routed to IRQ 18 Region 0: Memory at 604b114000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 3 Flags: PMEClk- DSI+ D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+) Status: D0 NoSoftRst+ PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME- Capabilities: [d0] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+ Address: 0000000000000000 Data: 0000 Capabilities: [40] Express (v2) Root Complex Integrated Endpoint, MSI 00 DevCap: MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0 ExtTag- RBE- FLReset+ DevCtl: CorrErr- NonFatalErr- FatalErr- UnsupReq- RlxdOrd+ ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr+ NoSnoop+ FLReset- MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 128 bytes DevSta: CorrErr- NonFatalErr- FatalErr- UnsupReq- AuxPwr+ TransPend- DevCap2: Completion Timeout: Range B, TimeoutDis+ NROPrPrP- LTR+ 10BitTagComp- 10BitTagReq- OBFF Via WAKE#, ExtFmt- EETLPPrefix- EmergencyPowerReduction Not Supported, EmergencyPowerReductionInit- FRS- AtomicOpsCap: 32bit- 64bit- 128bitCAS- DevCtl2: Completion Timeout: 16ms to 55ms, TimeoutDis- LTR+ OBFF Disabled, AtomicOpsCtl: ReqEn- Capabilities: [80] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=16 Masked- Vector table: BAR=0 offset=00002000 PBA: BAR=0 offset=00003000 Capabilities: [100 v1] Latency Tolerance Reporting Max snoop latency: 0ns Max no snoop latency: 0ns Capabilities: [164 v1] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0010 Rev=0 Len=014 <?> Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi Kernel modules: iwlwifi
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If you want to get away from the standard Intel options there's very few options still even a couple years after they released the 200/210 cards. Half of the issue is releasing the spectrum worldwide and the other half is chip supply apparently. On the router / AP side it's taken just as long but, it seems like things are finally ramping up on that side as well. With WIFI 7 coming in under 2 years though it's a hard sell with all of the delays and lack of market saturation at this point to sink money into gear.
The AX411 works as an AP as would the 200/210 cards if you tweak how the IWL file works and disable some checks to enable AP hosting but, you'll still be limited in bandwidth. The Qualcomm based options from prior experience don't have this issue but, I haven't tested them personally at this point as I don't really need to spend the $75 on card + shipping but, it's still intriguing as a solution. Had the initial purchase been in stock and shipped I could provide more info and POC to the performance.
I was using a MB8600 and LACP 2 ports off the modem into my DIY setup to get the 1.5gbps out of the connection. I ditched them though for TMHI for $50/mo and unlimited data and double the upload speeds. Sure, the gig speeds were nice but, not needed 100% of the time but, the sticking issue was gig gave 40mbps upload vs 10mbp upload on the lower tiers. Plus the only other option was ATT DSL which is stupid for 25mbps @ $45/mo.
Any other ideas before I ditch Intel? I don’t have an ADL system so I can’t go 411, sadly. The MTK sounds promising, if it can negotiate an effective 960, as a client it should match or break that. Hosting is usually more demanding than guest.
Also it’s intriguing, I never considered making my own AP, really that’s all a WiFi router is at the end of the day (a small pc running a small footprint Linux kernel with open or closed source hosting / drivers, route, and firewall table…). I knew this, but never stopped to appreciate it. There’s a lot that goes into a router from smart rule sets, custom Linux builds, part picking, alignment of antennas, etc.
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