Enable Beamforming

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

I'm using OpenWRT 22.03.5.
The router is ELECOM WRC-1167GS2-B which supports beamforming with the original firmware. Its WiFi device is MediaTek MT7621.
But the beamforming does not seems to working.

# grep ht_capab hostapd-phy*.conf
hostapd-phy0.conf:ht_capab=[LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1]
hostapd-phy1.conf:ht_capab=[HT40+][LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1]
hostapd-phy1.conf:vht_capab=[RXLDPC][SHORT-GI-80][TX-STBC-2BY1][RX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][TX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][RX-STBC-1][MAX-A-MPDU-LEN-EXP7]

There is no SU-BEAMFORMER and so on.
Also I tried iw list command, but SU-BEAMFORMER etc. not found.

OpenWRT does not support beamforming?

2 Likes
2

Well this is pretty much my conclusion.

The problem isn’t really support of beamforming. The problem is money, the wifi chip manufacturers for 5GHz band see advanced wifi functions as high economic value propetary knowledge. So the drivers are classified under non disclosure agreements with the manufacturers of routers and access points.

So most modern advanced wifi chip that OpenWrt use comes with “home-made one size fits all” drivers that never comes close to default driver performance.

3

Thank you for your prompt reply.
I understand that the beamforming does not work.
At the moment, there is no MT7621 driver that supports beamforming.
I hope that drivers will be developed soon.
Thanks in advance.

4

In DAP-2610 SU/MU Beamforming seems to be supported and working.

root@DAP2610:/tmp/run# grep ht_capab hostapd-phy*.conf
hostapd-phy0.conf:ht_capab=[LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1][MAX-AMSDU-7935][DSSS_CCK-40]
hostapd-phy1.conf:ht_capab=[HT40+][LDPC][SHORT-GI-20][SHORT-GI-40][TX-STBC][RX-STBC1][MAX-AMSDU-7935][DSSS_CCK-40]
hostapd-phy1.conf:vht_capab=[RXLDPC][SHORT-GI-80][TX-STBC-2BY1][SU-BEAMFORMER][SU-BEAMFORMEE][MU-BEAMFORMER][MU-BEAMFORMEE][RX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][TX-ANTENNA-PATTERN][RX-STBC-1][SOUNDING-DIMENSION-2][BF-ANTENNA-3][MAX-MPDU-11454][MAX-A-MPDU-LEN-EXP7]

DAP-2610 it's not a MT7621 device.

root@DAP2610:/tmp/run# ubus call system board
{
        "kernel": "5.15.120",
        "hostname": "DAP2610",
        "system": "ARMv7 Processor rev 5 (v7l)",
        "model": "D-Link DAP 2610",
        "board_name": "dlink,dap-2610",
        "rootfs_type": "squashfs",
        "release": {
                "distribution": "OpenWrt",
                "version": "SNAPSHOT",
                "revision": "r23579-1c56801dd2",
                "target": "ipq40xx/generic",
                "description": "OpenWrt SNAPSHOT r23579-1c56801dd2"
        }
5

Thank you for the valuable information.
WLAN device of D-Link DAP2610 is Qualcomm IPQ4018.
Qualcomm IPQ40xx or Snapshot version may supports beamforming.
I'll buy and try the router used Qualcomm IPQ40xx next time.
Thanks in advance.