Intel Wireless 8260 dual band access point problems on 22.03 x86_64

Installing and Using OpenWrt Network and Wireless Configuration
1

Hi folks,

I'm having difficulties getting WiFi to work in AP mode on both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands on an Intel 8260 chipset (on an Intel Joule 570x compute module), please can someone advise how I can get this working? It seems like radio1 is superseding the config for radio0 . Here is my /etc/config/wireless config...

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option macaddr 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'
        option channel '36'
        option band '5g'
        option htmode 'VHT80'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'Joule'
        option encryption 'none'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option macaddr 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'
        option channel '8'
        option band '2g'
        option htmode 'HT20'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'Joule'
        option encryption 'none'

... and what I'm seeing in luci (I've hidden my mac address with xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx but they are both identical in the config):

image
image977×275 22.6 KB

I can see and connect to the above wireless network on 2.4 GHz and it works as expected, but as the screenshot confirms the 5 GHz band isn't appearing because it's being overwritten.

I did some Googling on this and I can see others use the path option to reference the PCI device however despite seeing these lines in the Kernel ring buffer...

iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: loaded firmware version 36.ca7b901d.0 8000C-36.ucode op_mode iwlmvm
iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless AC 8260, REV=0x204
iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: base HW address: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

... I cannot find 0000:01:00.0 under /sys/devices/ anywhere.

Please can someone advise how to get both bands working?

2

I don't see that - I'm not sure what you mean.

Have you tried different SSID names?

Do your device do AP mode?

3

What makes you believe that:

  • this compute module has two radios?
    dual-band does not imply concurrent dual-band, just that you can choose, either-or.
  • that Intel wireless supports AP mode on 5 GHz at all?
    iw list will tell you, but chances are minimal (zero).
1 Like
4

Hi @lleachii and @slh , thank you for responding.

I'm 100% convinced the chipset does AP mode at least on 2.4 GHz as I've successfully connected to it with my phone and accessed the Internet.

The device has 2 antennas for either MIMO or one for each band. It's not clear which.

If I click the "Add new network" in luci and add the 5 GHz network then it changes the config for both to 5 GHz and subsequently breaks both.

I just tried to create a standalone 5 GHz network and despite OpenWrt saying the network is active I cannot detect it with a WiFi scanner on my phone (I can see other 5 GHz networks). Even if I change the 5 GHz channel it still doesn't appear.

I also cannot create 2 wireless networks on the same 2.4 GHz band with different SSID's (although this is somewhat expected given other things aren't working).

So it appears that there's 2 problems here then;

  1. 5 GHz simply isn't working as expected in AP mode
  2. It's not possible to run both at the same time due to #1 and other issues

Here is the output of iw list:

root@Joule:~# iw list
Wiphy phy0
        wiphy index: 0
        max # scan SSIDs: 20
        max scan IEs length: 422 bytes
        max # sched scan SSIDs: 20
        max # match sets: 11
        Retry short limit: 7
        Retry long limit: 4
        Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
        Device supports AP-side u-APSD.
        Available Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
        Configured Antennas: TX 0x3 RX 0x3
        Supported interface modes:
                 * IBSS
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * AP/VLAN
                 * monitor
                 * P2P-client
                 * P2P-GO
                 * P2P-device
        Band 1:
                Capabilities: 0x11ef
                        RX LDPC
                        HT20/HT40
                        SM Power Save disabled
                        RX HT20 SGI
                        RX HT40 SGI
                        TX STBC
                        RX STBC 1-stream
                        Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes
                        DSSS/CCK HT40
                Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
                Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 4 usec (0x05)
                HT Max RX data rate: 300 Mbps
                HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
                Frequencies:
                        * 2412 MHz [1] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2417 MHz [2] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2422 MHz [3] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2427 MHz [4] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2432 MHz [5] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2437 MHz [6] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2442 MHz [7] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2447 MHz [8] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2452 MHz [9] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2457 MHz [10] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2462 MHz [11] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2467 MHz [12] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2472 MHz [13] (22.0 dBm)
                        * 2484 MHz [14] (disabled)
        Band 2:
                Capabilities: 0x11ef
                        RX LDPC
                        HT20/HT40
                        SM Power Save disabled
                        RX HT20 SGI
                        RX HT40 SGI
                        TX STBC
                        RX STBC 1-stream
                        Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes
                        DSSS/CCK HT40
                Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
                Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: 4 usec (0x05)
                HT Max RX data rate: 300 Mbps
                HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-15
                VHT Capabilities (0x038071b0):
                        Max MPDU length: 3895
                        Supported Channel Width: neither 160 nor 80+80
                        RX LDPC
                        short GI (80 MHz)
                        TX STBC
                        SU Beamformee
                VHT RX MCS set:
                        1 streams: MCS 0-9
                        2 streams: MCS 0-9
                        3 streams: not supported
                        4 streams: not supported
                        5 streams: not supported
                        6 streams: not supported
                        7 streams: not supported
                        8 streams: not supported
                VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
                VHT TX MCS set:
                        1 streams: MCS 0-9
                        2 streams: MCS 0-9
                        3 streams: not supported
                        4 streams: not supported
                        5 streams: not supported
                        6 streams: not supported
                        7 streams: not supported
                        8 streams: not supported
                VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
                Frequencies:
                        * 5180 MHz [36] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5200 MHz [40] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5220 MHz [44] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5240 MHz [48] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5260 MHz [52] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5280 MHz [56] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5300 MHz [60] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5320 MHz [64] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5340 MHz [68] (disabled)
                        * 5360 MHz [72] (disabled)
                        * 5380 MHz [76] (disabled)
                        * 5400 MHz [80] (disabled)
                        * 5420 MHz [84] (disabled)
                        * 5440 MHz [88] (disabled)
                        * 5460 MHz [92] (disabled)
                        * 5480 MHz [96] (disabled)
                        * 5500 MHz [100] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5520 MHz [104] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5540 MHz [108] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5560 MHz [112] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5580 MHz [116] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5600 MHz [120] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5620 MHz [124] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5640 MHz [128] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5660 MHz [132] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5680 MHz [136] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5700 MHz [140] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5720 MHz [144] (22.0 dBm) (no IR, radar detection)
                        * 5745 MHz [149] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5765 MHz [153] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5785 MHz [157] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5805 MHz [161] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5825 MHz [165] (22.0 dBm) (no IR)
                        * 5845 MHz [169] (disabled)
                        * 5865 MHz [173] (disabled)
                        * 5885 MHz [177] (disabled)
                        * 5905 MHz [181] (disabled)
        valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP, P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1,
                   total <= 3, #channels <= 2
        HT Capability overrides:
                 * MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
                 * maximum A-MSDU length
                 * supported channel width
                 * short GI for 40 MHz
                 * max A-MPDU length exponent
                 * min MPDU start spacing
        max # scan plans: 2
        max scan plan interval: 65535
        max scan plan iterations: 254
        Supported extended features:
                * [ VHT_IBSS ]: VHT-IBSS
                * [ RRM ]: RRM
                * [ SCAN_START_TIME ]: scan start timestamp
                * [ BSS_PARENT_TSF ]: BSS last beacon/probe TSF
                * [ FILS_STA ]: STA FILS (Fast Initial Link Setup)
                * [ FILS_MAX_CHANNEL_TIME ]: FILS max channel attribute override with dwell time
                * [ ACCEPT_BCAST_PROBE_RESP ]: accepts broadcast probe response
                * [ OCE_PROBE_REQ_HIGH_TX_RATE ]: probe request TX at high rate (at least 5.5Mbps)
                * [ OCE_PROBE_REQ_DEFERRAL_SUPPRESSION ]: probe request tx deferral and suppression
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211 ]: control port over nl80211
                * [ TXQS ]: FQ-CoDel-enabled intermediate TXQs
                * [ EXT_KEY_ID ]: Extended Key ID support
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_NO_PREAUTH ]: disable pre-auth over nl80211 control port support
                * [ DEL_IBSS_STA ]: deletion of IBSS station support
                * [ SCAN_FREQ_KHZ ]: scan on kHz frequency support
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211_TX_STATUS ]: tx status for nl80211 control port support

I'm guessing that I'll just have to accept I can only run a single wireless network in 2.4 GHz mode. It's not the end of the world if that's the case :slight_smile:

5

8620 is a 2x2 chipset, dual-band, but not concurrent dual-band (2.4 GHz XOR 5 GHz) - and as you can see from iw list, there is no AP support on 5 GHz (No-IR, the ability to Initiate Radiation is required for that).

2 Likes
6

Thanks @slh , marking as solved :+1:

7

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