Is MT7916 supported?

I am looking into buying the AW7916-NPD from AsiaRF but can't really find any reports of people using it on x86 builds running OpenWRT. In my case it will be virtualized with PCIe passthrough for the wifi card. I am hesitating betwen the AW7916-NPD and the AW7915-NPD which I think is supported, but offers less future proofing.

not yet, but I think it will be. I already have seen Mediatek pushing patches into the Linux Kernel for mt7916. OpenWRT currently is having kernel 5.15 for most targets. As soon as kernel 6.1 (this will probably be the next long-term supported Linux kernel) hits, mt7916 should be supported. If your Linux distribution is using an old kernel, you might want to wait a little bit or go for the 7915. Additionally, the mt76 driver, which regularly gets merged into OpenWRT also has some support for mt7916 already...so it could be that it already works with OpenWRT.

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Yes it is supported in current OpenWrt snapshots. It's supported by the 7915e driver. There is a separate package for 7916 firmware. I have the same AsiaRF card on order. I also have all their 7915 offerings and they work great too. Just remember, you need a device to put it in that can provide a lot of current on the 3.3v line.

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Okay thanks, do you think a PCIe lane from a computer motherboard can do that? Planning to mount the card with a PCIe/MiniPCIe adapter. I see that a PCIe 1x is rated for 10W max but not sure whether it depends on the adapter where the power goes.

It's hard to say. The PCI-SIG standard says a mPCIe slot should deliver 1.1A continuous and 2.75A peak on the 3.3V line. On all their 7916 boards AsiaRF says "Main board Power Supply design please provide 3.3V 3.5A, minimum 3.3V 3A.".

Regular PCIe is supposed to supply 3A at 3.3V, but it will depends on the adapter you're using whether or not that will go all the way through to the card. I've seen a lot of PCIe to mini PCIe adapters with AMS1117 chips on them, which are 1A regulators.

I suspect it will be ok, but it's going to be a case of you'll have to try it and see.

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