M2 NGFF specs for multi-AP

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hello,

I’ve been using an 802.11ac M2 NGFF card (Qualcomm Atheros QCNFA364A - QCA6174) in a Dell 3050 Micro for a few years (currently 24.10.3).

The one card can only use one band at a time, but allows for 2 SSID’s / subnets.
So I have 5Ghz LAN and IoT networks with Wireless isolation.

I also have a Mediatek MT7612U usb that provides 2 subnets (LAN + Guest) on 2.4Ghz

Been pleased with it generally and…..mostly…..enjoyed the steep learning curve.

Recently tried upgrading the parts to AX, purely because so much of the rest of the network is 6E.
While x86 has downsides, figured having parts which can easily (+ cheaply) swapped out was useful. So I tried.

Bought a EDUP AX3000M MTK7921AU USB and Yunseity MT7922A22M M2 NGFF card.
Both of which it seems cannot provide more than one subnet/SSID per band (and only one band at a time, which was expected).

So essentially I've lost my guest/IoT networks, without plugging back in the MT7612U as a second USB.

Is it fair to say its the AP count in the "valid interface combinations" from "iw list" that is key?

BAD
#{ managed, P2P-client } <= 2, #{ AP } <= 1, #{ P2P-device } <= 1, total <= 3, #channels <= 1

GOOD
#{ managed } <= 2, #{ AP, mesh point, P2P-client, P2P-GO } <= 2, #{ P2P-device } <= 1, total <= 4, #channels <= 1

Some research and Qualcomm QCNCM865 is available, had success with Qualcomm before, but I don't know if the AP count is <=1 or <=2 etc with this one

Is it possible to tell from the specs in advance if it will handle two subnets/SSID's simultaneously (on the same band) please?
Or is it card specific and pot luck without the exact specs of the card?

Many thanks!

2

Ask wise questions get wise answers

Yes, it is, but not chip mrketing paper you posted nor usb gadget you so proud

Yes and yes (the functions provided is synonimous with specs)

heard of AsiaRF ?

3

Have heard of AsiaRF, but only in links in forums, don’t know them as a brand outside of that, are they good then?

“chip mrketing paper you posted nor usb gadget you so proud”

I must be looking in the wrong places

4

In general cards with Bluetooth are to retrofit in laptops. Means 15-23dBm tx power max.

AsiaRF sells the AP kind of cards, including antennas, but you still need to follow what M2 connector is on there, converter is like 10 bucks be it card size or the cuts in connector.

6GHz needs new antennas (old 5GHz antenna can not cut it)

6GHz is not permitted as AP in US with current regulatory data (it needs some kind of enrollmient from FCC)

USB cards are limited, 2AP-s are good already. Same with broadcom-anything. See https://github.com/morrownr/USB-WiFi

At least AsiaRF gives precise specs and sells full kit with antennas. There are few limited my76 chips, usually of laptop kind, search this forum for “interface combinations” , usually 12-16 for ath10k ath11k mt76,ath12k is freshly supported ymmv. less functions if any on broadcom,intel,realtek.

1 Like
5

I would reconsider the whole plan to begin with.

The Dell Wyse 5070 is a tiny 1L PC, with space only for a 2230 WLAN card crammed under the 2.5" SATA drive bay. Ventilation and heat dissipation are very challenged for this, power delivery probably not meeting demand either.

There are no AP-centric WLAN cards in 2230 form factor, those that do exist are (considerably) larger and require a heatsink plus decent airflow, as well as usually also aux power (M.2 is quite overwhelmed to cope with 10 watts on 3.3V).

USB WLAN is another already discussed at length, just read up about prior discussions.

These are not the droids you are looking for, even less for tri-band operations. x86_64 makes a very fine router, but making it an AP as well is expensive, requires quite some experimenting (which risks of fatal hardware damage) and even then has a hard time meeting the performance of a 20 buck plastic AP.

2 Likes
6

Would not bet 100 bucks m2 wifi card assembly in this lottery…

7

Lots of great info there, thank you.

On balance, I'll probably stick with the ath10k card that’s in there then; it does 2 AP's simultaneously and has been very reliable for last 2 years.

The old USB MT7612U ran two AP's simultaneously also, and while the new MT7921AU does not run two AP's, it is much faster. So I'll take that.
Plus the MT7921AU comes up automatically after a power cycle, whereas the MT7612U never did (always had to plug it out/in, then "enable" via luci).
But given Dell stayed on for a month at a time, wasn't a deal breaker.

Will do a bit of searching on interface combinations just in case something jumps out though :slight_smile:

When i started, I was taking the family email server in-house and had this obsession on keeping the wattage down.
The Dell 3050 idles around 7w. Has 4 cores, 8GB RAM and runs an Ubuntu VM, Adblocker, Exim/Dovecot, ClamAV, Crowdsec, fail2ban etc 120GB Nvme etc
All for £110
Plus our house is small + thin floors, decent signal all over.

If i had my time again though, would get something like GL-iNet Flint2 or only £50 a Cudy WR3000E (or their equivalent in 2022).
Then just have the dell as the mini server.
Or maybe just a USB to Ethernet adapter and chuck a wall mounted AP onto the Dell.

8

Decided to remove the USB WiFi and try adding a Cudy WR3000E as an AP via gigabit USB adapter on Dell 3050 Micro.

It worked well in OEM form, but flashed it with OpenWRT 24.10.3

On the 5Ghz have gained 6db and gone from 280Mbit to 930Mbit

As you said, even a “cheap” item is far better than a WiFi card.

9

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