Recommendation for mini pci-e wifi card

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

I want to replace the wifi card in my ASrock x300 mini desktop and my laptops.

  1. What features I should look for, if I want to (test) run x86 OpenWrt also
  2. What features I should look for, if I just need to run it for Windows/Linux

I would like to have WIFI 6E cards if possible.

Thank you!

2

What about outsourcing it?

mt7621a+mt7915, mt7622+mt7915 or ipq807x.

3

If you want to run (test) OpenWrt x86 then the chipset has to support being setup as an access point(AP)
https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/users/drivers

1 Like
4

For mini pcie I highly recommend AsiaRF's offerings, which basically all use MediaTek chipsets. I think you'll find MediaTek has the best OpenWrt support and best Linux support in general.

They have three WiFi 6 cards:

  • AW7915-NP1 - WiFi 6 4T4R, non DBDC. This is actually my favourite and I have three of them in use. But then, I don't have any 6GHz devices yet and I don't actually need DBDC. This card is exceptionally low-noise. Even with a low signal (due to wall/floor penetration) I routinely get +34dB over noise due to the low noise floor.
  • AW7915NPD - WiFi6 2T2R DBDC. I have one of these for testing. Works well. It seems about 3dB more noisy than the above, but still good.
  • AW7916NPD - WiFi 6E 3T3R @ 5/6GHz, 2T2R @ 2.4GHz DBDC. I have one for testing. Works well. It does draw a lot of power and can get warm, but it comes with a heatsink that works well. I have tested it with DBDC and it works well in 22.03.3, but there is a glitch with DBDC in snapshot due to current work going on with the firmware. It looks to be mostly resolved, the only issue I am currently having is with 5GHz scan, which isn't strictly required anyway. I haven't tested it as thoroughly as I have the first card, but so far it also seems to be exceptionally low noise.

The great thing about MediaTek is they are actively working with Linux and OpenWrt devs.

9 Likes
5

I find Intel AX210 selling for 98RMB in Taobao.

How to determine if I need to replace the existing attenna as well?

My Asrock X300 mini-pc is currently running Intel Wireless-AC 3168NGW .

6

Intel is not an option for AP on 5 GHz.

1 Like
7

Thank you very much!

That Intel card is relatively cheap, thus I would like to order it and test for a while in my mini-pc. Then it will be installed to the Lenovo notebook my family members are using.

While at the same time, trying to find a card that can use in AP mode.

8

Now you know, just don't bother ,)