I tested the third mPCIe Card on my Futro PC-System (Futro s720 and s920) with the following result
with "no name" Atheros 9 mPCIe-Card (in sum the best driver situation): More or less OK. I can create as many SSIDs as I wanted (I need three for three different VLAN-Networks) but I only got one Radio (set up to 2,4Ghz to cover most of my hardware here)
with RTL8852BE mPCIe-Card (bad driver situation): Technically the "best" hardware in my test, but lousy driver situation. I get it run but I could only spawn one SSID in parallel (others are "not associated" but I can switch between all SSIDs but only one is active). I got WiFi6 connections, very fast but not usable for my application... But also: only one Radio available (I checked several times the config-files, deleted them, re-created them as suggested in several posts and documentations)
with DW1540 mPCIe-Card (at least: I give up trying to get it run, no drivers available): No result here, no driver available
I now ordered a "Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 Dual Band WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.2" mPCIe Card (last try with Media Tek) but it might be the cause, that the underlying PC-Hardware could be some reason for not having the second Radio? I worked through a lot of troubleshooting lists concerning this, but with no effect.
Question: Could someone make a proposal for a mPCIe Card used on a x86 PC Hardware having (at least) two radios spawning 2,4GHz and 5GHz in parallel or has some experience in that kind of setup? All answers "buy a router hardware" are understood but do not help me (This could be the final solution, but I have some Futros here and I am a Futro Fan). Any help welcome.
isn't XOR, always ?
you can't run those two at the same time on one card/radio.
dual band means it can do both, not that it can do them simultaneously.
It's simple, all client-oriented WLAN cards are 2.4 XOR 5 GHz, including the mt7921.
Given that the futro line (great devices) is challenged in regards to power delivery (it certainly won't provide the required 3A on 3.3V) AND cooling (passive only, it will cook itself to death, crash and burn, literally) you can't mount an AP oriented DBDC (at 2x2+2x2) WLAN card either, which would cost more than the futro, your 3 useless WLAN cards and a cheap wifi6 DBDC plastic router running OpenWrt together. There are plenty prior in-depth explanations why running an AP on x86_64 is a bad idea, but with the futro you add a completely unsuitable mainboard into the mix. You'd need 4 M.2 ports (SSD, Ethernet, 2.4 GHz WLAN, 5 GHz WLAN), you got 0 (mini-PCIe + mSATA), not enough power capacity, nor cooling - and frankly not enough CPU power to keep all of that entertained at once either (the AMD G-series is not a runner).
Even if you don't want to hear it, in regards to the wireless AP side, a 15 buck plastic wireless router will run circles around your plan. The futro can still make a decent wired-only router, with a single-port(!) mini-PCIe ethernet card.
OK, this is the killing criteria to my plans. I didn't know this and I did not found this information (neither "googeling" not AI-based) explicitly somewhere. So I have to switch to a router based approach... Thanks for this information.
We could discuss the other things you sad, but this is not the place to do and I do not want to get shot because of a Futro...
To help you search, a typical PCI card that can use only one band at a time is called selectable dual band. Simultaneous dual band means two independent radios that can run both bands at once, but those cards are rare since they don't have any advantage running as a STA in a laptop. Also miniPCIe is obsolete replaced by M.2.
I've found that offering a 5 GHz only network can work in most situations. All late-model phones tablets and laptops have it. In an urban area the 2.4 band is a wall of noise.
Thanks for this Info! This truth was growing inside me since this post. I got the opposite problem: I have to reach a lot of distributed devices, neighbor WiFis are not my problem.My devices do not select the 5GHz network (I do offer it to all in range), most of them are not even able to...
My main problem is the Nintendo Switch Hardware of my children. The WLAN of these seems to be lousy and I have to install another AP upstairs. Big luxury problem, I know... And I have some clients in the garden (IoT Devices, ESP32, Solar Panels, etc) that have to be covered. So I started with the idea to have 2,4 GHz only (that would be doable with my Futros, this was the begin of the story and how my net was setup ever since). But I have 52 devices of different needs... 5GHz could help to distribute the load a little better.
I think I will have a look at a "15 buck plastic wireless router" (in my case two Zyxel Wifi6 devices)
Older (especially up to 802.11n/ ath9k) wifi standards didn't allow servicing many clients, neither were the chipsets able to do the necessary accounting (for the crypto, etc.) nor were there enough time slots left after the normal management traffic beyond ~30 clients. This only started to change with the IoT proliferation in 802.11ac days (still, ath10k-ct is hard-limited to 32 connected STAs, without manual changes to its memory map), more than that can't connect. 802.11ax improved that further (bonus points for greenfield operations).
For client-oriented chipsets (as those you tested so far, only ath9k is somewhat inbetween), the hardware imposed limits are even lower (typically 4-8).
It just isn't sensible - and even less economically feasible (a mass produced plastic AP is always cheaper).
