Why does standard build for R7800 use ct driver?

[SharkScout]

The standard build for the NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S R7800 uses the drivers from Candela Technologies .

Specifically, it uses the following 2 packages:

• ath10k-firmware-qca9984-ct
• kmod-ath10k-ct

This creates significant performance issues on 2.4 Ghz wifi. In my experiments, using these packages instead of the non -ct versions slows down download speed by a factor of 8.

Many people have reported the same thing (see links below).

I would like to understand why the standard build uses the -ct packages instead of ath10k-firmware-qca9984 and kmod-ath10k ?

Changing ath10k firmware on Netgear r7800?

Did your brothers iPhone SE 2 was able to connect with WPA3? ath10k-firmware-qca9984 CT firmware I was not able to connect a Apple Ipad Model A2602. I switched to ath10k-firmware-qca9984 v20230804-1 and the same. The Ipad was still not able to connect to my WIFI at all. Then I disabled WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Mode and know it works. See this post here too. spoiler: we blame apple for that:

Netgear R7800 19.07.04 wifi issues

To be clear, changing the driver/firmware for your radio is not a fix per-say. You can do this on your own using opkg, remove the -ct stuff and install the non-package. You can search on my name and a key word or two to find the example to do this if you can't figure it out on your own. I think I likely posted it somewhere.

Devices connected to WiFi become sluggish to load data (R7800)

You can set Dtim via luci, it is in the Advanced settings tab of the wifi interface. I also bump the group rekey interval (GTK) to one day (86400), as some combo's of WRT drivers and mobile OSs (looking at you, Android) work better if rekeys are spread apart. Here is a well documented article on exactly why the DTIM needs to be raised: https://www.sniffwifi.com/2016/05/go-to-sleep-go-to-sleep-go-to-sleep.html In the Ubiquity forums, some guys recommend DTIM 6 on 2.4 and 3 on 5GHz. But I find 3…

Slow download speed: Netgear R7800 Nighthawk X4S

Hi, I'm brand new to OpenWRT and this is my first time installing it on a router. My ISP claims my maximum download speed is 1000Mbps. Before installing OpenWRT, my wired (ethernet) download speed was pretty close to that, at approximately 975Mbps. I just installed OpenWRT 22.0.3, r20028-43d71ad9e, and my speeds were: Wired: 300Mbps Wireless (5GHz): 75Mbps After doing some reading, I enabled software flow offloading, and that increased my speeds: Wired: 575Mbps Wireless (5GHz): 250Mbp…

[hnyman]

@SharkScout

why the standard build uses the -ct packages instead of ath10k-firmware-qca9984 and kmod-ath10k ?

Because some 5 years ago the mainline ath10k development was stuck, while Candelatech did actively develop & fix -ct driver.

[SharkScout]

I see. Should this decision be reconsidered today? I see recent commits in the mainline ath10k right now.

[RadioOperator]

I suggest you test the ct/non-ct drivers by yourself.

In my home, at least one device is much faster using non-ct driver, the others no difference on both.
So I use non-ct driver. And I do not care what the real reason is.

[SharkScout]

I have thoroughly tested it. The non -ct is significantly faster for the NETGEAR Nighthawk X4S R7800, very consistently. This is corroborated by the 4 links I copy pasted above.

I therefore suggest that the non -ct version is used in the standard build for this device.

[egc]

I also use the non-ct driver, seems to work better in my environment.
But I did limited testing so YMMV.