USB-WiFi
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morrownr
First Sighting: mt7925 m.2 card (WiFi 7) (be careful with mt7927)
There may be other cards with the mt7925 chipsets but this is the first one I have seen for sale:
https://zfishtek.com/index.php/product/mt7925-wireless-lan-card/
This is NOT a recommendation for the above product. What this message is about is to point out that the mt7925 chipsets are flowing to product makers. Cards almost always come to market before USB adapters. That is just the way it is so now that we see cards on the market, it probably means that adapters will be available soon. It is hard to say how soon but sometime this year is a reasonable expectation.
The driver for the mt7925 chipset has been in the Linux kernel since kernel 6.7.
Edit: Warning: Cards with the mt7927 chip are available as well but driver support for the mt7927 chip is not in the kernel yet.
If anyone gets a card with a mt7925 chipset, please give us a report.
@morrownr
Hi @ilikenwf
I found a few on aliexpress and have one coming to play with.
I am looking forward to your report. None of us out here in the real world know what kind of shape the mt7925 driver is in so any word would be appreciated.
Thanks
I'm just taking a $30 risk because my QCNFA765 keeps having persistent bugs even despite the fixes and I'm kinda tired of it...I'll take dysfunctional wifi 7 with functional 6E over dysfunctional 6E...
FYI: A user report indicates the mt7925 driver does not support the mt7927 chip that you may see. It would be wise to get cards with the mt7925 chip and not the mt7927 until we can sort this out.
If that's the case I can attempt to help sort it or otherwise wait til it is - the linux wireless wiki suggests this chip is supported since kernel 6.7 though? I run Arch...so that's not an issue.
Come to think of it I'm not sure if this really counts as USB or not unless it's using the USB (saying bus here after feels redundant) through the E key slot on my board.
Here is the one I have coming:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806768193339.html
Appears to be the 7925 so I spoke too soon. Haven't had my coffee yet.
Haven't had my coffee yet.
I am working on my coffee. This is a coffee kind of day.
I am finding more info...see next msg.
MT7925
Wi-Fi 7, WPA3, 2.4/5/6GHz, 4.5Gbps, DBDC, BW 160MHz, 4K QAM, MLO, BT 5.3 LE, MRC, MRU, HDT, 6 nm FCC ID: RAS-MT7925B22M
MT7927
Wi-Fi 7, WPA3, 2.4/5/6GHz, 6.5Gbps, DBDC, BW 320MHz, 4K QAM, MLO, BT 5.3 LE, MRC, MRU, HDT, 6 nm FCC ID: RAS-MT7927 • AMD RZ738
It appears that the only difference between the chips is that the mt7925 supports 160 Mhz channel width and the mt7927 supports 320 MHz channel width.
Indications are that the driver for the mt7927 chip has not been added to the kernel yet.
I have not seen any mt7827s in my travels so far.
mt7927
https://zfishtek.com/index.php/product/mediatek-mt7927-wireless-lan-card/
mt7925
https://zfishtek.com/index.php/product/mt7925-wireless-lan-card/
1b:00.0 Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. Device 0717
Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. Device e106
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 236
Memory at bfc00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2M]
Memory at bfe00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K]
Capabilities: [80] Express Endpoint, IntMsgNum 0
Capabilities: [e0] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/32 Maskable+ 64bit+
Capabilities: [f8] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [100] Vendor Specific Information: ID=1556 Rev=1 Len=008 <?>
Capabilities: [108] Latency Tolerance Reporting
Capabilities: [110] L1 PM Substates
Capabilities: [200] Advanced Error Reporting
Kernel driver in use: mt7925e
Kernel modules: mt7925e
So far it just works...I don't have a 7 AP, though.
There may be occasional issues with the buffer but that could also be openwrt or interference, or my router, so I have to narrow that down.
At times, if I have issues, I have to restart NetworkManager too, though - it doesn't like being shut off and then immediately back on.
I have noticed a couple of mt7925 M.2 cards on Amazon US this week so I may grab one soon so I can test along with you.
We are talking about a new driver that includes code for a new generation of wireless so it will have bugs. I have been noticing patches going in. It isn't just the Mediatek WiFi 7 drivers but Intel, Qualcomm and Realtek as well. I still have no idea what Realtek's USB strategy is for WiFi 7. Since this site is primarily about USB WiFi, I watch it more closely and I can usually pick up some hints prior to product introduction but not with Realtek this time. Mediatek's driver support plan is well known as USB and PCIe support for WiFi 7 is in the mt7925u and mt7925e drivers that have been in the kernel since 6.7. I expect mt7927 support soon.
Keep us posted as you continue testing.
So far it just works...
Please provide a definition of "works", i.e., what exactly has been tested. Client mode, or AP mode? Does WDS work? Can more than one SSID be created? Is the advertisement of the DBDC capability true?
Well, I'm using it on a client device and so I haven't tried setting up a network on it, though if it weren't for my openwrt devices that would be a killer idea if it were slightly more reliable.
Right now, on kernel 6.9, I find that after running for 12-24 hours I eventually need to reboot to get it running properly. I'm assuming some kernel module issue or perhaps a buffer issue somewhere, but things get slow and then eventually despite having a valid IP, the connection becomes useless - not sure if due to latency/speed or if something else is happening. While I can restart the networking service or reset the card, only a real reboot seems to fix it.
I'm running Arch so sometime I could setup a test network, perhaps, and connect some random devices to it if I need to...I also should have thought to capture a dmesg log before my last reboot, but I'm still drinking my coffee...
@ilikenwf
if it weren't for my openwrt devices that would be a killer idea if it were slightly more reliable...
I just checked and it appears the mt7925 driver is already in the current stable version of OpenWRT:
kmod-mt792x-usb
I think they named it that because it will cover the 7925 and 7927 chips as the 7927 code goes in.
What you seeing in the log?
$ sudo dmesg | grep mt7
I'm a little hesitant to jump all over making a bug report on this driver right now because 6.9 seems to have had some stack issues that need to be resolved before we blame individual drivers.
[ 10.224161] mt7925e 0000:1b:00.0: ASIC revision: 79250000 [ 10.303401] mt7925e 0000:1b:00.0: HW/SW Version: 0x8a108a10, Build Time: 20231227093012a [ 10.647100] mt7925e 0000:1b:00.0: WM Firmware Version: ____000000, Build Time: 20231227093232
Well, that is clean. I'll see about getting my own little card soon so that I can play along.
Can anyone who has MT7925 share the output of "iw list" ? I want to know if 160 MHz is allowed for AP mode . Thanks in advance .
@ilikenwf
Right now, on kernel 6.9, I find that after running for 12-24 hours I eventually need to reboot to get it running properly. I'm assuming some kernel module issue or perhaps a buffer issue somewhere, but things get slow and then eventually despite having a valid IP, the connection becomes useless - not sure if due to latency/speed or if something else is happening. While I can restart the networking service or reset the card, only a real reboot seems to fix it.
The stack is undergoing a lot of work at the moment so folks like you out there on the bleeding edge are helping figure out what needs to be fixed but I am curious in this case if turning off Scatter/Gather would help:
If the result of the following command is Y, then it is on:
grep [[:alnum:]] /sys/module/mt76_usb/parameters/*
To turn it off:
sudo -i echo "options mt76_usb disable_usb_sg=1" >> /etc/modprobe.d/mt76_usb.conf exit sudo reboot
@morrownr I think your previous comment is for a different card. There is no USB WiFi involved in @ilikenwf's setup.
Yes, my card is PCIe
Serious lack of coffee around here this morning. What was I thinking?
FYI @ A Quick Look at MSI's New Roamii Mesh Systems and WiFi 7 USB Dongle
""MSI was also showing off the BE6500 WiFi 7 USB adapter which is a tri-band dongle and the first of its kind that we've seen. It supports speeds of up to 2880 Mbps on the 6 and 5 GHz bands and 688 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band, assuming you have a suitable WiFi 7 router or access point. It also offers support for MLO and interestingly enough, it also has built in drives, which means you don't need to download drivers to get it up and running. Finally MSI is promising support for Windows 10 and 11, as well as Linux. So far Windows 10 has lacked proper support for WiFi 7 devices, so this is an interesting development.""
Guess it could be based on mt7925?
Guess it could be based on mt7925?
Well, we only have two companies that produce usb wifi chips these days. It has to be either a Mediatek or Realtek chip. The details do appear to match the mt7925 but I have no details at all on what Realtek is up to regarding usb wifi. The fact that Linux support is mentioned by MSI could be a big hint that it is indeed the Mediatek chip.
I'll do some snooping around to see what I can find. I have already found the below link:
https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/usb-adapter/archer-tbe400uh/
TP-Link using a Mediatek chip? Something just froze over if it is true.
FYI: One thing I do know about Realtek and WiFi 7 support for Linux is that Realtek cannot use the same technology as their out-of-kernel drivers have used as there is code in the Linux kernel that will stop Linux wifi 7 drivers that are not fully compliant with modern standards. So things can't be business as usual concerning Realtek and usb wifi 7. They could add usb support to rtw89 but I have not seen any indications of that so far. My best guess right now is that Realtek has simply fallen way behind Mediatek with usb wifi on Linux and maybe on other platforms as well.
Guess it could be based on mt7925?
Well, we only have two companies that produce usb wifi chips these days. It has to be either a Mediatek or Realtek chip. The details do appear to match the mt7925 but I have no details at all on what Realtek is up to regarding usb wifi. The fact that Linux support is mentioned by MSI could be a big hint that it is indeed the Mediatek chip.
I'll do some snooping around to see what I can find. I have already found the below link:
https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/usb-adapter/archer-tbe400uh/
TP-Link using a Mediatek chip? Something just froze over if it is true.
TP-Link is suspect. I would bet it is Realtek. What is the latest kernel they can support with an old-tech driver? All they have to do is support one kernel and they can claim Linux support. I have a TP-Link router and it has the crappiest GUI ever. I'm using OpenWRT on a Raspberry Pi and the TP-Link I just use for the wireless 6 AP. :-) I don't trust TP-Link as a company. I thought of an idea, maybe the will use Mediatek and claim Linux support and then switch to Realtek but keep the same product number.
@bjlockie
TP-Link is suspect.
Agree. I was not advocating this TP-Link product.
What is the latest kernel they can support with an old-tech driver?
I don't remember but this is not new. It was several years ago.
I don't trust TP-Link as a company.
Me either.Too many years of seeing them do things that make it clear that they do not care about Linux.
I thought of an idea, maybe the will use Mediatek and claim Linux support and then switch to Realtek but keep the same product number.
Now hold on. You did not think of that. You are reading it from the TP-Link playbook.