AsiaRF AW7915-NP1 / 802.11ax / WiFi6

Omnia hardware Omnia HW help
1

AsiaRF started offering a 802.11ax supported mPCIe WLAN device, namely AW7915-NP1 with quite a cheap price tag: 35$ a piece. As this is quite a bargain, I though I give it a shot. However, currently Turris Omnia shows me purely:

root@turris:~# lspci
02:00.0 Unclassified device [0002]: MEDIATEK Corp. Device 7915

root@turris:~# dmesg | grep 7915
[    3.133330] pci 0000:02:00.0: [14c3:7915] type 00 class 0x000280

At the same time, LUCI shows me an unknown 802.11bg wifi device, but nothing more. I tried to install the mt76 kmod drivers, as they were highlighted here. However, afterwards there was no success. Still same issue, meaning there is no device shown as a 802.11ax WiFi device.

Screenshot_20210724_234633
Screenshot_20210724_234633952Ă—775 103 KB

Did anybody else try this bargain of a 802.11ax WiFi device?

2

The card you mentioned requires kernel driver mt7915e, which is not present in OpenWrt 19.07 as it uses LTS kernel 4.14.

The driver was added 1,5y ago by this commit to the kernel:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76?id=e57b7901469fc0b021930b83a8094baaf3d81b09

But it was backported to OpenWrt 21.02 (not-yet-released) based on this commit:

Since Turris OS 6.0 (also not yet released as it waits until OpenWrt 21.02 is released), there is preinstalled kmod-mt7915e driver as we ordered some time ago mini PCIe card, which you mentioned.
If you want to try the future releases of Turris OS, take a look here:

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3

Thanks Pepe for the quick response. Currently, I am running on hbk.
I wonder a bit: if the driver is 1.5 years old, and already backported to 21.02.
Do you think we will have a chance to get it backported to 19.07?

I mean, look at it from this perspective: the Turris Omnia is a nice router, but with the introduction of 802.11ax, the Turris Omnia is falling behind competition. With this very cheap upgrade from AsiaRF, the Turris Omnia has the ability to come again close to todays routers (except of 10Gbit PHYs).

4

No, that’s not possible. It will require so many backports that it does not worth. Then we can not ensure the stability, etc.

I understand your perspective and we are aware of it. We are working on AX support for Turris routers.

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5

Am I not mistaken and this is the card that didnt support AP mode?

EDIT: No it was intel ax card:

6

Yep, the AW7915-NP1 is the cheapest option for a 802.11ax WiFi module with AP mode. Hence, it is a pity in case Turris does not support it.

The sole other option would be Pineapple 6, which costs 2.5 times the price of the AsiaRF one. Well one would get WiFi 6E as well, but would have to modify the housing as well.

7

Now, when this card is supported by TOS 6 OS (HBD), will it be possible to mount 2 pieces of this card and have wifi 6 (4x4) for both 2,4 and 5 GHz for about 70 USD + shippping? If yes, it should be worth to try it :slight_smile:

8

Drilling more holes you can even mount 3 and serve that way two floors (that’s how my TO is configured). So, yes, it is worth trying I think :cowboy_hat_face:
I just ordered 4 pieces - or better “made an offer”. @psiegl did you also have to make an offer?!

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9

I am thinking about buying 2, or maybe 4 pieces, but I think it is too low amount to “make an offer” :slight_smile:

10

For saving more money ( making a better offer + saving shipping costs) we’d like to ask if there are others that would join a bigger order to Europe.

1 Like
11

Do you think Turris can provide an upgrade kit with cables, antennas, and card?

12

I would buy 2 as well if you going to make an order. Send me private message to make a deal. I could wait for a while for others to join as I plan to upgrade in coming weeks or months.

13

There will be need for antenna and diplexers to add another 4th antenna I’ll try ask guys tomorrow at Maker Faire how to get one additonal antenna with diplexer.

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14

OK, that’s the same for us. I’d say we wait 2-4 weeks for others to join and get a good quote.

15

I was thinking to use the WLE900VX for 2.4Ghz.
The card is dual band already and it supports 3 channels.
Does the ax protocol improve performance over 2.4Ghz?

16

It does - dramatically! Up to 1,2 GBit/s with 4x4:4 and MU-MIMO…
Actually the WLE900VX has 2x2:3 (3 antennae out of which only two can be used by one client at a time/no MIMO) with a maximum throughput of 300 MBit/s.

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17

Just in case, I’ve seen diplexers in a shop, even in stock now: Turris Omnia diplexer | Discomp - networking solutions (though not very cheap in my layman eyes… I guess I’m used to buying mass produced stuff)

18

Thank you for advice, so to have 4 antennas in total we need diplexer, pigtail to connect from both AsiaRF card and yes the black anntenna only then will be possible to complete upgrade to 802.11ax, where to get antennas and pigtails ?

19

I think discomp.cz has everything you need. → wrong, they seem to not sell MHF to MHF cables (and especially not MHF I to MHF I ones - those are needed). As I do not want so search for other distributors I linked one possible cable from a manufacturer originating in Germany I am pretty much happy with.

edited

I’ll edit this post later today with a detailed upgrade accessory list and links.

Maybe I’ll later on improve it with pictured instructions for TO when the cards arrive.

edit:
What you have

What you want:

  1. Usage scenario LTE-router: 2-3 holes for LTE-access (3 if you want to have also an external GPS-antenna), 4 holes for WIFI
    1. drill 2 more holes
      2.A (dual WIFI 2,4GHz + 5GHz) buy 2 AW7915-NP1, 2 heatsinks, 2 diplexers, 4 UFL to UFL cables, 1 antenna
      2.B (single WIFI 2,4GHz or 5GHz) buy 1 AW7915-NP1, 1 heatsink, 3 UFL to RP-SMA, 1 antenna
  2. Usage scenario AP/router for (V)DSL/cable/SFP-modem or SFP-modem+router: buy 2 AW7915-NP1, 2 heatsinks
    1. cheap
      1. drill 1 more hole
      2. buy 3 UFL to RP-SMA cables, 3 antennas
    2. buy 2 diplexers, 4 UFL to UFL cables, 1 antenna

p.s.: It may make sense replacing the standard antennas with other external antennas (e.g. those) and additional cabling, but that absolutely depends on the usage scenario/architectural conditions and is off topic in this thread.

edit 2: just wanted to crosslink @Pepe 's thread about replacement parts where I borrowed some links - thanks :slight_smile:

3 Likes
20

Yes, however at the end they tell you that they do not go below 35$ per piece. Which is still cheap I guess. Hence, I ordered 2 :slight_smile:

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