AX210 Poor Wi-Fi 6E 6GHz performance / WPA3-Personal Not Working on Windows10

[Bal-]

Hello,

I'm experiencing issues with slow throughput speed and unable to authenticate WPA3 using the AX210 wireless module using Wi-Fi 6E 6GHz. I've tested both the Netgear RAXE500 and ASUS GT-AXE11000 access points. These are currently the only access points on the market with Wi-Fi 6E, and the Intel AX210 is the only PC module that supports Wi-Fi 6E so I don't have a lot of options for testing this new (expensive) technology. Since my overall experience has been very negative, I'm hoping this post will highlight some of the current issues so they can be addressed and let others know it's not just them.

The AX210 is listed as a Wi-Fi 6E compatible module (it's in the name) yet the technology is not enabled in the most recent (22.30.0.11) Windows driver. for this device

On the product page (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/wireless/wi-fi-6e-ax210-module-brief.html

• " Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 module maximizes Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit Wi-Fi benefits enabling greater network flexibility, faster downloads, sharing and backups as well as reduced latency and improved reliability."
• "Full support for latest Microsoft Windows 10* OS."
• "Security Methods WPA2*,WPA3*"

Unfortunately, through experience, I have found all of those claims to be false.

To even see the 6GHz band, it's required to add the registry entry Is6GhzBandSupported = 1 to the AX210 driver class. This is the case in both in Windows 10 20H2 which is the latest release and 21H1 Beta which is slated for May. 

Once the AX210 driver is seeing the 6GHz band....

Problem #1

The module is unable to authenticate using WPA3-Personal on the 6GHz band. This is concerning since it's the only password enabled option compatible with Wi-Fi 6E. 

I do not have this issue with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, or using the Linux 5.10 kernel with the 6GHz band, which leads me to believe it's an AX210 module / driver issue as noted by others. Intel Support, in one instance, has claimed Windows does not yet support 6GHz, however AX210 is advertised as "Full support for latest Microsoft Windows 10* OS." so...

OWE will allow me to connect (insecurely), but that leads me to Problem#2

Problem #2

When connected with 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E, the transfer rates are slower when compared to the 2.4GHz / 5GHz Wi-Fi6 variants. This technology is advertised as faster than Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+ also in the product name), yet I've not yet seen anything close to that through the AX210.

Here are some average link speeds (from Windows, which curiously still lists the 6GHz Band as 5GHz)) and file transfer rates (tested using iperf3 to dual GBe NAS) comparing Wi-Fi 6 to WiFi 6E.

Wi-Fi 6 2.4GHz 

• Link speed (r/t):
  • 258/244
• Transfer Rate (iperf3): 
  • [SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 165 MBytes 138 Mbits/sec sender
    [SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 164 MBytes 137 Mbits/sec receiver
• Transfer Rate (speedtest.net d/u)
  • 140.88/ 35.03

Wi-Fi 6 5GHz

• Link speed (r/t):
  • 1922/865
• Transfer Rate (iperf3): 
  • [SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 544 MBytes 457 Mbits/sec sender
    [SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 543 MBytes 456 Mbits/sec receiver
• Transfer Rate (speedtest.net d/u)
  • 476.46 / 34.99

Wi-Fi 6E 6GHz

• Link speed (r/t): 
  • 576/103

• Transfer Rate (iperf3): 
  • [SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 56.2 MBytes 47.1 Mbits/sec sender
    [SUM] 0.00-10.01 sec 55.1 MBytes 46.2 Mbits/sec receiver
• Transfer Rate (speedtest.net d/u)
  • 232.62 / 7.97

Problem #3:

Windows blue screens when both the AX201 and AX210 are both enabled. The 22.30.0.11 is the only Windows driver for the AX210 since its release that has not caused Windows 10 to blue screen upon boot (however it does still BSOD in the Windows 10 Dev Preview).

[Saltgrass]

Ok, you can see the attachment.  None of my Win 10 systems can see the 6 GHz SSID.

Again, you have the AX210

Windows 11

Wireless Router which is 6 GHZ capable

If you are running Linux, maybe something involving it is causing your problem.

 

 

[William104]

I believe you I have the 6ghz band running on this computer and connect via the 6ghz band to the network just can not get the wifi driver 22.70 or the 22.80 drivers to work If I install them they remove my 6ghz band but if I run the 22.60 driver I have the 6ghz working.

[LightbeamZ]

So it is 2022 now and I‘m on 22.110.1.1 driver for the AX210 on the newest Windows 10 (Pro) release preview (19044.1503). I still can not see the 6 GHz band. I had Windows 11 installed for a few days and the 6 GHz band was working fine here in Europe but no chance to get it to work on Windows 10. Intel support just says it needs OS support, so basically blaming Microsoft for it. One of the older Intel driver worked on Windows 10 but just in the US so region locking seems to be in place for the rest of the world. Microsoft just mentions the 6 GHz band in their FAQs for Windows 11, so they seem to have no interest for it to work on Windows 10 to force people to upgrade. The problem is that Windows 11 still has to many issues for me especially regarding the taskbar and some questionable UI choices so I had to revert back to Windows 10.

Are there any other news regarding 6 GHz support on Windows 10 especially regarding Europe. Are there any ways to get around the region lock?