Is the BE200 yet capable of MLO?

[CCurt4]

The Windows Insider, Canary channel, just released a build with support for WiFi 7.  It states MLO is supported and I have been trying to get it to work.

My question is, does anyone know if the latest Intel driver for the BE200, 23.30.0.6, is capable of MLO and if it is, what exactly has to be enabled.  I do already have the EHT Wireless set to 802.11ax EHT.

Thanks for reading.

[VonM_Intel]

Hi, CCurt4.

Thank you for posting in our Intel communities.

I would like to know what do you mean by MLO? Is it Machine Learning Operations (MLO) or are you referring to Multi-Link Operation (MLO)? I've conducted some preliminary research regarding the Multi-Link Operation (MLO) it says that it enables devices to simultaneously send and receive data across different frequency bands and channels. Please correct me if there are any inaccuracies. With this, Wi-Fi 7 such as BE200 supports establishing multiple links between the Station (STA, such as your phone devices) and Wi-Fi access point (AP, such as your router). 

Moreover, I would appreciate it if you could share where you found the information that the BE200 supports MLO as this will assist us in verifying the accuracy of the information.

Looking forward to your response. Have a nice day ahead!

Best Regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[CCurt4]

MLO is the Multi-Link capability.  It is one of those things that needs certain components to be in-place before it works.  I just don't appear to have all the components.  Therefore, I am trying to verify what I do have.  I am going to assume the latest driver does support WiFi 7, so I need to look in another area.  Since I posted the question, the newer driver is now available on the Intel site and it shows WiFi 7 capabilities are dependent on Windows 11.

This is not supposed to be available to the public until Windows 24H2, which may be several more months in coming, but I am in the Windows Insider program which has released a build that they say supports WiFi 7. The BE200 is the Intel WiFi 7 Network card.  There are other versions from other OEMs.

Thanks for the response.

[VonM_Intel]

Hi, CCurt4.

Thank you for sharing this information.

We will do further research on this matter and post the response on this thread once available.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ssrjazz]

SO glad to hear that it finally hit the Canary Channel.  I'm in the Beta channel so hopefully it won't take too long to make it out that far.

[VonM_Intel]

Hello, ssrjazz.

Thank you for getting back to us. We'll be reaching out to you via email regarding this matter, as it involves some private and confidential information.

Best regards,

Von M.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[ErikJ]

I would like to know this info also. I am testing WiFi 7 routers and need an MLO client to conduct testing.

[CCurt4]

@ErikJ 

Some of the newer mobile phones have Wi-Fi 7 compatibility.

Some of the newest Desktop systems have an Intel BE200 Wi-Fi adapter and are a possibility, if you are running the yet to be released Windows 24H2.  It may even be you need a 23.60.x.x or newer Intel driver for the BE200. 

There may be some laptops available, but it might be best to wait for the next generation and verify they are capable.

There are some devices using a different Wi-Fi 7 card, but I have no experience.

The next few months, there should be hardware and software releases to fully support Wi-Fi 7.

 

[ErikJ]

I'm sorry, I should have elaborated. 

I installed the Intel BE200 into my laptop in order to perform testing. However, even though I am on the latest driver, I see no Advanced setting to enable MLO. The BE200 only connects to the 6 GHz band (client is close to the router).

MLO is enabled on my WiFi router. My company is testing other MLO clients against this router, so we know that the router will support MLO. I ultimately want to test MLO with the BE200 but need to know how to enable it, or if it should be already enabled.

Thanks!

[CCurt4]

Can you confirm you ae using an Insiders version of Windows 11?  if so, which version are you using?

If you do not see the entry in my attachment regarding Aggregated Link speed, then you are not set to use Wi-Fi 7.

[ErikJ]

This morning I put the laptop on Windows Insider beta build. I'm currently running Windows 11 Insider Preview 10.0.22635.4082 (ni_release).

But even with Intel driver 23.70.2.3 I don't see more than one Network Band Channel or Aggregated Link Speed.

Perhaps I need the Canary build instead?

The Pixel 9 I am using on the same router connected to MLO with zero effort.

[CCurt4]

@ErikJ If you joined the Release Preview channel, 22635 is 23H2, not 24H2.  If you manually search for updates, you may see 26100.xxxx offered as an option.  That should allow you to move up to 24H2 but I am not familiar with that exact process.

The folks that know about this are the ones on the Microsoft Insiders forum.

[ErikJ]

Thanks, I just went to Developer level and was able to get 24H2 loaded. Now MLO seems to be working.

Thanks for the assistance!

[CCurt4]

If you have 22635, you may be able to in the Beta channel.  For some reason, they skipped over the Beta and sent it to the Release Preview.  I don't think the Beta has the option to get that update.

[TabrezShaik]

Hi,

I'm unable to see the support for Multi link operation in intel be 200 card, Are there any commands to enable MLO manually or by default MLO will be enabled.

I'm using Windows 24H2 Insider program OS laptop with 26100 OS build in canary channel but still it is not showing the support for MLO.

Could you please help how to make it support..?

Thanks,

Tabrez Shaik

[CCurt4]

@TabrezShaik The Windows Insider builds, which also now includes the DEV builds, it appears, have support for Wi-Fi 7.  You still need to be able to set it up, which normally happens in the Router.  I am currently using a Beta version of the Firmware for my router, which does have the MLO options.  So far, I have not seen my system use more than one radio at a time, but the speeds from the Windows additions do seem to produce higher Wi-Fi transfer speeds.

If you look at the properties of your Wi-Fi network, the Link speeds may show as "Aggregated link speed"

The OEMs are probably not in a big hurry to set up their devices until the MLO option is available to the public when 24H2 releases.  

[TabrezShaik]

Hi CCurt4,

I can see Aggregated link speed in windows 24H2 with intel be 200 but my concern is when I'm sniffing the wireless packets through wireshark I'm unable to see Multi link tag in association request but the Access point which I'm using has the support of MLO i.e., I can see in beacon frame with tag Multi Link. Please help me out on this..!

Thanks

Tabrez Shaik

[CCurt4]

@TabrezShaik You are getting a little down in the weeds for me, I don't have that sort of experience.

What I would ask is, do you know what type of operations would cause a system to switch to MLO?  Would it be a low bandwidth install that needed it for simultaneous streaming and game playing or a high speed system that has more bandwidth than it needs.  

I was just watching a video from one of the OEMs and it showed using MLO on 5Ghz and 6Ghz radios and both were running around 35 Mbps.  The video did not mention what might be a triggering condition for the MLO.

[TabrezShaik]

@CCurt4 I got it, Have you captured packets between the client and access point.? If it supports MLO then it should show Multi link tag at both sides( Client and access point). I can see Access Point supports MLO but client doesn't. Here Client has Intel BE 200 Card and the Access point is tplink-BE19000. If you have seen any multi link tags in sniffer packets then please explain me the scenarios how you have tried to achieve the multi link packets.

Thanks

Tabrez Shaik

[TabrezShaik]

@VonM_Intel , If you have solution regarding the above query. Could you please help me out.?

[ssrjazz]

Release preview has had build 26100 for awhile now.

Not sure why it seemed to skip the Beta channel.  No need for dev or canary channels unless you REALLY like doing fresh installs of windows to go back to retail release.