Tutorial Installing a AX210 Windows 10 Driver that works

[avtella]

Aside from what @thiggins mentioned above, and assuming you did everything else correctly, it could still be a driver issue. Ill take a look and get back to you, it (driver) may be disabling it for your system. Worst case scenario you got a dud, but lets hope not.

EDIT: Looks like all the AX210 sub variants' references have a "AX_6G" suffix in the driver or at least none had a "NO" in regards to 6Ghz ... Aside from a few 9560 and other variants having a "NO_HT160," nothing relevant stood out.

Just to make sure are you on Windows 10 2020 H2 Update? If not it won't work.

 

[timg11]

@timg11 Sounds like you have done everything correctly. What 6 GHz channels have you tried? Do you have PSC enabled? Have you checked Device Manager to see if it shows anything wrong?

I have been using channel 101, 160 MHz unchecked. PSC is enabled.
Device manager looks fine - no errors. Are any settings tweaks needed in the driver advanced properties?

The client machines are about 1 meter away from the router.
I've tried both Open System and WPA2 authentication options in the Asus - in both cases the Ubuntu machine connects, and the Windows machine does not see the SSID.

Here are my results for different channels. For each available channel, Ubuntu connects and works, Windows does not see the SSID. It's interesting how the throughput changes with channel, though.

Ch 37 Linux iperf3: 260 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 53 Linux iperf3: 257 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 69 Linux iperf3: 274 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 85 Linux iperf3: 439 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 101 Linux iperf3: 428 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 117 Linux iperf3: 412 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 133 Linux iperf3: 346 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 149 Linux iperf3: 381 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 165 Linux iperf3: 296 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 181 Linux iperf3: 325 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 197 Linux iperf3: 323 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen
Ch 213 Linux iperf3: 217 Mbps Windows - SSID not seen

 

[timg11]

Just to make sure are you on Windows 10 2020 H2 Update? If not it won't work.

Yes, the updates have been applied:

 

[thiggins]

No advanced properties changes are needed. Assuming you haven't changed any of the defaults.

Just came to mind, did the Dell previously have an AX200/201 installed? If yes, try uninstalling the Windows driver and remove all files. Then install the 22.30.0.11 driver again.

Only OWE connection is supported in Windows, not WPA3. You should be able to see the SSIDs with either set in the router, though. You just can't connect with WPA3.

 

[avtella]

Yes, the updates have been applied:
View attachment 31459

Sorry apparently I'm blind lol. I will say for some it has been finicky on Windows the 6Ghz band showing up after a reboot or randomly like a day later, could be down to driver bugs too... So as thiggins said, I'd try a reinstallation.

 

[timg11]

Just came to mind, did the Dell previously have an AX200/201 installed? If yes, try uninstalling the Windows driver and remove all files. Then install the 22.30.0.11 driver again.

Original WLAN was Intel 8265NGW.

It sounds like a good idea to re-install driver at this point.
By "remove all files" I assume you mean check the box for "Delete the driver software for this device"? Are there other file deletion steps necessary?

 

[thiggins]

y "remove all files" I assume you mean check the box for "Delete the driver software for this device"? Are there other file deletion steps necessary?

Yes. That should do it. But @avtella or others may have a better suggestion.

 

[timg11]

Yes. That should do it. But @avtella or others may have a better suggestion.

I uninstalled the AX210 driver, and its software. I also enabled Show Hidden, and then uninstalled the 8265 and its software too.
When rebooting, I was expected the AX210 to show as "drivers not installed" in Device Manager, but Windows had already re-installed 22.30.0.11, apparently by loading the files that were still extracted in the downloads folder. However, now the instance in the net class has moved to 0002, rather than 0014 where it was before. 0014 is now gone. I think 0002 is where the 8265 was before. I had to add the Is6GhzBandSupported DWORD again in the 0002 instance.

After another reboot, still nothing seen at 6 GHz.

 

[thiggins]

The only thing else I can suggest is to swap AX210s between the Linux and Windows machines. Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

 

[timg11]

While I'm waiting for some new AX210s to arrive, can you confirm that you were able to operate at 6 GHz using Windows 10 20H2 build 19042.844? Yours is not using a preview or insider edition?

 

[avtella]

Yes 20H2 you do not need the 21H1 Preview.

Eventually you will need to use 21H1 when it comes out as that will support WPA3 w/H2E when Intel's next driver releases. I tried to get in a support request last week with Intel to see if they'd give a fully functional beta driver but was told to wait till the next Windows 10 feature update releases.

 

[thiggins]

While I'm waiting for some new AX210s to arrive, can you confirm that you were able to operate at 6 GHz using Windows 10 20H2 build 19042.844? Yours is not using a preview or insider edition?

That is correct. Connected with OWE only and you must do the registry hack.

 

[timg11]

Yes 20H2 you do not need the 21H1 Preview.

Eventually you will need to use 21H1 when it comes out as that will support WPA3 w/H2E when Intel's next driver releases. I tried to get in a support request last week with Intel to see if they'd give a fully functional beta driver but was told to wait till the next Windows 10 feature update releases.

I replaced the AX210 but it does not change the behavior. Still no SSID seen in 6 GHz band.
I'm going to switch the system over to Ubuntu, but I did save off the Windows 10 image so I can try again future when additional details emerge.

 

[Oscar0411]

Refer to below FAQ, to download beta version OS from Microsoft insider program, Microsoft will auto update AX210 driver to beta users after 3/E, but not sure when, in this case, no need to manually change register anymore.

[Wireless Router] How to connect ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 6GHz SSID with Intel ® AX210 WLAN Card? | Official Support | ROG Global

rog.asus.com

 

[timg11]

Refer to below FAQ, to download beta version OS from Microsoft insider program, Microsoft will auto update AX210 driver to beta users after 3/E, but not sure when, in this case, no need to manually change register anymore.

[Wireless Router] How to connect ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 6GHz SSID with Intel ® AX210 WLAN Card? | Official Support | ROG Global

rog.asus.com

I have changed the system over to Windows Insider Dev Channel.
After these updates, it is now running Build 21332.rs_prerelease_210606-1859.

The AX-210 is still unable to see the SSID's in the 6 GHz band.

The system is still running drivers 22.30.0.11
Nothing newer is available from Intel as of the time of this post


I thought maybe the new drivers might be available from Windows Update.
From the driver properties, I tried Update Driver, Search Automatically for Drivers, Search for Updated drivers on Windows Update.
That results in an error dialog "explorer.exe the application has not been provisioned".

Under Driver settings,
802.11a/b/g Wireless Mode is set to 6: Dual Band 802.11a/b/g
802.11n/ac/ax Wireless Mode is set to 4: 802.11ax
For Preferred Band I have tried both 0: No Preference and 4: Prefer 6 GHz band. Neither setting works.

 

[thiggins]

You should not have to jump through these many hoops to get it working.

Maybe your laptop uses block/allow lists for adapters or is somehow otherwise interfering with proper driver operation.

 

[timg11]

You should not have to jump through these many hoops to get it working.

Maybe your laptop uses block/allow lists for adapters or is somehow otherwise interfering with proper driver operation.

I've heard about some laptops that block changing WLAN NICs. However that is typically at the NIC level, and this NIC and driver works fine for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The Dell 7480 is a couple years old - at the time it was built, Wi-Fi 6E didn't exist, so it seems improbable that only a specific band would be blocked.

 

[avtella]

Dell's never had blocklists from what I've seen, I'd say they're actually among the most lenient in allowing hardware changes without breaking warranty even before the FTC ruling forcing other manufacturers to allow self upgrades. I have an AX210 working with 6Ghz even on a Latitude 7450 which is older than yours so I highly doubt it's the laptop.

I guess check to see if CurrentControlSet and CurrentControlSet1 reflect the same change, I have heard in rare instances sometimes changes aren't mirrored. Another option is to dual boot a fresh Windows install to see if it works or try an Ubuntu/Mint install with Kernel 5.11/5.12r3 (5.12r1 has a critical bug so avoid it). Also make sure you have the latest bios just in case.

 

[timg11]

No it's the same driver, so no performance differences and you still need the regedit as Intel hasn't officially enabled 6Ghz. The WPA3 issue is due to lack of H2E. To get working H2E (SAE Hash to Element) support aside from the 20.30.0.11 driver, I believe you need to also install an additional Intel NDA protected driver and need W10 21H1 Preview installed. Without that additional intermediary driver even if you upgrade to 21H1 you won't get WPA3 working on 6Ghz. I think you may be able to get it on request from Intel, I have personally not tried.

I've been re-reading this entire thread to see if there is anything I missed. This is one issue that could become significant.
Currently the AX-210 does not even see the SSID, so WPA3 and OWE is irrelevant. But this could become an issue soon since the use of WPA3 or OWE is mandatory for Wi-Fi 6E.

Are you saying another NDA driver is needed for WPA3? What about OWE?

 

[avtella]

Yes you can only use OWE regardless of W10 20H2 or 21H1 Preview with the current driver. Intel will a release fully working public beta driver hopefully probably by the end of the month but you need 21H1 for it. Right now however you need an NDA protected driver to get full support with WPA3 on 21H1, which Intel won't give regular users, I tried to ask for it but Intel told me to wait for official release.....