Tutorial Installing a AX210 Windows 10 Driver that works

[thiggins]

NOTE: As of 24 February, Intel has updated its installer to include the 22.30.0.11 driver. So the instructions are greatly simplified.

I just went through installing a working Windows 10 driver for the Intel AX210. With credit and thanks to @avtella for his initial posts, I found a few details lacking. So here are the steps I followed. I've copied some of this from the posts starting here.

First thing you need to do is make sure your Windows 10 is running version 2004 (aka May 2020 update) or higher. I installed the latest as of this writing, Version 20H2 (aka October 2020 update).

You need this for Windows to support Opportunistic Wireless Encryption (OWE). That is one of the two methods supported (WPA3 is the other) for wireless authentication on 6 GHz for the ASUS GT-AXE11000.

If you have installed the correct version of Windows 10, you can verify that OWE is supported by opening a command window and entering netsh wlan show drivers. You should see a result like this one:

1) Download and install the latest Intel Windows 10 Wi-Fi Driver package https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30208/Windows-10-Wi-Fi-Drivers-for-Intel-Wireless-Adapters

2) When the driver installation is done, you will be prompted to reboot. After reboot, go back to the Network Properties Driver screen and verify that the driver version is 22.30.0.11.

3) Now do the registry edit:
a) Open RegEdit
b) Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
c) Under it open SYSTEM
d) Under that open ControlSet001 or ControlSet
e) Under it open Control
f) Under that open Class
g) Then find the key that contains Class Net. The key ID varies by system.
Note: I found it helpful to click on the Class folder and enter Control+F to open the Find window. Then enter "Net" in the Find field, check only the Data box under "Look at" and check "Match whole string only"
h) In the Net Class folder, you should see many folders, numbered 0000, 0001, etc. To find the one you want, right-click on the Net Class folder you found in step g), select Find Value and search for "Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz"
i) Add the DWORD Is6GhzBandSupported with value 1

4) Close the registry editor and reboot the system.

Please let me know if you find any errors in this procedure. Thanks!

 

[avtella]

Thanks for making corrections, much better, I see no errors above. I didn't realize people had the AX210 model key in something other than 001, so my apologies for that.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks. The Net class looks like it holds all the network connections. So it takes a little looking to find the right one!
Now I just have to see if it works when I get the router tomorrow!

 

[thiggins]

Once I updated to Windows 20H2 (aka 2020 October update), OWE was enabled and I could connect to the GT-AXE11000.

 

[Zishere]

C:/Users/yourUserName/AppData/Local/Temp

 

[thiggins]

C:/Users/yourUserName/AppData/Local/Temp

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[Zishere]

g) Then find the key that contains Class Net. The key ID varies by system.
Note: I found it helpful to click on the Class folder and enter Control+F to open the Find window. Then enter "Net" in the Find field, check only the Data box under "Look at" and check "Match whole string only"
h) In the Net Class folder, you should see many folders, numbered 0000, 0001, etc. Click through these until you find the folder with the AdapterModel key value = Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz



You just combine these steps by choosing "Class" folder and right click to select Find value. Then Find "Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160Mhz. So it's just easier and faster.

 

[Zishere]

i) Add the DWORD Is6GhzBandSupported with value 0x00000001 (Hex value)

Just put "1" for the value. No need to type multiple "0" lol.

 

[avtella]

I hope not many actually typed multiple 000s, I stated it like that in the initial instructions as that’s the standard way I’ve generally seen keys listed along with their values, any time I had make any regedits. I suppose I can see those unfamiliar with reg keys doing it that way though, not that it hurts . Yeah might be better to say just put a one when clicking “Modify” to clear any confusion.

 

[thiggins]

You just combine these steps by choosing "Class" folder and right click to select Find value. Then Find "Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160Mhz. So it's just easier and faster.

I'll make the edit. I wasn't sure that the exact wording of the adapter name could be trusted..

i) Add the DWORD Is6GhzBandSupported with value 0x00000001 (Hex value)

Just put "1" for the value. No need to type multiple "0" lol.

Entering the hex value as I stated will work. But, yes, entering 1 works too.

 

[Zishere]

I'll make the edit. I wasn't sure that the exact wording of the adapter name could be trusted..


Entering the hex value as I stated will work. But, yes, entering 1 works too.

I hope it will make things easier for beginners.

 

[thiggins]

I hope it will make things easier for beginners.

Thanks for the suggested edits.

 

[Krisbi]

I just went through installing a working Windows 10 driver for the Intel AX210.

So you use the existing antenna in your laptop?

supported (WPA3 is the other) for wireless authentication on 6 GHz for the ASUS GT-AXE11000.

I´m looking forward to some new "Wi-Fi 6E" benchmark results.

 

[thiggins]

So you use the existing antenna in your laptop?


I´m looking forward to some new "Wi-Fi 6E" benchmark results.

I'm not using a laptop. It's an ASUS pico-ITX board running Win10.
There are some preliminary results here.

ASUS GT-AXE11000 5 vs. 6 GHz ... a preview

Got my bought-on-my-own-nickel AXE11000 fired up and paired with an Intel AX210 on Windows 10, with the borrowed-from-Killer 22.30.0.11 driver. I ran some quick downlink rate_vs_range tests, comparing 5 and 6 GHz using 160 MHz bandwidth. I let the router auto-select channels and it chose 48 for...

www.snbforums.com

 

[avtella]

Yesterday Intel released the 20.30.0.11 drivers officially on their site so no need for the Killer driver extraction now.

Intel Proset Version:

Windows® 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel® Wireless Adapters

This download record installs the Windows® 10 WiFi package drivers 22.70.0 for the AX210/AX200/9000/8000 series Intel® Wireless Adapters.

downloadcenter.intel.com

Driver Only Version

Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for IT Admins

This download record is recommended for IT administrators, which includes driver-only and Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software version 22.80.1 distribution packages.

downloadcenter.intel.com

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the heads-up. Do you see any performance differences? Is the registry hack still needed? Is WPA3 now supported with the AXE11000?

 

[avtella]

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.

 

[thiggins]

@avtella Thanks again for all the information. I'm ok not having WPA3 support. Was just wondering about whether there was a change.

 

[timg11]

@thiggins, I have not found an error, but I have a situation where this procedure is not working.

I have the Asus GT-AXE11000 in router mode operating on the 6 GHz band, with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios disabled.
I have two identical Dell 7480 notebooks with the AX-210 installed.
The first has Ubuntu 20.10 with kernel upgraded to 5.11, iwlwifi updated to latest for AX-210 iwlwifi-ty-59.601f3a66.0.tgz
From this system I am able to see the Asus SSID, connnect to it, and ping the Asus gateway IP.
I mention to rule out a failure or other issue with the Asus router.

The other Dell 7480 has Windows 10 installed. I have followed the process above, but 6 GHz SSIDs are not seen with "netsh wlan show networks"
Other WLAN networks in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands are visible and can be used.
If I turn on 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz radios in the Asus, those SSIDs are visible on the Windows machine and can be connected to.

I have provided the details, corresponding to your procedure below. I must have missed something significant, or there is another combination of factors that has not been run into yet.

Thanks!


Windows Version:

Drivers:

c:\>netsh wlan show drivers

Interface name: Wi-Fi 2

Driver : Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz
Vendor : Intel Corporation
Provider : Intel
Date : 1/20/2021
Version : 22.30.0.11
INF file : oem87.inf
Type : Native Wi-Fi Driver
Radio types supported : 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n 802.11a 802.11ac 802.11ax
FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
802.11w Management Frame Protection supported : Yes
Hosted network supported : No
Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
Open None
Open WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Open WEP
WPA-Enterprise TKIP
WPA-Enterprise CCMP
WPA-Personal TKIP
WPA-Personal CCMP
WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
WPA2-Personal TKIP
WPA2-Personal CCMP
Open Vendor defined
WPA3-Personal CCMP
Vendor defined Vendor defined
WPA3-Enterprise GCMP-256
OWE CCMP
IHV service present : Yes
IHV adapter OUI : [00 00 00], type: [00]
IHV extensibility DLL path: C:\Windows\system32\IntelIHVRouter08.dll
IHV UI extensibility ClSID: {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
IHV diagnostics CLSID : {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}
Wireless Display Supported: Yes (Graphics Driver: Yes, Wi-Fi Driver: Yes)

Registry Change:

 

[thiggins]

@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?