Laptop WiFi 6E Adapter Upgrades

[SAL9K]

I currently use intel ax200's wifi 6 client adapters, and it's been working very well with ax86u and 80mhz channels. A lot of ap's in the vicinity prevent me from using 160mhz with consistency, so this year I'm looking to update to an axe16000 (or some other 6e router), to capitalize on the extra 6GHz bands, and all those additional beautiful 160mhz channels.

The intel ax210 is a drop-in replacement for the ax200, but I'm a little worried that the (old) antenna arrangement won't hold up in the 6ghz bands, so wondering if anyone has anyone successfully updated a laptop wifi 6 adapter (like intel ax200) to a 6e adapter (like intel ax210), and had things work well with a 6e router?

 

[RMerlin]

The antennas will be fine. Make sure however that your laptop doesn`t use a BIOS whitelist to allow only specific wifi cards, and that your region actually allows the use of 6 GHz (at the software level, not just regulatory). Here in Canada, my AX210 only started allowing 6 GHz with a recent Windows Insider update despite regulations having authorized these channels back in May 2021. I haven't checked if it was enabled on Linux, but a few months ago the Ubuntu release I tried did not enable 6 GHz channels in Canada yet.

In my case, I upgraded a Lenovo Ideapad 5.

 

[itpp20]

Or wait until a 6 version comes out like the ASUS USB-AC53 Nano for 4 and 5. No headache replacement & really small.

 

[Tech Junky]

I've been running the AX210 for quite awhile after issues with AX200 being stable. Whether it was just a driver issue or something with the adapter I didn't have patience trying to stabilize it.

With no 6E AP though I can't test that band but, in terms of speed it does perform well on the LAN hitting up to 1.5gbps with an NWA210AX AP. The perk of 6ghz for me at least wouldn't make much of a difference since I run 160mhz w/o any issues on the AP I have currently. Now, if I could macgyver a 4x4 client card into the laptop or a USB dongle then it would be interesting to see how the performance would increase in terms of BW.

Right now the 4x4 implementations are a bit prohibitive and odd configurations restricting them to desktop use with adapter cards since more of them show up as mPCIE connectors. M2 though should support 4x4 BW w/o any issues but, no one makes a compatible model. The QCN9074 is the chipset that gets you to 4x4 but, it's single band per module which means you need 3 of them to hit 2.4/5/6.

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3x3 setup tri-band mPCIE / $90

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It's still a baren market for finding what should be available tech. I mean AX210 cards have been available for quite awhile now. I suspect part of the issue is regulatory clearances prompting the usual suspects to not put much into sales of the 6E cards. now that the spectrum has been cleared for use in a good percentage of countries things should start rolling out.

There's a couple of options for 6ghz @ /https://www.524wifi.com/index.php/network-modules-adapters/wifi-6-11-ax-modules.html?SID=hrnpr3as7vlrkq67etev3i7m8dfhtu21&dir=asc&order=price but, $190/card is a bit much to swallow when you can get Intel for ~$30/card.

If you're going to spend on 6E ($350 AP) you might as well try to get the full BW from it beyond the standard 2x2 which will top out at 1.5gbps even just on 6ghz. As for the antennas.... it's all the same stuff in the lid of your laptop behind the panel. Not worth messing with unless you add a 4x4 card and need to add 2 more leads behind the panel for the increased BW.

I think potentially WIFI7 might offer some more benefits beyond just the 6ghz band.
- 320mhz channels (~3gbps 2x2 / ~6gbps 4x4)
- 6ghz also

 

[BobD]

One other minor detail, the Intel AX210 comes in two form factors. There is the M2 plugin size of 22x30 mm. There is also a 12x16 mm size which is soldered in and for most of us cannot be changed unless you have special skills.
I have an ASUS laptop with one of the latter adapters. I also have a Lenovo laptop with a whitelisted adapter so I can't plug in an Intel device. I also have a new MSI laptop which has an AX210 but it is sealed for warranty purposes so I don't know which form factor it has. Life is not easy upgrading WiFi adapters. See the link below and look at the section on Package Specifications.

https://www.intel.com.au/content/ww...6/intel-wifi-6e-ax210-gig/specifications.html

 

[SAL9K]

In my haste to try new things, I purchased an intel ax210 m.2 2230 adapter, and in removing the fragile and finicky antenna wires from the ax200, snapped the antenna connector clean off the ax200 circuit board, and it's cleanly lodged in the antenna cable side connector. It's super tiny, and wedged in there tight, and in my attempt to get it out completely mangled the cable connector; I think I need to reterminate the cable with a new antenna connector, or buy a new antenna assembly (Dell Precision 5510). The shame!

However, I reconnected the single good antenna cable (one of two total), and the ax200 wifi still works. I'll get to this damn thing later, good thing this is my backup laptop.

I'd replaced the adapter (almost) four times, 8260/9260/ax200/ax210, and still managed to flub it. Those little antenna posts are fragile! Laughing on the outside, and crying a little on the inside.

 

[Tech Junky]

@SAL9K

Just get some new antennas and rethread them from the card into the back of the panel / lid. Might run you about $5-$10. Easier than tinkering with trying to put new ends on the micro wires.

 

[SAL9K]

@SAL9K

Just get some new antennas and rethread them from the card into the back of the panel / lid. Might run you about $5-$10. Easier than tinkering with trying to put new ends on the micro wires.

Not sure what to rethread here. The ax200 has micro coaxial ipex mhf4 connectors (like pic below), and the ring on one of the pcb connectors came completely off (and is embedded on the cable connector side). I think the ring is tied to the pcb ground/shield, but not sure.

I have a replacement ax210 card, and I luckily just found this $20 precision 5510 antenna assembly.

 

[Tech Junky]

Thread the cables through the hinge assembly to get the antenna behind the panel.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QDTXGGJ/?tag=snbforums-20
$8

 

[SAL9K]

Thread the cables through the hinge assembly to get the antenna behind the panel.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QDTXGGJ/?tag=snbforums-20
$8

Oh, I see, as an alternative to using an OEM antenna assembly, you can buy these, and as you suggest route/thread them through to the back of the laptop screen. That's a good option, if you can't find an OEM assembly, thanks! Let's see what else I can break!

 

[Tech Junky]

OEM isn't always the best option when it comes to anything.

Putting the antennas unobstructed in the panel vs on the back / sides of the chassis gets you a better signal usually giving you faster speeds / longer distances.

It's going to be a bit more invasive than just plopping a board into the chassis but, the extra effort should be worthwhile.

 

[BobD]

These connectors on the antenna cables are not designed to be disconnected and reconnected indefinitely.
See the image below. I can't give a link to it but it was part of the info on Amazon relating to a wifi part.
See the text which indicates a very limited connect / disconnect life.

 

[SAL9K]

The Dell Precision 5510 (also XPS 15) has a sealed LCD panel with an aluminum outer housing. I don’t know if placing an antenna behind an aluminum shield is the right approach. But I see what you mean for a plastic lcd shell. I suppose you could just tack the antennas right onto the exterior of the case, but aesthetically that may not be great. The OEM antenna housing is made of plastic, which is better for transmissivity, but it is physically located on the bottom/back of the laptop housing. Raising that as you suggest would probably help the WiFi signal.

 

[SAL9K]

These connectors on the antenna cables are not designed to be disconnected and reconnected indefinitely.
See the image below. I can't give a link to it but it was part of the info on Amazon relating to a wifi part.
See the text which indicates a very limited connect / disconnect life.
View attachment 41106

For my situation, that would have been a single cycle on the ax200 connector, and 3-4 on the antenna cable, in total. I admit that I still don’t really know a good technique to disconnect those, they’re surprisingly strong. My mistake was to pry it off center, and snap it went.

 

[Tech Junky]

I usually just pop them with a screwdriver under them. They're a real pita to deal with though in general.

 

[SAL9K]

So, I finally received the replacement Precision 5510 OEM antenna assembly (purchased from https://www.parts-people.com/), and installed and replaced the antenna, and new AX210 adapter. Everything seems to work ok, I get the full speeds to AX86U as before with the AX200. I know, I still need to update my router before utilizing the 6GHz band, but I wanted to post here to document that the update to the AX210 works fine; needed a M.2 22x30 wifi module for the Precision 5510 (and also most of the recent XPS/Precision line of Dell laptop workstations).

A couple of interesting things I noted during the antenna/module replacement. The AX200/AX210 WiFi modules work just fine with a single antenna cable connected. I was able to saturate the 1 Gbps interface to my NAS over a 160 MHz connection to the AX86U (I got lucky here, as 160MHz usually doesn't connect consistently, and I typically just keep the AX86U fixed at 80 MHz). With 80MHz, and a single antenna connected I also get the typical ~700 Mbps (typical for me) to NAS.

I also noted that the replacement antenna assembly had a total of three connections, versus the two on my original. Moreover, the antenna's on the assembly's are electrically all connected to each other (I rang them out with a multi-meter). Why the three antenna connections on the new assembly? Does this correspond to the possibility of a 3x3 M.2 Wifi Module that I could connect the antenna's to (I did a quick search and could not find a 3x3 M.2 module)? Also, since the antenna's are electrically connected, does that mean that the spacing between them is actually very important, for purposes of intelligent beam-forming (if spacing is important between antenna's, then purchasing a non-OEM version with detachable single antenna's might not work as well, unless you mind the spacing of how you place/position them)? All is very interesting, so I thought I'd share.

Old 2-wire/2-antenna assembly on top; New 3-wire/3-antenna assembly on bottom

So, now I just need a new AXE router!

 

[Tech Junky]

Well, the cheapest 6E option right now would be the Netgear AP WAX630E @ $360 and you could just hook it up to your existing router for 6ghz access.

I pulled my LCD panel to take some pics for something else earlier and this is what I was hinting about adding antennas.

The bottom shows where the antennas are placed behind the screen and then the 2 leads run into the hinge and into the chassis MOBO where the M2 resides.

As to the 3-way leads on the replacement part. Older B/G/N modules sometimes had 3 leads on them. As time passes though it would be nice to get someone other than Intel to make a AX 3x3 to take advantage of the additional stream to go beyond the cap currently with 2x2 cards.. I've been looking into alternatives to Intel as well to get around the lack of hostapd compatible cards from BCM / RTL / QCA / MTK so I can run an internal AP on my server again like I was able to with AC.

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This would work with an adapter from mPCIE to M2 but, lack of space i a laptop would make it difficult to get it into the same space. On the server side though I already have a mPCIE adapter that splits out into 4 antennas and could make it work as an AP. The issue then becomes a client card and adding one more lead into the back of the screen to make the most of the BW.

This would be more comparable with an AP with 4x4 which would yield ~2gbps+ LAN speeds. https://techship.com/products/emwicon-wmx7406-11ax-4x4-wideband/

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I get creative when it comes to rigging something together to avoid an off the shelf solution but, sometimes it's a waiting game for someone to package the proper pieces / ideal socket into a working module. The WIFI Client space has been stagnant for a couple of years and is most likely due to companies not wanting to put R&D into new products until the spectrum in 6ghz was released broadly for use.

 

[SAL9K]

Does the spacing between the two antenna elements not matter? Nice job with the custom antenna mounting right behind the panel, btw.

When I was installing the Dell antenna assembly, I noticed that metal antenna cross-hatch-elements (I don't know what that antenna shape is referred to as), sit under the panel, and face you as you're typing on the keyboard (the mount is keyed, so can only install one way), which made me wonder about the design of that assembly, as in shouldn't they be facing outward instead of directly into a persons body?

 

[Tech Junky]

Well I would try to trace the cables and use the two outer antennas.

Facing inward might be less material to cause signal degredation and slower speeds.

The antennas on mine are factory but if I added more to the mix I would put them at the top or sides of the lid for more diversity. When you look at custom replacement options you can adjust the length and position then where you want them. Changing positions is easy enough after you remove the screen a couple of times.

If you really wanted to go extreme drill some holes and use external sma antennas. It might look a bit odd but getting them outside of the plastic would increase range. USB options would achieve the same if you can change the card as tech advances.

 

[SAL9K]

Well I would try to trace the cables and use the two outer antennas.

You can visually trace the antenna/wires on the Dell new 3-antenna assembly, if that's what you're referring to. I used the middle and edge antenna's (white and black wires), and left the other outer antenna disconnected (grey wire), because those were the two antenna positions used on the original OEM assembly (middle and edge). Wanted to keep it the same, as I was not sure if the antenna spacing mattered. If it were more fool proof (me being the fool), I'd risk detaching those micro coax IPEX connections again, and try the two outer/edge antennas just out of curiosity, but I don't think I'll *ever* touch those again lol. The screen and antenna assembly were also kind of a PITA to remove.