RT-AX88U Beta Firmware posted. Supports WPA3 and OFDMA

[thiggins]

Version 9.0.0.4.384.6396 Beta Version2019/07/3169.97 MBytesASUS RT-AX88U Firmware beta version 9.0.0.4.384.6396
- Beta OFDMA support
- Beta WPA3 support

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-AX88U/FW_RT_AX88U_90043846396.zip

I have tried this with four Samsung S10e phones. Packet captures show evidence of OFDMA activity. I have not run performance tests yet.

 

[Swistheater]

can you obtain a link for the GTAX11000 version that was in the works?

 

[thiggins]

can you obtain a link for the GTAX11000 version that was in the works?

Sorry, no.

 

[RMerlin]

...four Samsung S10e phones...

What are you doing with so many 1000$+ phones?

I guess that means Samsung has already enabled OFDMA support on their end. Would be nice for Intel to also provide a beta driver, would greatly help with betatesting by having more OFDMA-enabled clients out in the wild.

 

[thiggins]

What are you doing with so many 1000$+ phones?

I guess that means Samsung has already enabled OFDMA support on their end. Would be nice for Intel to also provide a beta driver, would greatly help with betatesting by having more OFDMA-enabled clients out in the wild.

The phones are on loan from octoScope and are being used to develop OFDMA test processes.

OFDMA has been enabled on the phones from the get-go as far as I can tell. Just make sure you update phone firmware to the latest available.

I have been using AX200 Win 10 and Linux drivers, which also support OFDMA. Monitor mode for sniffing is enabled in Linux only and is capturing HE trigger and other management frames. I'm working on capturing OFDMA data frames, which are a lot trickier...

BTW: International model S10e (what I'm using) is getting close to $500 now.

 

[RMerlin]

Nice. Will be interesting to see what concrete impact OFDMA has when you have multiple ax clients simultaneously transferring. Wondering if it will be another MU-MIMO in terms of performance impact (i.e. more marketing noise than actual results).

Unfortunately I don't have any AX client here, and doubt I will have one anytime soon as I just replaced both my tablet and my phone, and expect to keep them a few years. So unless someone releases an USB 3.1 solution...

 

[rickygao]

Nice. Will be interesting to see what concrete impact OFDMA has when you have multiple ax clients simultaneously transferring. Wondering if it will be another MU-MIMO in terms of performance impact (i.e. more marketing noise than actual results).

Unfortunately I don't have any AX client here, and doubt I will have one anytime soon as I just replaced both my tablet and my phone, and expect to keep them a few years. So unless someone releases an USB 3.1 solution...

You can buy a Intel AX200 network adaptor and replace your current one on your laptop if you have any.

 

[RMerlin]

You can buy a Intel AX200 network adaptor and replace your current one on your laptop if you have any.

Lenovo uses BIOS whitelists, you cannot replace the adapter with one that isn't whitelisted. The laptop will refuse to boot.

 

[L&LD]

Lenovo uses BIOS whitelists, you cannot replace the adapter with one that isn't whitelisted. The laptop will refuse to boot.

Again, that is only true for older Lenovo products. Many newer models allow the adaptors to be upgraded.

The latest example is for a Lenovo Flex 5 (2017 model) that I saw was upgraded to AX200 without issues and slightly better performance with an RT-AC68U router and 500/500 ISP service.

 

[RMerlin]

Again, that is only true for older Lenovo products. Many newer models allow the adaptors to be upgraded.

I contacted them, and they confirmed that only cards listed on the list they pointed me at were supported by my 4 years old Thinkpad Yoga 15.

 

[ColinTaylor]

My June 2015 Lenovo B50-70 also has a WiFi card whitelist. I even tried using a card that was on the whitelist but because it was a generic Intel model rather than a Lenovo OEM version the hardware ID didn't match and it was rejected.

 

[thiggins]

Again, that is only true for older Lenovo products. Many newer models allow the adaptors to be upgraded.

Well, that's good news. But how do you know which models are upgradeable and which aren't?

 

[L&LD]

Well, that's good news. But how do you know which models are upgradeable and which aren't?

I don't. But my customer told and showed me.

 

[phx28777]

I also have a Lenovo Flex5-1570 and I changed my wireless card a month ago from an Intel 8265 to an Intel Ax200.
I think your Lenovo needs to have an Intel Gen 7 Processor or newer to upgrade without the BIOS whitelist.
Don't know if this applies across their product lines but it works fine with my Lenovo laptop.
BTW the AX200 is a much better card than the 8265 in AC mode have not used it yet in AX mode .

 

[MikeyB]

Been on this beta for a while and have an issue with some Apple devices. When OFDMA is enabled (5Ghz connection) my iPad Air 2 wifi often becomes very slow, taking ages to load web pages. I have experienced similar issues with my ipad mini 5 but much less often. Switching OFDMA off resolves the issue straight away. I have tried iPhone 7s and 8s on wifi and the slow wifi issues has not occurred.

Anyone else had similar experiences. Just wondering if its the firmware or whether it is associated with current Apple drivers. All my AX200 and legacy intel 802.11ac adaptor PCs appear OK with OFDMA on, just the ipads causing issue.

 

[Hawk]

Been on this beta for a while and have an issue with some Apple devices. When OFDMA is enabled (5Ghz connection) my iPad Air 2 wifi often becomes very slow, taking ages to load web pages. I have experienced similar issues with my ipad mini 5 but much less often. Switching OFDMA off resolves the issue straight away. I have tried iPhone 7s and 8s on wifi and the slow wifi issues has not occurred.

Anyone else had similar experiences. Just wondering if its the firmware or whether it is associated with current Apple drivers. All my AX200 and legacy intel 802.11ac adaptor PCs appear OK with OFDMA on, just the ipads causing issue.

It may be apple drivers, OFDMA shouldn't interfere with legacy devices. Have you brought to ASUS attention?

 

[thiggins]

It may be apple drivers, OFDMA shouldn't interfere with legacy devices. Have you brought to ASUS attention?

Is the problem seen only when OFDMA is enabled or when HE is enabled?

How many AX200 do you have and are they active (using data) when you see the iPad problem?

 

[aublumberg]

For what it's worth ... a couple, unscientific, tests on my iPhone 11 Pro show about 15 - 20% higher throughput with 802.11ax HE / OFDMA enabled on this beta firmware. On the particular speedtest app I use, on a 1Gbps Internet link, I get ~700+Mbps down / ~350Mbs up regularly. Not that it makes any practical usage difference whatsoever in our small household ;-)

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the report. Was that 2.4 or 5 GHz? With only one device, the improvement was likely due to AX's higher maximum link rates. OFDMA requires at least two devices for the AX88U.

 

[aublumberg]

Thanks for the report. Was that 2.4 or 5 GHz? With only one device, the improvement was likely due to AX's higher maximum link rates. OFDMA requires at least two devices for the AX88U.

5Ghz. Interestingly the throughput difference was reproduceable when toggling HE / OFDMA on and off a couple times and then retesting. There are other devices connected to the AX but didn't create particular load from these. But as I said above, no particular daily use case benefit.