Upgrading laptops with CNVio WiFi adapters (eg Intel AC 9560) to newer Intel WiFi 6 (AX200) WiFi 6e (AX210) WiFi 7 (BE200) cards

[Masimo]

Using the same method when replacing the AC9560 by two AX210's, I now replaced the AX210's by two BE200's in my GS75 8SE.

Works like a charm. And with a 4GB NVMe SSD since a couple of months as system drive, there's no sorrow for the lost NVMe slot.

 

 

 

[Lurick]

Looks like these new WiFi 7 modules (at least at the time of writing) will NOT work on AMD systems, or at least is very difficult and hit or miss (mostly miss from what I see)

 

 

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/AMD-Intel-and-Wifi-7/m-p/1562301

 

[Alex Atkin UK]

3 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Looks like these new WiFi 7 modules (at least at the time of writing) will NOT work on AMD systems, or at least is very difficult and hit or miss (mostly miss from what I see)

 

 

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/AMD-Intel-and-Wifi-7/m-p/1562301

 

Yet another reason I think buying anything WiFi 7 right now before its finalised is a bad idea.  I'd probably wait for the inevitable BE210.

Also my experience that the AX210 has better backwards compatibility than the AX200 (I get faster speeds on WiFi 5 with the former) makes me a little wary of first-gen Intel products.  Given theres a good chance people with laptops will be using them not just at home where you might have WiFi 7, but in public where you could be on WiFi 5 or 6.

[Lurick]

6 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Yet another reason I think buying anything WiFi 7 right now before its finalised is a bad idea.  I'd probably wait for the inevitable BE210.

Also my experience that the AX210 has better backwards compatibility than the AX200 (I get faster speeds on WiFi 5 with the former) makes me a little wary of first-gen Intel products.  Given theres a good chance people with laptops will be using them not just at home where you might have WiFi 7, but in public where you could be on WiFi 5 or 6.

Looks like it's finalized but not officially ratified. The WiFi alliance has certifications available for several devices already:

https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?sort_by=certified&sort_order=desc&certifications=1652

 

Last update on final vote/ratification though is expected May 2024 which is seemingly a formality at this point:

https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/feature/Wi-Fi-7-development-grows-but-adoption-interest-lags

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 hours ago, Lurick said:

Looks like it's finalized but not officially ratified. The WiFi alliance has certifications available for several devices already:

https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?sort_by=certified&sort_order=desc&certifications=1652

 

Last update on final vote/ratification though is expected May 2024 which is seemingly a formality at this point:

https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/feature/Wi-Fi-7-development-grows-but-adoption-interest-lags

Well aware of that, but I still have nightmares of Pre-N devices which were completely incompatible with the ratified specification.

 

Granted that's probably why the WiFi Alliance was formed, but that still only guarantees compatibility with hardware made by members.  They effectively seem to exist to strong-arm the IEE into ratifying their specification so they can rush new tech out to market early, before smaller companies get a chance to undercut them on price.

There were lots of early WiFi 6 devices for example which didn't support its major (though optional) features, or didn't even include WiFi 6 on 2.4Ghz at all.  Fortunately as channel concurrency is the major feature, probably less likely this time around, but it leaves me distrusting of the WiFi Alliance to not leave features on the table so they can sell Gen 2 devices later.

[Nicholas Flamy]

On 2/24/2024 at 11:02 AM, Alex Atkin UK said:

Yet another reason I think buying anything WiFi 7 right now before its finalised is a bad idea.  I'd probably wait for the inevitable BE210.

Also my experience that the AX210 has better backwards compatibility than the AX200 (I get faster speeds on WiFi 5 with the former) makes me a little wary of first-gen Intel products.  Given theres a good chance people with laptops will be using them not just at home where you might have WiFi 7, but in public where you could be on WiFi 5 or 6.

But I'm pretty sure the AX200 is Wi-Fi 6 while the AX210 is Wi-Fi 6E so is the BE210 likely to release at all?

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 hour ago, Nicholas Flamy said:

But I'm pretty sure the AX200 is Wi-Fi 6 while the AX210 is Wi-Fi 6E so is the BE210 likely to release at all?

It would be very unlikely for there to be no WiFi 7 Revision 2 cards, though maybe it will be a silent revision rather than a BE210.  Have you seen how many different WiFi 4 and WiFi 5 model cards Intel has made?  Though granted a lot of those were different MIMO configurations

They already have two 2.5Gbit ethernet adapter models released in the last few years, the first one which had at least three revisions due to bugs.

We don't even know for 100% certain that the BE200 will fully meet the final WiFi 7 specification.  Historically WiFi vendors push v1 to market early and then release better performing versions later.  My own experience was the AX210 performed better on WiFi 5 than the AX200 did for example, though both were comparable on WiFi 6.