Which is the best WiFi 7 adapter: Intel vs Qualcomm

[@SamBondor]

CORRECTION: I wrote AX200 instead of BE200 and it's a typo. I have been using the AX200 so much over the last months that I now see it in my dreams. So, sorry for the confusion, it's the Intel BE200. I am an idiot.

[@AinzOoalG0wn]

well we all make mistakes. the fact u can admit to making them and also adding correction once found, is why we follow you. keep up the good work. don't worry if you stumble here and there, we get it ☺

[@SamBondor]

@@AinzOoalG0wn Thank you for your kind words. Things would have been easier if there was a way to edit after posting, but KZbin doesn't give such an option. So yes, more mistakes to come, but I will try my best to keep them to the minimum.

[@EditioCastigata]

You’re displaying “AX200” - which was obsoleted by AX210 anyway - but this video is supposedly about the BE200.

[@SamBondor]

Yes, it's a typo. I have used the BE200. Sorry for the confusion.

[@TechieZeddie]

Linux support coming on at12k driver. Still buggy. Currently i use Fedora 40 on kernel 6.10.3. BT audio still buggy, downloads work fine but heavy uploads will crash. Some saying the katest at12k driver is fixed, but probably won't see it rolled into the kernel for a while (further testing). Was told 6.11 r2 still doesn't have the fixed driver, but was told the same kernel version has the fix on Arch. Can you update your video to cover NCM865 and Linux kernel 6.11 and higher?

[@SamBondor]

I tried the kernel v 6.11-r2 about four days ago and the BE200 behaved the same way as before, so still no MLO. I am not sure whether there have been many changes in regards to the Qualcomm adapter, but I will try it out in the next few days. Btw, the preliminary Windows 11 24h2 still didn't make a difference. I did see some promises being made about a Mediatek WiFi adapter and I got it a couple of days ago. Will try it out very soon and post the results I got.

[@TechieZeddie]

@@SamBondor thanks, but I was asking about kernel 6.11-r2 and the NCM865, not the BE200. Still good to know.

[@SamBondor]

@@TechieZeddie I have been trying to make things work for the last couple of days especially in regards to the Mediatek adapter. I installed the Kernel v 6.11-rc3 on an AMD system and it didn't work as intended. The WiFi was not even detected, neither the Qualcomm, nor the Mediatek one. I did manage to get a stable performance from the v 6.11-rc1 on an Intel system, so I will take that as a win. The Qualcomm adapter did work properly, but no MLO.

[@keyboard_g]

The Wifi Alliance started the Wifi 7 Certification program January 2024. There is an ongoing amendment and final ratification is expected later this year.

[@Quast]

Very interesting BUT does the Qualcomm model give you the LC3 support in the Bluetooth settings that still doesn't seem to be active for Intel or it currently the same?

[@SamBondor]

I am not sure. I don't have a Bluetooth device that supports LC3 and I looked around the OS, but couldn't find a way to check which codecs are supported without actually connecting a device. If there's a way to do it, I'll gladly check it out.

[@Quast]

​@@SamBondor Lol nice got censored for posting a link by YT again There's an article by microsoft "Check if your Windows 11 PC supports Bluetooth Low Energy Audio" according to it you should be able to see the LC3 option when the hardware driver permits it and you have at least Windows 11 22H2 running

[@SamBondor]

@@Quast I tried the instructions from the link, but with no success. I am sure that I need to have a device that supports LC3 to see it. But, I didn't stop here and checked the NCM865 specs which show that there is indeed support for the LE audio. Additionally, the FastConnect 7800 WCN7851 platform confirms it as well. So yes, it should work as long as Windows 11 has it.

[@Quast]

@@SamBondor Ok then we currently have the support from Windows but it seems like neither the new Intel BE200 nor the Qualcomm chip have it driver-sided unlocked. Especially since they write it all in their documents... the tech industry... thx for checking! :)

[@SamBondor]

@@Quast Np. There should be some updates very soon which may unlock new features. We're in very early WiFi 7 draft stage still.

[@st4r_lite]

the intel ax200 chip does work for amd i used it in my amd build for like 1 or 2 years until i built another pc with wifi 6e built it. so its weird that it didnt work on your amd builds

[@SamBondor]

It's not the AX200, I wrote it out of habit, but it's a typo. It's the BE200.

[@Aerith17]

I hope MLO gets supported soon on Windows 11 and other end clients, as well as on more access points like Ubiquiti. It sounds promising for throughput speeds and reliability.

[@SamBondor]

Definitely. It's going to be a game changer, but only if we get compatible client devices. And there aren't that many yet in the wild.

[@adriancoanda9227]

it has on the arm64 SKU and in pro or enterprise

[@LunaWuna]

I managed to get MLO working between my u7 pro running early access firmware (MLO on unifi is still in EA) and my OnePlus 11. Got speeds of around 2.3-4gbps via openspeedtest locally but its still a bit funky and buggy because of how new it is. I'm pretty sure windows enabled it too recently but my NCM865 is still in the mail.

[@Aerith17]

@@LunaWuna 👀

[@AmerKarimMahmudOlascoaga-vd8bm]

Thank you for such an amazing video

[@hvacdr]

Id like to mention some advice I have from my journey of events to put together wifi 7 on all of my computers. Its definitely not always going to be simple plug and play especially for computers more than 5 or 6 years old. the be200 fit my 2020 laptop which also added an additional antenna to increase range since it only had one and also the original antenna wouldn't connect to the new chip so I spliced the wire to the new connector in the 9 dollar antenna kit from amazon. Adding the antenna wire doubled my speed from distance. My dell desktop is 2018 and will not fit the be200 chip as it will only accept A chips not E. I bought the 14 dollar kit that would adapt the chip to work in my 2018 pc but the antennas didnt fit the be200 and there was no way to get the bluetooth to work. So instead I will just buy the MSI herald. MSI is a definitely a good reliable brand and I love that it has an external antenna. Hopefully that will improve the range. I have both an i7 pc and an older AMD desktop pc so for my situation I simply can't have a chip that wont work for AMD. It is best for me to be able to put whatever part in whatever computer when I need to without these unnecessary complications. I have no intention to use Linux but I would be sure that Linux will eventually work with this down if they want to be up on the latest technology. Also I want to point out that from all of the tests I have done: The Wifi 7 chip (BE200) seems to have worked better on my WIFI 6 network than the WIFI 6E chip. I did quite a bit of testing in both and for sure the wifi 7 is a bit faster. I was getting between 30 and 130 mbps more with the 7 chip. I have 500 mbps internet and the only way you can maximize that speed is with wifi 7 chip and good antennas.

[@jilherme]

good quality content, Sam! I hope qualcomm invest in linux drivers. Shame Intel is gatekeeping theirs

[@marxin_]

It's interesting that your intel card doesn't work with AMD, I personally run a PC with Rryzen 5 3600 on b350 mobo and I use Intel AX210 wifi card on the similar pcie adapter, never had any trouble with it

[@firstsurvivor7600]

AX200 and AX210 worked just fine with my 3900X/X570. But it made Bell's home hub router crash randomly lol.

[@PavLOCKd]

it would be nice to compare BT capabilities as well.

[@rajmangalpandey3910]

Can you please test mediatek wifi adapter. They make best wifi adapter actually

[@Phil-D83]

Did they fix the issues with the intel wifi7 be200 drivers ? Might get the be200 for my 8th gen intel laptop

[@SamBondor]

I don't know which specific issues do you mean? Intel has a lot of fixing to do.

[@Phil-D83]

@SamsTechnologyReviews drivers seemed broken for awhile when it was released

[@SamBondor]

@@Phil-D83 The BE200 should work with your laptop right now, just be aware that a lot of the promised features will be unlocked in the future.

[@Phil-D83]

​@SamsTechnologyReviews be200 is working on an acer u8250 i5 laptop

[@adriancoanda9227]

y have multi link even on 6e cards and i am not on 24h2 as it is still beta and intel wi-fi is also better supported on enterprise access points

[@Liqiuir]

would you be able to use MLO on the MSI HERALD-BE NCM865 with windows 11?

[@SamBondor]

Not yet, but there are some news/rumors that it will be enabled with the 24h2 update.

[@Liqiuir]

so are you just currently using 1 band (6Ghz or 5Ghz) on 802.11be/WiFi7?

[@SamBondor]

@@Liqiuir MLO aggregates two or more radio bands, but you can currently connect clients to both the 6GHz and the 5GHz networks at the same time (one client to one radio, of course).

[@Liqiuir]

@@SamBondor how can you do that? connecting 6Ghz and 5Ghz simuntaniously

[@SamBondor]

@@Liqiuir I feel like there may have been some misunderstanding at some point. You can connect one client to one network at a time. As for MLO, I did manage to install the 24h2 update (experimental version) and to be honest, it doesn't improve the throughput even if multiple radios are indeed aggregated. We need to wait a bit more.

[@oifun9133]

Does ncm865 has dual connect or Intel dct, like nfa765 or ax411?

[@SamBondor]

By dual-connect, you mean DBS? I am fairly sure that the NCM865 has the ability for MLO, a somewhat evolved version of the DBS (kind of), but it doesn't seem it's enabled yet.

[@oifun9133]

@SamsTechnologyReviews sorry for asking a question again... but can you use dbs on pc on windows 11 if you have the wifi card nfa765? If so... how..

[@SamBondor]

@@oifun9133 I don't think there's support for DBS on the Qualcomm card (anyone can feel free to correct me). As for MLO, Microsoft says that it will be unlocked with the 24h2 update.

[@dibu28]

PLease test it also with Xiaomi BE3600 as it is now cheap wifi7 router and available.

[@SamBondor]

I'll first check out the BE7000 and then maybe this model as well.

[@dibu28]

@@SamBondor Thank you!

[@DigitalYojimbo]

I have the ax210 it's an amazing card.

[@Galileocrafter]

3:03 For the Intel Wifi adapter, be careful and only buy those that do NOT have CNVio, those will only work on Intel systems. If you get the PCIe / USB versions, you should be alright with ANY system. I'm running an AX210 on my AMD system right now, still waiting for a bit better support for the BE200 with WIFI 7 in Linux though. And your PCIe adapter with the Intel AX200 should support AMD systems as well, because the CNVio variant is only compatible with the M.2. Key A/E slots and should not work over PCIe.

[@SamBondor]

I wrote AX200, but it's the BE200, so it's a typo. Sorry for the confusion.

[@Galileocrafter]

@@SamBondor Ok, that makes sense, but this also holds true for the BE200. It should work with AMD systems if it is the PCIe version, at least it worked with my Windows 11 install.

[@SamBondor]

@@Galileocrafter You have an AMD system and managed to see the 6GHz network while had the BE200 installed? That's amazing. I will re-install this god forsaken piece of software called Windows 11 and maybe I will make it work as well.

[@Galileocrafter]

@@SamBondor No, i don’t yet have a 6 GHz Wifi AP, but the card worked in an AMD system under Windows 11.

[@SamBondor]

@@Galileocrafter I just tried it again with a fresh Windows 11 install and the PC won't even post as long as the BE200 was connected to the motherboard (MSI X570). Can you tell me what type of motherboard you have? Is it a recent one?

[@BigEightiesNewWave]

I'm on Ethernet, but Intel all day, every day, for Desktops. Compare your Qualcomm phone Wi-Fi throughput to your PCIe Wi-Fi card... you get the idea. Qualcomm needs to stick to phones.

[@hombrepepega3472]

Naaaah, Qualcomm is the GOAT, and since BE200 refuses to work on AMD machines Intel wi-fi is a no go.

[@tim3172]

I'll never touch Qualcomm again after the Atheros QCA61x4a. Shout-out to ASUS for introducing the ($700!!!!) RT-BE96U and saddling it with 4...... gigabit ports, allowing for 10G only on WAN and one LAN when you can buy an entire 2.5Gb switch for $37 on Amazon right now.

[@SamBondor]

A 5-port 10GbE switch is about $200 too.. Yeah, the manufacturers are very shy about adding 2.5GbE ports, let alone 5 or 10GbE when it should be the norm with every WiFi 6+ wireless router/AP/gateway.

[@Karti200]

On my person PC I am using Intel AX201 module - daily Linux user - and I have no problem with it, I am getting my 600/60 (down/up) speed in whole of my 52^2m crib. Inside a Company I am working it, I am running a Windows based laptop -> I HAD T14 Gen3 based on Ryzen 5 6650u with soldered Qualcomm module and I had to switch it to something Intel based... I would really have no point of changing, but I had to because of Qualcomm modules having problems with RADIUS based network :/ If I had a Windows 10 -> I had no problem running my laptop wireless, but as soon as I updated to Windows 11, I could not certificate my connection no matter what... I was literally forced to work wired all the time inside my company network.... Try to work at IT department, have a laptop and could not even connect to wireless network xD If not to that fact, i would give 50/50 to both company network adapters... but because of that single stupid thing... i am like 3/4 going for a intel wireless adapters

[@j18476j18476]

Be 200 not support AMD, so fuxx Intel

[@Vidal6x6]

I have an ax211 MAN THAT S#$T IS SPEEDSTER only 11us!

[@Yutub-use]

All gimmick

[@adriancoanda9227]

nope it is not multi-link is using all bands that your access points provide wi-fi 7 has trial band support if set up correctly you can get up to 2Gb/s bandwidth on 6E cards you can get up to 1Gb/s bandwidth

[@chhayarana7547]

2:15 what is this thing in your pc can you please explain it has the branding of msi

[@SamBondor]

That thing is a GPU... a very bad GPU, a GT720.