this post was submitted on 05 Feb 2024
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Is Intel gatekeeping WiFi 7? A very quick look at the Intel BE200. (youtu.be)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by SamB@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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It seems that Intel is gatekeeping WiFi 7 and I analyzed the options that we currently have.

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[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 51 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

TLDR: WiFi 7 isn't even ratified or "out" yet, so of course there isn't enough hardware for it.

The WiFi 7 standard hasn't even been finalized. It's not unusual to see companies marketing hardware BEFORE final ratification, but it's like a marketing gimmick more than an actual case of "early adoption" hardware. If you're seeing a situation like this one where a few companies sell routers that support the equipment standard, and there's only one of two adapters that do, just stay away. The Wi-Fi Alliance JUST released the WF7 certification criteria on January 8th, so maybe companies will start trying to release hardware now.

[–] Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me 23 points 9 months ago

Gives memories of all those crappy "draft N" routers that played loose with the spec and were full of problems.

I"'d rather wait for final spec hardware.

[–] Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago

As soon as all the plebs get wifi7 though I'm gonna start looking for the first wifi 8 router and in the meantime I'll just chill on my cat8 ethernet.

[–] SamB@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I agree that it's very early to go with WiFi 7 at the moment. The issue that I have with the current situation is that Qualcomm managed to make a Wi-Fi 7 adapter which apparently works with AMD and Intel, while the BE200 is 'locked' to their platform only. They didn't even go with CNVi this time. It's just strange and may sway people towards a certain platform due to a simple compatibility issue like this.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Okay, so then the BE200 is an Intel product that offloads to the northbridge or CPU extensions...not that unusual. If it specifically says it supports only Intel chipsets, then you're getting exactly what they are promising, right?

[–] SamB@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Honestly, I don't know how the BE200 works and whether there's a strict communication protocol only with Intel CPUs. I hope that's not the case and a firmware update will widen its reach. As for why I don't like this situation is that we only get one solution working with one platform. Qualcomm, apparently made it available for both (from what I could find on the web), but since the card is not in stock since maybe November, we're stuck with what Intel wants to feed us. Sure, Intel can do whatever it wants, but it's not really fair for AMD users. Edit: spelling.

[–] dgriffith@aussie.zone 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, I don't know how the BE200 works

My guess after skimming this thread:

Bare bones radio interface with all the smarts being done by CPU extensions and coprocessors in your existing chipset. If you don't have the extensions/coprocessors, no deal.

Very similar to Intel's video decoding enhancements where they stack a bunch of special instructions and hardware in the CPU to take the load off software video decoding.

[–] HelloHotel@lemm.ee 1 points 9 months ago

Bare bones radio interface with all the smarts being done by CPU extensions and coprocessors

So if I understand this right, that means you already have wifi7 support, you just need to unlock it with the m.2 shaped key.

[–] SteveTech@programming.dev 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've looked into getting one for my AMD laptop but I haven't actually got one yet. Some models are locked, some are not, here's my research:

  • The common BE200.NGWG is a CNVi module and everything except the radio itself was moved into Intel's CPUs, for cost savings.
  • The BE200.NGWG.NV is a normal NIC and should support AMD.
  • The BE200.NGWG.NVX - same as above but with an X?
  • Anything starting with BE202 sucks, avoid it.
[–] SamB@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I checked the official Intel page (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/230078/intel-wifi-7-be200/specifications.html) and there was no mention of CNVi. If you search for the visual difference between cards that use CNVio2 and those that use PCie, there is an actual difference at the connector level. I still don't think that the BE200 works in the same manner as the AX211.

[–] SteveTech@programming.dev 1 points 9 months ago

Yeah, sorry I wrote the comment before I watched the video.