Increasing TX Power on Netgear A8000 (AXE3000) WiFi Adapter

[Siavashkaf]

Hello ,

I am reaching out to seek assistance with my Netgear A8000 (AXE3000) WiFi adapter. I've noticed that the transmission power (TX power) is significantly lower than expected. When running the command iwconfig wlan1, it shows that the TX-power is 3dBm, whereas my laptop's Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E AX1675 adapter displays a TX-power of 22dBm.

I have attempted several methods to increase the TX power, including setting the country code to 'BO' and adjusting the TX power to 30dBm. Unfortunately, none of the scripts available online have been successful.

Below are the details of my current firmware version, obtained via ethtool -i wlan1:
driver: mt7921u
version: 6.6.15-amd64
firmware-version: ____010000-20240219111038
expansion-rom-version:
bus-info: 1-4:1.0
supports-statistics: yes
supports-test: no
supports-eeprom-access: no
supports-register-dump: no
supports-priv-flags: no

I would greatly appreciate any guidance or suggestions from the community on how to resolve this issue and increase the TX power of my WiFi adapter.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

[amisix]

Common issue with Mediatek adapters, all of mine do this (7912u, 7912u, 7921au). It's because they're amped to max tx power already, the amp doesn't allow tx power adjustment. Tx power is much more than 3mW or the adapters would be unusable.

…

On Sun, Apr 21, 2024, 12:33 PM Siavashkaf ***@***.***> wrote: Hello , I am reaching out to seek assistance with my *Netgear A8000 (AXE3000) WiFi adapter*. I've noticed that the transmission power (TX power) is significantly lower than expected. When running the command iwconfig wlan1, it shows that the TX-power is *3dBm*, whereas my laptop's Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6E AX1675 adapter displays a TX-power of *22dBm*. I have attempted several methods to increase the TX power, including setting the country code to 'BO' and adjusting the TX power to *30dBm*. Unfortunately, none of the scripts available online have been successful. Below are the details of my current firmware version, obtained via ethtool -i wlan1: driver: mt7921u version: 6.6.15-amd64 firmware-version: ____010000-20240219111038 expansion-rom-version: bus-info: 1-4:1.0 supports-statistics: yes supports-test: no supports-eeprom-access: no supports-register-dump: no supports-priv-flags: no I would greatly appreciate any guidance or suggestions from the community on how to resolve this issue and increase the TX power of my WiFi adapter. Thank you for your time and assistance. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#423>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ACSLA2EASTDJCZLSOHLR6KLY6QIAHAVCNFSM6AAAAABGRTZDJCVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ERDJONRXK43TNFXW4OZWGUZTQNRVGY> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Siavashkaf]

Thanks for explaining the common issue with MediaTek adapters.

On Windows, the adapter seems to work much better than on Linux while it can find some APs that even my laptop wifi card can not. Could this be due to a firmware or driver problem? Is there a way to check TX and RX on Windows? Also, I'm curious if the TP-Link Archer TXE70UH can be used on Kali. Any advice would be great!

[morrownr]

@Siavashkaf

Many modern usb wifi adapters have what looks like locked tx power. It was common back in the days of single-band WiFi 4 adapters that it was possible to adjust tx power... even above legal levels. Concerns about this have brought about the tightening of rules. regulations and laws which are designed to eliminate tx power settings over maximum legal levels. This is not just a Mediatek thing.

In the case of the mt7921au chip, the -3 dBm reading is not an indication that adequate power is not being set. Your adapter should work fine and hopefully Mediatek will clarify if this is a driver error at some point.

Is your adapter working okay?

[Siavashkaf]

It works fine on Kali, but on Windows, it works even 10 times better, as I mentioned. I don’t know how, but it does. For example, on Windows, it can find an AP that my laptop’s Wi-Fi card has not good power, while on Kali, the Wi-Fi card has better signal power on the same AP. That is the point I am trying to figure out—why it can perform better on Windows

[hz12opensource]

@Siavashkaf The actual tx power of a mt7921 based adapter can be viewed in debugfs. First connect to your AP (the tx power is frequency dependent), then run this command:

sudo sh -c 'cat /sys/kernel/debug/ieee80211/phy*/mt76/txpower_sku'

Can you post the outputs of this command? Normally, dividing the numbers by 2 gives you the power in dbm.

[Siavashkaf]

sh -c 'cat /sys/kernel/debug/ieee80211/phy*/mt76/txpower_sku'
Tx power table (channel 1)
1m 2m 5m 11m
CCK (user) : 72 72 72 72
CCK (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36
CCK (tmac) : 39 39 39 39
6m 9m 12m 18m 24m 36m 48m 54m
OFDM (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
OFDM (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
OFDM (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
mcs0 mcs1 mcs2 mcs3 mcs4 mcs5 mcs6 mcs7
HT20 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HT20 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HT20 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
mcs0 mcs1 mcs2 mcs3 mcs4 mcs5 mcs6 mcs7 mcs32
HT40 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HT40 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HT40 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
mcs0 mcs1 mcs2 mcs3 mcs4 mcs5 mcs6 mcs7 mcs8 mcs9 mcs10 mcs11
VHT20 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT20 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 0 0
VHT20 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 0
VHT40 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT40 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 0 0
VHT40 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 0 0
VHT80 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT80 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 0 0
VHT80 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 0
VHT160 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT160 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 0 0
VHT160 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 0
HE26 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE26 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 32
HE26 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 35
HE52 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE52 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 32
HE52 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 35
HE106 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE106 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 32
HE106 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 35
HE242 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE242 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 33 33
HE242 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 36 36
HE484 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE484 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 30
HE484 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 33
HE996 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE996 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HE996 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
HE996x2 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE996x2 (eeprom): 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HE996x2 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39

[huanzhang12]

The power levels look normal. The actual tx power level is shown in the (tmac) lines. The power depends on bandwidth and MCS rates. Yours are 39, which is 19.5 dbm.

[Siavashkaf]

In that case, why does it show 3 dBm on another command?.If it seems to be functioning fine, Is there an option to increase the power?

[morrownr]

@Siavashkaf

t works fine on Kali, but on Windows, it works even 10 times better...

So, it appears a performance issue is at play. What would help us is if we had the details. Post the results of:

$ lsusb -t

$ iw dev

Can you install wavemon tell us what you are seeing for signal level and link quality?

$ sudo apt install wavemon

How many bands have you tested?

[Siavashkaf]

It seems it just checked Channel 1(and it seems router change to channel 8 so i add it too), I am new player on Linux, so tell me how to check other Channel, I will do. here are result for all command you asked.

Tx power table (channel 8)
1m 2m 5m 11m
CCK (user) : 72 72 72 72
CCK (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36
CCK (tmac) : 39 39 39 39
6m 9m 12m 18m 24m 36m 48m 54m
OFDM (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
OFDM (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
OFDM (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
mcs0 mcs1 mcs2 mcs3 mcs4 mcs5 mcs6 mcs7
HT20 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HT20 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HT20 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
mcs0 mcs1 mcs2 mcs3 mcs4 mcs5 mcs6 mcs7 mcs32
HT40 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HT40 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HT40 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
mcs0 mcs1 mcs2 mcs3 mcs4 mcs5 mcs6 mcs7 mcs8 mcs9 mcs10 mcs11
VHT20 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT20 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 0 0
VHT20 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 0
VHT40 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT40 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 0 0
VHT40 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 0 0
VHT80 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT80 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 0 0
VHT80 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 0
VHT160 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 0 0
VHT160 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 0 0
VHT160 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 0
HE26 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE26 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 32
HE26 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 35
HE52 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE52 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 32
HE52 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 35
HE106 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE106 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 32
HE106 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 35
HE242 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE242 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 33 33
HE242 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 36 36
HE484 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE484 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 35 34 32 30
HE484 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 38 37 35 33
HE996 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE996 (eeprom) : 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HE996 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39
HE996x2 (user) : 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
HE996x2 (eeprom): 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36 36
HE996x2 (tmac) : 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 39

lsusb -t
/: Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 20000M/x2
|__ Port 2: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 5000M
|__ Port 1: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Communications, Driver=cdc_ncm, 5000M
|__ Port 1: Dev 3, If 1, Class=CDC Data, Driver=cdc_ncm, 5000M
|__ Port 2: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=uas, 5000M
|__ Port 3: Dev 5, If 0, Class=Vendor Specific Class, Driver=mt7921u, 5000M
/: Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 10000M
/: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/1p, 480M
/: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/12p, 480M
|__ Port 2: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 2: Dev 2, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
|__ Port 3: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Vendor Specific Class, Driver=, 12M
|__ Port 5: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
|__ Port 8: Dev 5, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M
|__ Port 1: Dev 7, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/4p, 480M
|__ Port 10: Dev 6, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
|__ Port 10: Dev 6, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M

iw dev
phy#1
Interface wlan1
ifindex 5
wdev 0x100000001
addr X
ssid X
type managed
channel 1 (2412 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2412 MHz
txpower 3.00 dBm
multicast TXQ:
qsz-byt qsz-pkt flows drops marks overlmt hashcol tx-bytes tx-packets
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
phy#0
Unnamed/non-netdev interface
wdev 0x2
addr Y
type P2P-device
Interface wlan0
ifindex 4
wdev 0x1
addr Z
type managed
multicast TXQ:
qsz-byt qsz-pkt flows drops marks overlmt hashcol tx-bytes tx-packets
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Interface───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│wlan1 (IEEE 802.11), phy 1, reg: n/a, SSID: X │
├─Levels──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│link quality: 76% (53/70) │
│============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================ │
│ │
│ │
│signal level: -57 dBm (2.00 nW) │
│===================================================================================================================================================== │
│ │
├─Statistics──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│RX: 4k (2.13 MiB) │
│TX: 1k (283.31 KiB) │
├─Info────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│mode: Managed, connected to: X, time: 12:41m, inactive: 5.2s │
│freq: 2412 MHz, channel: 1 (width: 20 MHz) │
│rx rate: 19.5 Mbit/s MCS 2, tx rate: 130.0 Mbit/s MCS 15 │
│station flags: WME, preamble: short, slot: short │
│power mgt: on, tx-power: 3 dBm (2.00 mW) │
│retry: short limit 7, rts/cts: off, frag: off │
├─Network─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│wlan1 (UP RUNNING BROADCAST MULTICAST) │
│mac: X, qlen: 1000 │
│ip: X │
└──────────────────────────────────

[bjlockie]

Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 20000M/x2

Is that USB4?

[Siavashkaf]

Yes, it was connected to a hub which was plugged into a Thunderbolt 4 port. However, I tested it on normal USB 3.2 ports, both type A and C, and saw no difference. I thought maybe powering it up with a hub and charger might improve its performance, but unfortunately, it didn't make a difference.

[morrownr]

@Siavashkaf

The issue with tx power showing as -3 dBm is well know and we will continue trying to get the issue worked. You can see it is on our wish list at the pinned issue:

#107

It is also well know that tx power is where it should be despite the incorrect readings.

There are other issues that could be causing you to see a difference in performance between Windows and Linux. You have shown us that you are using channel 1 with a 20 MHz channel width with Linux. The details that you have presented cause me to wonder if your test with Windows is using the 5 GHz band. I think it is time to investigate your wifi router. Does your router have different ssid names for each band that it supports? If not, are your sure that your tests are measuring the same thing?

[morrownr]

@hz12opensource @huanzhang12

Do you have any thoughts on why the bad tx power readings are being allowed to persist? This problem is in the mt7922, mt7921u and mt7610u drivers that I know of. Strangely enough, the mt7612u driver appears to operate with correct tx power numbers.

This has been going on for long enough. It is giving a black eye to otherwise very good drivers.