Recently, I built a new computer for myself. The new unit uses a Radxa Rock 5B single board computer powered by a Rockchip RK3588, housed in a laser-cut case by KKSB. The SBC has a 2.5Gb/s Ethernet socket but it has no built-in support for wireless connections. Right now I’m using an ethernet cable and a usb bluetooth dongle, but there is a m.2 2230 socket that can be used for a combined bluetooth/wifi interface. As I have a router that supports wifi 6, an interface that supports that standard would be preferable.
Radxa has a m.2 card, the wireless module A8, based on Realtek RTL8852BE.
Intel has a few m.2 variants in the AX200 family, but is there support for bluetooth?
Are there alternatives that I don’t know of that support both bluetooth and wifi 6?
The computer runs the aarch64 version of Tumbleweed. …and yes, I am aware of the fact that the all-metal case demands external antennas. (Luckily the case is prepared for that. I just have to get the right hardware).
When you use a search engine with „ m.2 wifi 6 bluetooth card“ or „ m.2 2230 wifi 6/bt module“ you will get countless results. So what exactly is the question?
I guess the question is:
Are both bluetooth and wifi 6 supported by the current Tumbleweed driver for Intel AX200?
See… I have indeed been searching the web. Most of the information for the Radxa Rock 5B relates to using a kernel in the 5.X series and the machine now has a 6.8 kernel. The information I*ve found states that the Radxa card is fully supported but seems to be running hot, something that might be a problem for me. Searches also suggests that the Intel alternative is the faster one if there’s a working driver. As I’m new to openSUSE and Tumbleweed I thought it would be a good thing to ask, just to be on the safe side.
…and then there might even be a solution I haven’t found yet, a module by some other make…
Thank you very much for your suggestions. I’ve researched the alternatives and ended up with some kind of conclusion. Simply put, it seems as buying the intel ax200 card is a fairly safe choice. So that is what I’m going for now. If I can’t get that to work on my tiny aarch SBC then I’ll have another look at the Radxa A8 m.2 module. …or possibly the Asus AX-55 nano USB-dongle. But that matter is for later.
Thank you for the offer, but I prefer to buy stuff from local dealers although it means that I have to pay more. I found a company in the next town that has all the parts I need. I’m buying the Intel AX200 desktop kit that includes the antennas and some very long MHF4 to SMA adapters (or “pigtails”). Luckily, the company has a set of shorter “pigtails” (100mm) too. The pico-ITX case is only slightly wider than 100mm so the longer pigtails wouldn’t fit inside the box.
The antennas included in the Intel kit are quite wide and flat, not like the thin cylindrical ones I envisioned for the computer, especially since the device is so small. I worried about that for a while but then an old memory came back to me. The computer will look a bit like Chappie with the intel antennas. I might even paint one of them in a different hue to make the device a bit more anthropomorphic. The tiny case already has a small face where the power and maskROM buttons are the eyes and the SD slot is the mouth…
After all, this is my main computer and a little extra love is probably well invested.
Just be sure to buy the right one, I read about people who had issues with some of the Intel AX2X0 adapters, not all chipsets are born equal apparently.
