Atheros AR928X...No Wireless N?!?!?

Just got an Asus M50Vm-X1 with the Atheros AR928X Wifi built in. It has B, G and N capabilities. Heres the problem: N wont work. If the router (New Netgear WNR834B) is set in "Mixed" mode, the laptop picks up B only. If set in "N" only, It says that "The Selected data rate is Incorrect".

Can someone please help me?

 

I got the same problem with my atheros ar928x on my asus X71SL and as a router I have a linksys wrt150n. The card works great, but only at 54 mbps and not above. So not at N speeds.
I have another hp notebook with an external usb sweex wireless-N card and it connects with no problems at speeds over 270 mbps.
What I also noticed there is no way to tweak the atheros card, you can't even set a speed at what it needs to connect or what channel.
BTW I have the newest driver from the asus site and tried several others that I found on the internet that had some newer version numbers, but nothing helped.
I also searched the linksys forum site and tried some suggestions they had over there to tweak the router, but also no luck.
I finally send a support request to asus, but I doubt the answer that still has to come will be of any help.

Maybe one of you guys can help me

Maurice

 

Control Panel--> System--> Hardware--> Device Manager; expand the Network section, right click the Wireless Adapter; under the Advanced tab there should be a setting to set the WLAN Adapter to operating only in "N" mode.

 

That is fast .
There aren't any setting that is what I meant.
The settings that are available in this driver and also others I tried are:
802.11b Preamble Value: Long and Short
Network Address Value: Not present
Receive buffers Value: 256
Scan Valid Interval Value: 60
Transmit Buffers Value: 256

So that is not much to play around with. The driver version is 7.6.0114, but I also tried 7.6.0.164, but then I had the same settings available and still no improvement.
The 7.6.0.114 is official from asus the latest version.
There is also not a wireless tool available where you can monitor the connection. The only thing is a wireless console where you can turn on and off the wireless.

And thanks for the quick reply.

Maurice

EDIT: I forgot to tell I did try it the other way around and forced the router to N only, but then my card wouldn't connect at all.

 

Are you running Vista?

 

Sorry I forgot to mention it, but yes I am running vista home premium 32 bits.

Maurice

 

1. Make sure you have the latest firmware for your router.

2. Visit http://www.atheros.cz/ and try those Atheros drivers.

3. Crack open the laptop and make sure all antennas are connected to the card. There should be a small panel on the bottom of the laptop you can remove to access the card.

 

Thanks for the fast replies I did check out www dot atheros dot cz and tried those drivers no luck.
I will open my notebook tomorrow to see if all the antennas are connected. Then I will check out the drivers again and see if I can get it to work.
Because I have alot of my files on network drives the speed is a big deal for me. I just don't understand that there are only so little options available in the drivers to tweak the atheros card.
Maybe I also will get an answer from asus support this week.

BTW 99.99% I get my anwers to problems by google and searching the fora , but this time I already spend two days searching and trying, but still nothing. I am very glad people are trying to help me on this thank you all.

Maurice

EDIT: I forgot point 1. I got the latest firmware on my router. There is however one last option and that is to flash it with openWRT firmware from openwrt dot org. This is however my last option if the other options aren't helping. I know the N support is there on my router, because my other notebook connects perfectly with N speeds.

 

Well I finally found some time and opened up my notebook. There are only 2 antenna cables connected a black and white. A third grey antenna cable is present, but isolated and put aside. There is also no connection available on the wireless card. My next step will be to google the chipset of the card if it really supports N.
BTW a pleasant surprise was to see that there is room for a second hd.
I will post some pics next time. I didn't have my camera available.

The answer from ASUS support was:

First of all, the notebook comes with SP1 preinstalled.
Second I would never remove the SP1 it has great improvements. One of them very important to me is the improved filehandling over network especially copying large files.

Maurice

 

If the third antenna wire's not connected, then I don't believe you can get "N" wireless.

 

11n will work with just 2 aerials.
My AR928x has only 2 aerial connectors.
And it works just dandy with my Dlink DIR-655 in 11n (300Mbps) and also the Buffalo Dual band 11n (270Mbps) router.

11n WLAN cards with 2 aerial connectors usually work in 2T/2R mode (Transmit/Receive)
3 Aerials can either 2T/3R (in older cards) or 3T/3R (like the i5300) and I also think some upcoming newer cards, if one aerial is not used it will just become a 2T/2R card.
Cards will even work with no Aerials but range will be really short.

I keep MUCH newer drivers over at laptopvideo2go.com in the WLAN section.
The AR928x needs 7.6.1.xxx drivers to work properly
I recommend 7.6.1.111 this seems to work best although not the newest but by far the easiest to install.

If you have SP1 just upgrade to SP2 via update.

Just installed Windows 7 and the only driver to work is 7.6.1.111 incase you head this way

 

Ok if it works for you then it should work for me too . The only problem could be then my router WRT 150N.
I tried installing 7.6.1.111 version, but my notebook kept freezing. You know no mousemovement and the only solution a hardware shutdown.
I didn't have SP2 installed so it could be that it will work if I installed it.
Thanks alot for the link and the info that it worked for you with those routers.
I will try some other drivers and installing SP2

Maurice

 

Get even newer drivers from www.laptopvideo2go.com forums. Try it out, I'm interested to know if N works as well on this card.

 

Shhh, don't tell anyone, but I upload them
11n works just fine for me and the AR9280 based Sparklan W110N

The AR5008 based cards seems to get really hot and disconnect.
I'll try and confirm this.

 

You upload them there? You're the man dude.

 

Thanks for all the work you do on the drivers. I installed the .162 with the modded inf. I did this after uninstalling all previous drivers.
I don't get it to work because my wireless card isn't turned on. I have a hardware switch for that on my notebook and it seems to only work with the wireless console program where I can turn on bluetooth and wireless. The bluetooth still works and can be turned on and off with the console, but I can't turn on the wireless card.

Thanks for any suggestions

Maurice

 

Some machines share the LED's etc with BT and these require special settings in the Atheros INF.
Have you tried the unmodded .162 ?
It should have the required settings to allow the BT and WIFI to work together.

 

That one works, but still only connected at 54mbps.
Until now there are no crashes like I had with the ...1.111
Is there a way to force it on N with a registry setting or with changing the inf and reinstall the driver?
That way I could test if the card is maybe incompatible with my router Linksys WRT150N
Thanks for your help,

Maurice

 

My modded INF forces it to use 11n, I may do some more work with these settings.
But it will only use it if the router broadcasts in 11n.
Make sure your router is set to broadcast in 11n @ 40Mhz and using dual channels (BTW 40Mhz = dual channel)
Also try and use channel 1, 6 or 11 as the main channel (these are only channels that don't overlap others) let the router choose the other one automatically if it can.

 

This card came in my Asus G71G-A2 and upon buying a new N router (Belkin N+), I find I'm stuck in 54mbps mode. I can't figure out how/where to set the N mode or if it's there.

 

back from the dead thread......

just for the sake of argument....


download the latest drivers for your wireless adapter that you can.

upgrade your router firmware

set your router to wireless N mode only,
set the channel width to 20/40mhz,
and disable any encryption.

See if you get better transmission that way

 

I had the same issue with not getting N on my new laptop. I updated everything and no go. I just changed the encryption from TKIP to AES and blamo 300Mbps. Hope it works for you...

 

I'm having the same problem with my brand new Asus N81V, sporrting an Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter, that according to all specs should be able to handle N. I'm currently surfing using my LinksysWRT600N in G-mode on the 2.4 band, and that works like a charm, However, my second SSID that is broadcast using N is not even found by my computer and there is no way of manually entering the information. I have the latest firmware for the router and the new 7.6.1.204 driver for the wireless card. Still nothing. Running Vista 32, SP1. I've searched all over the web, no luck so far...
Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

 

m96jp... I am having the same issue as you. I have tried several different drivers for my ar928x (in my Asus N50V). Tried different firmwares for my routers and still haven't come up with anything at all. I can get decent speeds in the 2.4GHz mode but nothing in the 5.0GHz band. Anyone??

 

What encryption are you two using on your wireless connections? If you're not using WPA-AES, you're not going to get speeds above 54Mbps.

 

I'm happy I found this thread, as I started another one here which isn't going very far.

My Atheros AR928X (ASUS M60Vn laptop) won't see the 5Ghz band on my dual band Linksys WRT610N (latest firmware, WPA / AES). I know its not a router issue, because my other laptop *does* see the 5ghz band of wireless "n".

So: Has anyone been able to successfully get the Atheros ar928x to utilize 5ghz "n"? This is driving me crazy.

 

My AR9280 works fine with 5Ghz as it has the Dual band Radio.

Your Card is probably the single band (2.4Ghz) version that do exist.
These will be slighter cheaper for OEMs to buy for obvious reasons.

I doubt you will ever get it to work with 5Ghz.
There has been another person in a posts somewhere else with the same issue.

In your computer specs it should say ABGN (or 11n) but the A is the most important part.
Chances are it won't, if it does then you could go for false advertising and a demand a dual band card as specced/advertised.

Another case of "let the buyer beware"

OxfordTec have a heap of dual band (and single band) 11n cards.

 

wlan_man! While I have you here:

So, the M50Vm page shows: support for a/g/n! Weird thing though, another product page quotes a Intel® WiMAX/WiFi Link 5100 wlan adapter for the M50Vm (I actually have that model in my F6V, which *does* work on 5ghz).

Also, it looks like I'm getting 130mbps after changing WPA to AES on my router, *but* the notebook still only sees the 2.4ghz band (my other ASUS sees the 5ghz band).

This ASUS support thread leads to the .199 drivers here (this is you, right?). I'm weary of installing them if they're untested with Vista H32.

I just want this thing to work on 5ghz like my other n device

 

seems the 928x is the cheap no 5 ghz band . Can not connect or see the 5 ghz band on my wrt 600n router .Asus n-10 xp pro sp-3

 

Again, weird, because the N-10 states its specs as WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n.

Doesn't 802.11a only transmit via the 5ghz band?

 

yes A is 5 ghz

 

I'm pretty sure now that your 928x only has the 2.4Gz radio (B and G use)
Always use WPA(2) and AES for the best results
Try testing with no security but I doubt this will bring any joy either.

And yes that is me, ASUS are using a few drivers now that I host for their updates (quite chuffed )

There are much newer driver I'ge got now also a modded bunch to make the most from you AR chipset.
They are guaranteed or your money back

But in the end 5Ghz will probably not be possible with your current card

 

ithas 2,4 ghz N , but no 5 ghz N

 

Good stuff guys, thanks. I like using the dedicated 5ghz band for my business notebook, and am wondering if I can upgrade this card (is it easy to find a "PCIe half-size mini card" adapter?).

 

same with me I really wanted needed A band . Will be lokking for a replacement cars as well , I use 600 N Routers , If you find a replacement card announce it here . Ill be buying one to

 

For a range of 11n capable cards head on over here

For dual band WLAN I can recommend the SparkLAN WPEA-110N
Which I'm using at the moment, other card I use the GIGABYTE Aircruiser N300 GN-WS30N which has an excellent Client Utility but only 2.4Ghz.

Check out my WLAN speed test lower down these pages for a look at how a selection of cards work for me.

 

Thanks , so any mini pci e card will work ? no locked bios like on my HP here only certain cards will work ?
And how big a job is changing card on N-10

 

Dell's have no Whitelist, can't guarantee other OEMs.

But replacing is quit simple, quite a bit lower down these pages is a 'How to add an antenna' guide I made a few months back
have a look here, will show what it all looks like.

First check where the card is, under a cover on the back or under the keyboard.
Both methods are explained in the How to guide mentioned earlier.

 

I finally done it I can connect with 130mbps with my ar928x wireless card.

Well how did I do it?
1) Uninstall all wireless drivers until windows can't find any old drivers any more (maybe it is not needed, but I did it anyway)
2) Download the latest atheros driver atheros 7.7.0.231. I got it from some chinese site http://www.kbench.com/software/?flag=2&pcc=0&pg=7&keyword=&no=34313
3) Install the driver by running the setup in the extracted directory.
4) Open the devicemanager and select your wireless card -> properties. Go to the advanced tab and select Adhoc 11n in the dropdown. It should be enabled if it is not enable it.
5) Connect to your wireless network.

NOTE: leave the wireless console 2 from asus installed or install it afterwords so you can switch on and off your bluetooth and wireless adapter.

I am a very happy man now

Maurice

Edit: If I look at the CCX diagnostic I even see that I receive and transmit with 224 mbps.

 

Thanks for the N setting tip. D-Link DIR625 works fine with b/g/n option setting 20-40Hz and WPA personal. Some encryption with easy connectin.