Intel AX210 stuck on 11a/36Mbps

alaughlin · Aug 19, 2026

So I just installed FreeBSD 15.1-p2, and am using the latest iwlwifi driver for my Intel AX210

ifconfig shows that I am on the 5GHz frequency on channel 40, however the media line is reporting that it's stuck in 11a mode, running at 36Mbps. From what I can tell, there should be support for higher modes for this card at this point? I am unsure what to check next.

Maxnix · Aug 19, 2026

Be sure you enabled higher speeds in /boot/loader.conf setting:

Code:

compat.linuxkpi.iwlwifi_11n_disable="0"
compat.linuxkpi.iwlwifi_disable_11ac="0"

alaughlin · Aug 19, 2026

Maxnix said:
Be sure you enabled higher speeds in /boot/loader.conf setting:

Code:

compat.linuxkpi.iwlwifi_11n_disable="0" compat.linuxkpi.iwlwifi_disable_11ac="0"

yup, I have those set to 0 already

alaughlin · Aug 19, 2026

I do see something weird getting logged during boot though:

Code:

iwlwifi0: lkpi_iv_newstate: error 95 during state transition 2 (AUTH) -> 2 (AUTH)

is this relevant?

Maxnix · Aug 19, 2026

alaughlin said:
I do see something weird getting logged during boot though:

Code:

iwlwifi0: lkpi_iv_newstate: error 95 during state transition 2 (AUTH) -> 2 (AUTH)

is this relevant?

I don't think so, I have that too with my AX200 but it uses 11ac mode:

Code:

wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=0
    ether 04:ed:33:9d:2d:d0
    inet 192.168.1.100 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    inet6 fe80::6ed:33ff:fe9d:2dd0%wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
    groups: wlan egress
    ssid MYWIFI_SSID channel 40 (5200 MHz 11a vht/80-) bssid 08:8a:f1:29:09:98
    regdomain ETSI country IT authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON
    deftxkey UNDEF AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM ucast:128-bit txpower 23
    bmiss 7 mcastrate 6 mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60 ampdulimit 64k
    ampdudensity 4 -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi -ldpctx ldpcrx -uapsd vht
    vht40 vht80 vht160 -vht80p80 wme roaming MANUAL
    parent interface: iwlwifi0
    media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet VHT mode 11ac
    status: associated
    nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

alaughlin · Aug 19, 2026

Maxnix said:

I don't think so, I have that too with my AX200 but it uses 11ac mode:

Code:

wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=0
    ether 04:ed:33:9d:2d:d0
    inet 192.168.1.100 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    inet6 fe80::6ed:33ff:fe9d:2dd0%wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3
    groups: wlan egress
    ssid MYWIFI_SSID channel 40 (5200 MHz 11a vht/80-) bssid 08:8a:f1:29:09:98
    regdomain ETSI country IT authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON
    deftxkey UNDEF AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM ucast:128-bit txpower 23
    bmiss 7 mcastrate 6 mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60 ampdulimit 64k
    ampdudensity 4 -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi -ldpctx ldpcrx -uapsd vht
    vht40 vht80 vht160 -vht80p80 wme roaming MANUAL
    parent interface: iwlwifi0
    media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet VHT mode 11ac
    status: associated
    nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

hmm ok. I'm curious why my card is stuck in 11a mode then. Spent a few hours searching last night, cannot figure out the issue here.

Andriy · Aug 19, 2026

alaughlin said:
ifconfig shows that I am on the 5GHz frequency on channel 40, however the media line is reporting that it's stuck in 11a mode, running at 36Mbps.

You took time to type this while you could just paste ifconfig output (maybe redacted).
It would be faster for you and more informative for everyone else.

alaughlin · Aug 19, 2026

Andriy said:
You took time to type this while you could just paste ifconfig output (maybe redacted).
It would be faster for you and more informative for everyone else.

Sorry, I was not thinking straight last night when I posted this

Code:

wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=0
ether e4:4a:e0:7d:d0:e8
inet 192.168.68.219 netmask @xfffffc00 broadcast 192.168.71.255
inet6 fe80::e64a:0ff:fe7d:d0e8%wlan prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
inet6 fd4c:f477:f990:47a6:64a:e0ff:fe7d:d0e8 prefixlen 64 autoconf pltime 1800 vltime 1800
groups: wlan
ssid MY_SSID channel 40 (5200 MHz 11a) bssid 58:04:4f:35:c3:56
regdomain FCC country US authmode WPA2/802.111 privacy ON
deftxkey UNDEF AES-CCM 2:128-bit AES-CCM ucast:128-bit txpower 17
bmiss 7 mcastrate 6 mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60 wme roaming MANUAL
parent interface: iwlwifi0
media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet OFDM/36Mbps mode 11a
status: associated
nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD, ACCEPT_RTADV, AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

nameless · Aug 19, 2026

i have ax210

100/16 is that max? or another issue?

client -> server

Code:

# iperf3 -c 192.168.1.1
Connecting to host 192.168.1.1, port 5201
[  5] local 10.0.0.148 port 51964 connected to 192.168.1.1 port 5201
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr  Cwnd
[  5]   0.00-1.02   sec  1.50 MBytes  12.4 Mbits/sec    0   63.7 KBytes       
[  5]   1.02-2.00   sec  1.62 MBytes  13.9 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   2.00-3.00   sec  1.75 MBytes  14.7 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   3.00-4.00   sec  1.88 MBytes  15.7 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   4.00-5.06   sec  2.12 MBytes  16.8 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   5.06-6.01   sec  1.75 MBytes  15.5 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   6.01-7.06   sec  2.00 MBytes  15.9 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   7.06-8.00   sec  1.88 MBytes  16.8 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   8.00-9.00   sec  2.00 MBytes  16.8 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
[  5]   9.00-10.00  sec  1.88 MBytes  15.7 Mbits/sec    0   97.6 KBytes       
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
[  5]   0.00-10.00  sec  18.4 MBytes  15.4 Mbits/sec    0            sender
[  5]   0.00-10.03  sec  18.4 MBytes  15.4 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.

server -> client
...
[ 5] 0.00-1.00 sec 12.9 MBytes 108 Mbits/sec
...

Code:

wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
    options=0
    ether ac:45:ef:a2:31:55
    inet 192.168.1.121 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    groups: wlan
    ssid MyWIFI channel 149 (5745 MHz 11a vht/80+) bssid e4:5e:1b:ef:32:11
    regdomain FCC country US authmode WPA2/802.11i privacy ON
    deftxkey UNDEF AES-CCM 3:128-bit AES-CCM ucast:128-bit txpower 17
    bmiss 7 mcastrate 6 mgmtrate 6 scanvalid 60 ampdulimit 64k
    ampdudensity 8 -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi -ldpctx ldpcrx -uapsd vht
    vht40 vht80 vht160 -vht80p80 wme roaming MANUAL
    parent interface: iwlwifi0
    media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet VHT mode 11ac
    status: associated
    nd6 options=29<PERFORMNUD,IFDISABLED,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

i did check disable_11ac=0 11n_disable=0

alaughlin · Aug 19, 2026

it appears like I am missing this in my ifconfig output:

Code:

ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8 -amsdutx amsdurx shortgi -ldpctx ldpcrx -uapsd vht
vht40 vht80 vht160 -vht80p80

seems like the driver isn't registering vht capabilities at all?

nameless · Aug 19, 2026

just to check

Code:

wifi-firmware-iwlwifi-kmod-ax210-20260410
Name           : wifi-firmware-iwlwifi-kmod-ax210
Version        : 20260410

are you the same version firmware?

alaughlin · Aug 20, 2026

nameless said:
just to check

Code:

wifi-firmware-iwlwifi-kmod-ax210-20260410 Name : wifi-firmware-iwlwifi-kmod-ax210 Version : 20260410

are you the same version firmware?

yes, I have the same version

nameless · Aug 20, 2026

ok mine is sorted

just to give some info

mesh google nest ac2200
ac2200 router - ethernet - ac2200 router

because mesh google nest ac2200 are terrible, recently (like 2 weeks ago) there was a power cut(8 hours ish) and start itself, it should be fine in mesh, but after 2 weeks, restarted the network all the time, i really need to find another home networking

alaughlin · Aug 27, 2026

nameless said:
ok mine is sorted

just to give some info

mesh google nest ac2200
ac2200 router - ethernet - ac2200 router

because mesh google nest ac2200 are terrible, recently (like 2 weeks ago) there was a power cut(8 hours ish) and start itself, it should be fine in mesh, but after 2 weeks, restarted the network all the time, i really need to find another home networking

that's cool and all but it doesn't solve my problem?

thommys · Monday at 3:58 PM

Speed is the reason I’ve reinstalled Wifibox. iwx isn’t the answer either. Last year I tried OpenBSD; the iwx driver is really fast on that.

didal · Monday at 4:43 PM

Screenshot I took a few month ago with my old laptop under FreeBSD 14.3-RELEASE with an AX210 I get:

I never had this warp speed with FreeBSD WiFi before

.