Originally posted by tildearrow
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I tried to enable 6GHz (WiFi 6E) on my AX210, but it´s pretty much locked down in firmware.. Things i tried:
- Just patch the driver to report all channels as "active" to the kernel and with no NO-IR flag. -> wpa_supplicant or IWD let´s you select the channel, but setting in in firmware fails with and error code.
- Patch the regulatory database in the firmware image -> Nah thing is signed and the signature is checked in Firmware
- There is a way for a device manufacturer to load their own regulatory database during boot, but it has to be signed as well.. If such a DB is loaded the location/regulatory zone might be overriden by the BIOS / UEFI, for example if the device has a 4G/5G modem and determines the country by the MCC of the received mobile network
- Sending fake beacon frames from the only AP the card sees put´s it into the regulatory zone advertised in the beacon frame (not practical, as you typically receive multiple networks and the majority wins) -> this "LAR" mechanism is completly implemented in firmware, there is even a patent for that (which describes the method with MCC from a mobile network as well)
There is a function though which put´s the card into "test-mode", the firmware command has 1 32bit input called "key" in the driver..
As far as i understand it this is the way how OEMs working with intel will validate their designs during R&D and get certification, it should "unlock" the card´s firmware, so you can set whatever TX-power and Channel you want.. However the firmware seems to crash / lockdown till you power-cycle the card when you enter an invalid key.. Otherwise iterating over all 4294967296 possibilities wouldn´t be out of this world. Rebooting the card and re-uploading the firmware takes too long for this to be viable unfortunately..
Guess someone has to rever-engineer the firmware and find some buffer overflow?!

Otherwise i am counting on other manufacturers releasing similar 802.11ax cards which arent´t that restricted (looking at your HiSilicon / Huawei)...
I don´t like the choices intel made lately to verndor-lock their customers into their platform. Like for example the versions of the AX2*1 or AX4*1 which only work with their platforms, the "Intel VMD / RST" crap (used for Optane Cache, but implemented in the Chipset not in software -> Why the fuck not implement it in software / a driver), the ARC-GPUs which can only be Firmware-updated via their platforms. and especially their "Software Defined Silicon" DRM crap.
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