WiFi 6 for the Pinebook Pro

[tsys]

Hi everyone,

@manawyrm and I have built a small adapter PCB that replaces the NVMe adapter with an Intel Wifi 6 card. WiFi feels a lot snappier using an Intel AX200 card compared to the onboard Broadcom SDIO WiFi. Maximum WiFi download speed is of course increased, too. With this adapter it is easily possible to reach upwards of 600 Mbit/s transfer rate.

This is how the adapter looks when installed in the Pinebook Pro:

[MIchael]

That is cool AF.

[xmixahlx]

AWESOME

Are any other uses tested/planned/brainstormed?

[tsys]

AWESOME

Are any other uses tested/planned/brainstormed?

Yes, we are currently planning a second revision of the board that allows using both a M.2 WiFi card and a NVMe SSD. That version will likely have an additional power header where you can plug in the jumper cable from the battery. That should also solve the NVMe power issues observed when powering certain SSDs from the onboard 3.3 V regulator.

[tophneal]

AWESOME

Are any other uses tested/planned/brainstormed?

Yes, we are currently planning a second revision of the board that allows using both a M.2 WiFi card and a NVMe SSD. That version will likely have an additional power header where you can plug in the jumper cable from the battery. That should also solve the NVMe power issues observed when powering certain SSDs from the onboard 3.3 V regulator.

Making it even cooler!

Any expectations as to how that might impact the battery's charge level during use?

[Luke]

Amazingly cool. Stickied.
When you've got the V2.0 of the PCB then lets talk to @tllim about it. Sure many people would be very interested in it.

[rossk]

I'm a hardware dummy-- so apologies if this is basic: what makes the add-on board specific to the wireless card? Would it support any card with the same M.2 connection?

[xmixahlx]

I'd love to help test V2!

[manawyrm]

I'm a hardware dummy-- so apologies if this is basic: what makes the add-on board specific to the wireless card? Would it support any card with the same M.2 connection?

There's 2 major types of M.2 slots: 
Key A/E slots - WiFi, bluetooth and LTE cards
Key B/M slots - SSDs (either NVMe or SATA)

These are physically incompatible, as they have a notch/key at a different location. 
But with a bit of trickery, you can use a part of the SSD connector to hook up a Key E slot and use a WiFi card.
You could connect any Key A/E card to this adapter.

[pfeerick]

Sure many people would be very interested in it.

Indeed. I will most likely be after one when v2 eventuates! Although the Wifi issues I was having with my PBP appear to be OS related, not hardware, as when I switched from the stock debian to Manjaro it has become rock solid.