Adding networking capability to a computer or SBC has never been cheaper. We recently wrote about the $12 M.2 RTL8126 5GbE module, and now we’ve found a WiFi 6 USB adapter based on the AIC8800 chipset. Under $3 on Aliexpress.
I learned about this after publishing an article about the Luckfox Pico Ultra W SBC, which features a 2.4GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module based on the AIC8800DC module. After further investigation, I found that there are some super cheap WiFi 6 USB dongles available, but they come with some caveats, such as no support for 5GHz and limited speeds to 300Mbps. Still, it was interesting, so let’s take a look.
specification:
- Chipset – AICSemi AIC8800
- WiFi – 2.4GHz 802.11ax WiFi 6, up to 286.8Mbps
- Transmit Power – 20dBm
- Features – MU-MIMO, OFDMA
- Operation Mode – Station, Access Point, WiFi Direct
- Security – WEP, WPA/WPA2
- Host Interface – USB 2.0 port
- Length – 196mm (including antenna)
- Humidity
- Operating – 5% to 95% (non-condensing)
- Storage – Up to 90% (non-condensing)
It says drivers are available for Windows 7/10/11. That’s all the information I could get from the Aliexpress page. The AIC8800 is also used in the Tenda W311MI v6.0 and Tenda U2 v5.0, Linux drivers are available too and should work with other AI8800 USB adapters, although you may need to add the USB vendor ID and product ID to aicwf_usb.h. The W311MI v6.0 was no longer available, but the BrosTrend AX5 on Amazon looks nearly identical.
The older W311MI model only has 802.11n WiFi 4 up to 150 Mbps, so check the version of your Tenda dongle. Actually, this is not the first time I’ve come across the AIC8800 module. It’s also featured as a soldered-in module in the Lichee Console 4A RISC-V development terminal and the Avaota A1 SBC. What’s confusing is that there are different variants of the AIC8800, and for example, the AIC8800D used in the Avaota A1 is a dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 module, not just 2.4 GHz WiFi 6.
If you go to the AICSemi website, you will see that the company offers dual-band WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2, single-band WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2, WiFi 6 only chipsets, and microcontrollers that integrate WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and audio codecs. But unfortunately, that’s all the information there is on the website. So, we couldn’t find out if the AIC8800 chipset supports WiFi 6 specific features such as TWT (Target Wait Time) used for low-power IoT applications. What’s missing is WPA3 security, but there’s no mention of this on any of the models.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time job, then left his job as a Software Engineering Manager to start writing daily news and reviews full-time in late 2011.
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