Intel AX210 6 GHz support w/Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS and later

[homelabadmin667]

Ubuntu Version:
24.04.2 LTS

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
Default Ubuntu GUI

Problem Description:
Trying to get my Intel AX210 wireless NIC to connect on the 6 GHz WiFi band. In short, it won’t. It detects all 3 bands (2.4, 5, 6 GHz) provided under one SSID on my tri-band router/AP (Ubiquiti Dream Router 7) but will only connect at 5 GHz.

In addition, I’ve set up a 6 GHz-only SSID, but that isn’t detected, so I can’t try to connect to it.

Relevant System Information:
Older Intel Core i5-based PC, with an Intel AX210 add-in card for Bluetooth and WiFI 6E.

Screenshots or Error Messages:
Unfortunately, screenshots wouldn’t show anything useful. The 6 GHz SSID does not show up in the list of possible WiFi connections. The networking GUI does show that a 6 GHz signal exists under the other (aggregated 2.4, 5, 6 GHz) SSID, but there does not appear to be any way to make the connection at 6 GHz.

What I’ve Tried:
Set up special SSID which only offers 6 GHz band. Can’t see/connect to it in WiFi GUI.

Tried a later kernel (6.14.3, vs. the 6.11.x that 24.04.2 LTS ships with). No difference.

Have not found any other discussions of this particular problem, or how to fix.

Any ideas?

FWIW, I have a different machine running Windows 11, which has no trouble connecting @ 6 GHz using its own AX210, so I’m sure I have the wireless AP set up correctly.

[homelabadmin667]

I also tried a live session of Ubuntu 25.04. Pretty much same result, except it doesn’t even see that the one SSID (the aggregated one) has 6 GHz available. Could be due to lack of regional settings in a Live session vs. full install. Inconclusive.

[psychotux]

Strngely, on a FreeBSD system (using iwlwifi), I had to set region (e.g.FCC, ETSI,…) to NONE to make things work…
Absolutely no idea why… it just worked, finally…

[homelabadmin667]

Big update.

Tried Fedora 42 Workstation. 6 GHz works fine.

Same thing with Linux Mint 22.1.

Appears there is something wrong with the recent Ubuntu releases. They break 6 GHz WiFi on the AX210 for whatever reason.

I asked about this over on the Intel support forums, but did not get a useful answer. They don’t know their own product. An Intel person tried to tell me that 6 GHz functionality is only available with the AX210 under Windows, which of course is ridiculous.

I’ll be using either Fedora or Mint on the machine. I haven’t gotten anywhere trying to figure out what’s wrong with Ubuntu 24.04/25.04. I’m tired of banging my head against the wall.

Once you get 6 GHz working, it’s pretty spectacular. I can use the full 160 MHz channel width, so transfer rates are about double what they were at 5 GHz with an 80 MHz channel. Neighborhood of 2100 Mbps.