Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 on Linux: overview of supported dongles and chipsets (M.2, PCIe and USB)
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard and has a vivid history (see the Wikipedia article for background information). In 2021, there have been over 4.7 billion units equipped with Bluetooth shipped, with a growth forecast of 9%, making it a critical aspect of technology to interact with devices and peripherals.
Bluetooth has backwards compatibility
All Bluetooth versions are backward-compatible and can work with lower Bluetooth protocols. Still, I am suggesting to get a decent and up-to-date Bluetooth 5.4 card, so you can enjoy all the modern features of the protocol.
Bluetooth 5 and 5.1
Bluetooth 5 has been released already in 2016, and the first device has been the Sony Xperia XZ Premium that officially shipped with BT 5 support. Bluetooth 5.1 (introduced 2019) would be possible to support with a firmware update, so some devices have gotten a 5.1 update. An example is the Intel Wireless-AC 9260 which at launch only supported Bluetooth 5.0 but eventually ended getting Bluetooth 5.1 via a firmware update (source).
Bluetooth 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4
Bluetooth 5.2 was introduced in Dec. 2019, with features such as LE Power Control, and LE Audio built on top of the new 5.2 features. Bluetooth Low-Energy Audio and a new LC3 codec meant that not all the hardware out there might be upgradeable, so some host hardware is stuck with 5.1.
Bluetooth 5.3 (officially released in July 2021) is a minor update to the Bluetooth 5.2 standard, with the following changes. Most of the hardware can be updated with a firmware upgrade, so newer revisions of 5.2 host chipsets should already support Bluetooth 5.3 — but you have to check yourself. Chipsets which got released with Bluetooth 5.2 and then changed to support 5.3 are for example Intel AX411, AX211, AX201, AX200, 9560, 9462, 9461, 9260, 8265 and 8260.
Bluetooth 5.4 was introduced in Feb/March 2023 and offers a few changes such as Periodic Advertising with Response: PAwR (bidirectional data exchange in a large one-to-many connectionless topology), Encrypted Advertising Data, LE GATT Security Levels Characteristic (better UX) and Advertising Coding Selection (tldr: better range).
Tldr: get these devices for M.2, PCIe and USB dongles
M.2 NGFF
Intel AX210NGW (NGFF M2 2230 A/E key) with WiFi (6GHz, 5GHz and 2.4GHz) and Bluetooth 5.3
The Intel AX210 chipset is supported on Linux since Kernel 5.10. If you are an Ubuntu user, that means you either can use it from Ubuntu 21.04. If you are experiencing issues, there is a longer thread on askubuntu that might help you. On older kernels, there are ways to make it run on 18.04 LTS with backport-iwlwifi-dkms.
Broadcom’s BCM4390, BCM676 and BCM47722 are interesting chipsets (low-power, highly integrated Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 combo chip), but are as of November 2023 not available in any products yet.
Desktop use (PCI Express)
For desktop use, get a PCIe to NGFF adapter and also get the Intel AX210. I can recommend this NGFF (M.2) to PCI-E 1X adapter.
Bluetooth 5.0 USB dongles with Linux Kernel support
Getting USB dongles that work with Bluetooth higher than 5.0 is a hit-and-miss, and I have tested a variety of different devices from eBay and AliExpress. The only confirmed USB dongles that worked stable for me are these:
- Edimax BT-8500 (RTL8761B) is working since Kernel 5.8 with A2DP and HSP/HFP.
- StarTech USBA-BLUETOOTH-V5-C2 (RTL8761B) has the same chipset as the Edimax and is equally recommendable.
- Asus USB-BT500 (RTL8761BU) is reportedly working with Linux Kernel since 2.6. Other people have reported that minor tweaks to udev rules are everything needed to make them work.
- eppfun AK3040PLUS Qualcomm APTX- Adaptive USB Bluetooth 5.2 Audio Transmitter (audio only!) but seems to work with Linux.
List of supported Bluetooth 5+ chipsets for Linux
Bluetooth 5.0 and 5.1
- Realtek RTL8761B (0bda:8771 Realtek Semiconductor Corp) works since Linux Kernel 5.8. It can be mostly found in cheap adapters such as the Deal4GO RTL8761B USB Bluetooth Adapter (ca $6) and the SOOMFON Bluetooth 5.0 USB Dongle.
- Realtek RTL8761BU: Asus USB-BT500
- Realtek RTL8852BE has experimental support via HRex39 — you can find his code on GitHub.
- Cypress CYW43455 is the Wi-Fi/ Bluetooth chipset found in the Raspberry Pi 3+ and Raspberry Pi 4 Model B boards. This chipset supports Bluetooth 5.0, and is supported in the Linux kernel since 2019. You could hack together your Bluetooth 5 dongle with a Raspberry Pi Zero W, or get a Logitech Harmony Express (N-R0017) device, which has this chipset.
Bluetooth 5.2 and Bluetooth 5.3
Intel
Intel has some great M.2 NGFF cards, and provides drivers as part of the Linux kernels. Here is a list of Intel Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 (5.3) and their Linux kernel support.
- Intel AX210 NGWG without vPro (do you really need vPro?), Bluetooth 5.2 Wireless Network Adapter Card Wi-Fi 6E). NGFF M2 2230. This is the currently suggested card to get.
CNVio and CNVio2
Be careful with other chipsets: some chipsets such as the 9560 have CNVio, and the AX201 has CNVio2. CNVio (or CNVi) means that MAC components, memory, processor and associated logic/firmware have been moved inside the CPU and chipset. Here is the problem: these chipsets would only work with Intel CPUs. The AX200 or AX210 can work with some CNVio laptops, but it depends on if the manufacturer included PCIe support as well in the slot. It is trial and error. You can read this thread with a list of supported notebooks which support regular upgrades, titled Upgrading laptops with CNVio v1 Wi-Fi adapters (e.g. Wireless-AC 9560) to Wi-Fi 6 (Intel AX200/210).
Though you can insert these CRF into a standard M.2 Key E socket, they are only compatible with a system designed for the CNVi. (Source: Intel)
These chipsets are CNVio or CNVio2 and will only work in some notebooks:
- Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX411
- Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211
- Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX203
- Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201
- Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX101
- Intel® Wireless-AC 9560
- Intel® Wireless-AC 9462
- Intel® Wireless-AC 9461
Here is a comparison of the Intel AX411 vs. AX211 vs. AX210 Wi-Fi 6E — check the “Double connect feature”, which sadly is limited to CNVio2 at the moment. If you have a CNVio2 slot, get the AX411 Double Connect Wi-Fi 6E CNVio2 Tri Band 2.4, 5 & 6GHz DCT card. An AX410 (AX411 “double connect” without CNVio2) does not exist yet (source).
Intel Killer
Killer NIC was a dedicated gaming card from Killer Gaming. Intel acquired the company behind Killer gaming (Rivet Networks) in 2020 and is continuing the brand as Intel® Killer™ Products.
Killer 1650is is just a rebranded AX201, while 1650xw is a rebranded AX200. Same for 1675, AX210 vs. AX211. 1690 is i/s only: it’s AX411. While there are reported minor feature differences in the Killer AX1650, these seem to be only available in firmware? (needs confirmation! anyone has a clue about this?)
This can be confusing, so I suggest to stick with normal (not rebranded) cards for now.
Qualcomm
Qualcomm has different Bluetooth chipsets, but the most notable one is the recent Qualcomm FastConnect 6900 Wi-Fi 6, 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 (with up to 3.6 Gbps).
- There are reports about the Qualcomm Fast Connect 6900 (wcn6855 hw2.1) in a HP EliteBook 845 G9 and there are reported issues in a lore.kernel.org thread.
AMD
AMD and MediaTek co-developed the AMD RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E modules, which contain a dual chipset for WiFi 6E and Bluetooth (source). These chipsets are available in novel Ryzen-based PCs and notebooks (source) such as the Asus ROG Strix.
The chipset is also available in M.2 2230 and 1216 SKUs (source), but at the time of writing have not hit the market yet. You can find additional information in this document: MediaTek MT7922A12L Reference Design.
- AMD RZ616 Wi-Fi 6E module 160MHz, 2.4Gbps (M.2 2230 and 1216)
- AMD RZ608 Wi-Fi 6E module 80MHz, 1.2Gbps (M.2 2230)
Other chipsets
u-blox has their own chipset in development: u-blox M2-JODY-W3 card [m.2] (Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3). Supports Linux, info on cnx-software. Not available yet!
Kindly let me know your experiences with Bluetooth dongles and chipsets on Linux! Here is a discussion on Reddit where I am keeping the status.
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