802.11AC and Ubuntu

[danny7]

Are there any available drivers or a potential work around that will enable the AC wireless on Ubuntu. I plan on buying a laptop and upgrading the cheap wireless card on it and since I just recently purchased an AC router I fugured why not get the latest options available.

But looking into the issue it might not be that simple, am I better off sticking with N for the time being? Or is there a work around/drivers that will enable this feature?

The card I'm looking at is
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Network-...ords=802.11+ac

But if there's another option please, I'm all ears. Thanks!

[chili555]

This may be helpful to you: http://wikidevi.com/wiki/List_of_802.11ac_Hardware

Although I specialize in wireless here and on other forums, I haven't encountered any of the devices mentioned in the link. Remarkably, I have encountered the device you linked; check here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/33166...260-version-63

+1 This worked for me. – Peter Lawrey Aug 14 at 6:25

I assume he means that it connects and passes traffic. Whether he includes 802.11ac, I do not know.

Be very careful about swapping wireless cards. Many manufacturers include a whitelist in the BIOS allowing only specific cards. Lenovo is a good example. I suggest you Google the laptop manufacturer and 'whiteliist' before you proceed.

[danny7]

I looked up the specs on Intel's site and it does state Win and Linux compatible. Question is will it be operating on the AC or the N protocol once I boot Ubuntu?! I guess I'll find out.

Yes I'm aware of the white list Lenovo implements, I plan on installing an unlocked BIOS I've also looked up and seems to be working for people. Thanks for the heads up though.

[chili555]

Question is will it be operating on the AC or the N protocol once I boot Ubuntu?! I guess I'll find out.

Please post back and let us know.

[danny7]

It will be at least a week or so before I get the hardware but I'll definitely bump this and let you guys know what happens. Thanks again!

[danny7]

Finally got my system, a Sager 7330 with the wireless card mentioned above. However Wifi is still not an option for connectivity. This is what I get when following the last step on that link.

danny@Jarvis:~$ sudo cp Desktop/iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode /lib/firmware/danny@Jarvis:~$ sudo modprobe -r iwldvm  <--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed
bash: --If: No such file or directory
danny@Jarvis:~$ sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi <--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed
bash: --If: No such file or directory
danny@Jarvis:~$ sudo modprobe iwlwifi

[westie457]

The bash error of 'If no such file' I think may be caused by this part of the commands '<--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed'.

I suggest that you try again leaving out the '<--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed'.

That might be all you need to do to get wireless working.

Other than the above I cannot be of further help to you, sorry.

Hopefully chili555 will see this and confirm things.

[chili555]

The bash error of 'If no such file' I think may be caused by this part of the commands '<--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed'.

I suggest that you try again leaving out the '<--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed'.

That might be all you need to do to get wireless working.

Other than the above I cannot be of further help to you, sorry.

Hopefully chili555 will see this and confirm things.

Yes, indeed. The parts here: <--If it is not loaded, OK, please proceed are simply my explanatory notes, not a part of the actual terminal command.

If you correct the command, does it work?

[danny7]

So this is what I'm entering:

 sudo cp Desktop/iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode /lib/firmware/sudo modprobe -r iwldvm  
sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi 
sudo modprobe iwlwifi

nothing really happened though. So I restarted and just entered it again to no avail. The network drop down menu doesn't scan or show any wifi networks.

Edit: Though I must say my bluetooth is working which is on the same intel 7270 card.

[chili555]

sudo cp Desktop/iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode /lib/firmware/sudo modprobe -r iwldvm

This is two separate commands:

sudo cp Desktop/iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode /lib/firmware/
sudo modprobe -r iwldvm

Did the firmware get copied to /lib/firmware? Check:

ls /lib/firmware |  grep 7260

If it is there, load the driver manually:

sudo modprobe iwlwifi

Is a wireless interface created, ideally wlan0?

iwconfig

Are there any clues as to what's wrong in the message log?

dmesg | grep iwl

Is the switch set to enable or disable wireless?

rfkill list all