AIC8800-based WiFi 6 AX300 USB adapter sells for less than $3

Adding networking capabilities to a computer or SBC has never been cheaper, as we’ve just written about a $12 M.2 RTL8126 5GbE module, and now I’ve come across a WiFi 6 USB adapter based on AIC8800 chipset that sells for under $3 on Aliexpress.

I found out about it after we published an article about the Luckfox Pico Ultra W SBC that comes with a 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 module that happens to be based on an AIC8800DC module. Upon further investigation, I discovered some ultra-cheap WiFi 6 USB dongles were available, but with some caveats such as the lack of 5 GHz support and a speed limited to 300 Mbps. But it can still be interesting, so let’s find out.

Specifications:

• Chipset – AICSemi AIC8800
• WiFi – 2.4 GHz 802.11ax WiFi 6 up to 286.8 Mbps
• Tx power – 20dBm
• Features – MU-MIMO, OFDMA
• Operating modes – Station, Access point, WiFi Direct
• Security – WEP, WPA/WPA2
• Host interface – USB 2.0 port
• Length – 196 mm (with antenna)
• Humidity
  • Operating – 5% to 95% (noncondensing)
  • Storage – Up to 90% (noncondensing)

Drivers are said to be available for Windows 7/10/11. That’s about all we got from the Aliexpress page. The AIC8800 is also used in Tenda W311MI v6.0 and Tenda U2 v5.0 for which a Linux driver is available and should work with other AI8800 USB adapters although you might need to add USB Vendor and Product IDs in aicwf_usb.h. I could not find the W311MI v6.0 for sale but the BrosTrend AX5 on Amazon looks almost identical.

Make sure to check the version of the Tenda dongle since older W311MI models are only 802.11n WiFi 4 up to 150 Mbps. It’s actually not the first time I’ve come across AIC8800 modules, as those are also found in the Lichee Console 4A RISC-V development terminal and Avaota A1 SBC as soldered-on modules. Where it gets confusing is that there are variants of the AIC8800, and for instance, the AIC8800D used in Avaota A1 is a dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.4 module, instead of being 2.4 GHz WiFi 6 only.

If we go to AICSemi website, we can see the company provides dual-band WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2, single-band WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.2, and WiFi 6-only chipsets, as well as some microcontrollers with integrated WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and audio codec. But sadly, that’s all the information there is on the website. So I could not find out whether WiFi 6-specific features such as TWT (Target Wait Time) used for low-power IoT applications are supported by AIC8800 chipsets. What’s missing is WPA3 security, and none of the models mention this. [Update June 26, 2024: Pine64 has released a datasheet for the AIC8800DC and both “WPA3‐SAE Personal” and TWT are listed there]

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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