Raspberry Pi 3B+ 802.11ac support in 8.2.4

  • Can anyone confirm that LibreElec 8.2.4 connects using 802.11ac on the 3B+? When I set my router to only accept 802.11ac connections, I am unable to connect. When set to 802.11n/ac mode, I am able to connect.

    I have a Generic Intel/Nvidia LibreElec setup right next to this Pi that streams perfectly using 802.11ac. This Pi using what I'm guessing is 802.11n buffers constantly. A wired connection to the 3B+ does not buffer.

    Update:

    The 8.2.5 release appears to have fixed this issue. There was an error message while connecting but the result was a connected and working 802.11ac connection.


    The Wifi is smoothly streaming from LAN file sources as well as and HD PVR server.

    Edited once, last by TDown (April 15, 2018 at 4:40 PM).

    • Official Post

    Sometimes it's possible that a wifi connection gets worse if devices are too close to one another... And if you do have the choice, a wired connection is always preferable. IMO, even on a RPi3B+.

    I cannot confirm/deny the AC-wifi mode, unfortunately my router is not that modern.

  • Unfortunately, wired isn't an option in the intended location. This looks to be a driver problem in 8.2.4 if the 3B+ is meant to support 802.11ac.

  • I think I'm hitting the same issue. connman sees my 5ghz network on a scan, but fails to connect. According to journalctl, this error seems relevant:

    "wpa_supplicant[523]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-ASSOC-REJECT status_code=16"

    I am yet to try enabling n/ac mode on the router, will report back once I do.

    Update: I am seeing the same as TDown, with ac/n mixed mode I can connect. With AC only I cannot. In both cases WPA2-PSK with AES is enabled. I tried setting the security settings to "auto" but leaving it as AC only and that did not work. I have also tried setting the 802.11 regulatory domain via a file in modprobe.d

    Edited once, last by mattyv (April 3, 2018 at 9:34 AM).

  • Thank you for the report.

    Hopefully more people can test and chime in to get this looked at. I have not posted on the RPi forums as their product page lists 802.11ac support.

  • The 8.2.5 release appears to have fixed this issue. There was an error message while connecting but the result was a connected and working 802.11ac connection.

    The Wifi is smoothly streaming from LAN file sources as well as and HD PVR server.

  • Seems fine here too after switching the network back to AC only. Looks like there were some firmware updates for Pi3+ hardware. Can't find the specific fix but I'll take it.