Some of the wireless adapters that you use with TamoGraph Site Survey have functional limitations and/or special software requirements. The purpose of this document is to describe such limitations and requirements in detail.
Please remember that the list of officially supported adapters includes dozens of adapter models, most of which are fully functional and have no limitations; so if you currently are using an adapter with limited functionality and the limitations listed for your adapter are critical to you, you always can purchase a different, fully-functional adapter supported by TamoGraph Site Survey.
Important Note for All Supported Adapters: It’s not uncommon for specific adapter models to have multiple hardware revisions/IDs. For example, the Intel AX211 adapter has dozens of different IDs. While we strive to support all available IDs on the market, your specific ID may not yet be supported. If you’re planning to purchase a laptop and use its integrated adapter for passive surveys, please BE SURE TO TEST the adapter using our adapter test utility before purchase, if possible. This is especially important for Lenovo laptop + Intel adapter combinations. If you’re uncertain whether a specific integrated adapter is compatible, you can always purchase an external USB adapter, either directly from us or on your own.
Below are the notes regarding specific adapter models. Click on the “+” sign to expand.
802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) Adapters
Intel BE200 and BE202
The availability of the 6 GHz band depends on the RF environment. On start-up, the adapter's firmware scans for nearby APs to detect your location and may disable the 6GHz band if you're outside of the US. See our blog for more details.
802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) Adapters
Intel AX200 and AX201, Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650w, AX1650x, AX1650s
- Before installing our application, be sure to update the adapter driver to the latest version. You can get the latest driver version here. For Intel adapters, you need to install version 21.60.2.1 or newer.
ASUS USB-AX56, D-Link DWA-X1850 rev A1, FusionFutures Flux AX1800
If you're using ASUS USB-AX56, D-Link DWA-X1850 rev A1 or FusionFutures Flux AX1800 external USB adapters, please note that they have limitation when being used for conducting active site surveys. These limitations are caused by multiple problems in the vendor-supplied driver and they might or might not be remedied by the vendor in the future. As of today, these problems are:
- The actual PHY rate reported by the adapter might be incorrect; it might stay on the same level throughout the survey.
- AP roaming is not reported to the application. In other words, the adapter appears to be connected to the same AP throughout the survey.
- Signal level readings might lag. In other words, the reported signal level might reflect the signal level observed a few seconds ago.
The rest of the active survey functionality, such as TCP upstream/downstream rates or RTT, is not affected. Please also note that all of the above applies to active surveys only; passive surveys are not affected. If these limitations are important for you, consider using any other adapter for active surveys.
Intel AX210, AX211, and AX411
The availability of the 6 GHz band depends on the RF environment. On start-up, the adapter's firmware scans for nearby APs to detect your location and may disable the 6GHz band if you're outside of the US. See our blog for more details.
802.11ac Adapters
ASUS USB-AC68, Belkin F9L1109 v1, D-Link DWA-180 rev A1, D-Link DWA-182 rev C1, D-Link DWA-192, Edimax EW-7822UAC, Edimax EW-7833UAC, EnGenius EUB1200AC, IKross AC1200, Linksys WUSB6300, Proxim ORiNOCO 9100, Rosewill RNX-AC1200UB, TP-LINK Archer T4U, TP-LINK Archer T4UH, TP-LINK Archer T9UH v2, TRENDnet TEW-805UB, ZyXEL AC240, and ZyXEL NWD6605
- If you want to use these adapters for monitoring only, you don't need to install the driver provided by the card vendor. If you want to use these adapters for connectivity, you should install the driver provided by the vendor. The driver can be found on the CD-ROM or downloaded from the vendor's web site. Alternatively, you can download it here. On Windows 8.1, the driver might be installed automatically when you plug in the adapter. Note that the driver version 1025.1.423.2013 has poor performance in connectivity mode; you may want to use the driver at the download link given above.
Buffalo AC866 (WI-U2-866D), NETGEAR A6200, and D-Link DWA-182 rev A1
- The supported channel set in the 5 GHz band is limited. At the time of writing, Buffalo AC866 and NETGEAR A6200 support only the following 5 GHz channels: 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165. D-Link DWA-182 supports only the following 5 GHz channels: 36, 40, 44, and 48. The supported channel sets depend on the regulatory domain; the sets listed above are found in the adapters being sold in North America. The sets of the adapters being sold in other parts of the world might be different.
NETGEAR A6210, Alfa Networks AWUS036ACM
- Windows 8 or higher is required.
- Using this adapter in a virtual machine is not supported and not recommended. If you still want to experiment, use a USB 2.0 port and USB 2.0 VM emulation.
Qualcomm Atheros 61x4, 9377, and 988x
These adapter models include multiple hardware versions; some of those versions don't work in monitoring mode. Please consider testing the hardware before purchase or use a recommended USB adapter.
