Solved M.2 2230 Wi-FI Card Not Working

OK, then. With a new system comes new learning. I just installed an Intel AX201NGW M.2 Wi-Fi card in my Asrock B550 Extreme4 build (AMD Ryzen 3 5800X, GeForce 1070 Ti, 64GB RAM, 2TB Sabrent Rocket SSD). Mostly, everything just works. But the Wi-Fi card does not show up in the UEFI, nor of course in Device Manager either. Everthing I've read online -- including some reports from other users of the same (or same family) of motherboards -- say this card works in their builds. I'm forced to believe either (a) I've got a bad card or (b) the M.2 mobo socket is not working. Any suggestions for further troubleshooting? My instinct is to replace the M.2 card and see if another one works. Can anyone shed further light?

TIA for your input and suggestions.

Best wishes,
--Ed--

It's difficult to know a faulty hardware component without testing it.

Ed Tittel said:

I just installed an Intel AX201NGW M.2 Wi-Fi card in my Asrock B550 Extreme4 build

Click to expand...

All my searches end up back to this post. M2 Wifi AX201 card not detected in B550m Pro4

Motherboard does not support AX201NGW M.2 Wi-Fi card but supports you type 2230 wifi / bt pcie wifi modules not the same wrong you read the manual

I think you are out of luck if seeking wi-fi 6 at least on M.2. Personally, I would go to extremes to hook a desktop to ethernet. Actually, I had my whole house wired for it albeit, my house had to literally burn down for it. I advise my clients to have the ISP modem moved to the same room.
I hate that most new laptops do not have built-in ethernet and need a USB adapter for it.

OK, then: as I suspected. Because the item is on the Intel CNVi (Intel Integrated Connectivity) list, it stands to reason it wouldn't work on an AMD mobo/chipset/CPU combo. I found a REKONG Wi-Fi/BT module on Amazon for US$27 that does not mention Intel CNVi. Further, I'm guessing because it's not an Intel product (or derived from an Intel license as far as I can tell) that it won't fail to find stuff it's not looking for anyway (CNVi related, that is).

If that doesn't work, I think I'll look into a plug-in PCIe card (as in my son's upstairs PC). I do have two unused such slots in the mobo at present. Most of them run in the US$30-50 range for 802.11ax capability (that's as fast as my best WAP/router will go anyway). I just wanted to play around with the M.2 and it cost me less than US$25.

Thanks for responses. I'll mark this thread solved. @obelix was right: I read the manual incorrectly -- actually, it was the Asrock Forums thread that turned out to be most informative (and I did find that one in my researches, too). Thanks again.

--Ed--

Just a quick follow-up: the REKONG module mentioned in my preceding item works. That said, the performance of an internal Wi-Fi card with no external antenna leaves somewhat to be desired. I haven't been able to get past 300 Mbps on throughput, and that's with the device about 3 m away from the WAP. My son has an Asus 802.11ax PCIe adapter card in his PC (same mobo, same CPU) and it gets up to 900 Mbps from the Spectrum WAP (about 6 m away) and up to 500 Mbps from my office WAP (about 12 m away). Go figure!

At least, I've learned how to work with the right card for an AMD mobo and now understand their capabilities and limitations a bit better. And it only cost me about US$55 to find out. Amusing.

=Ed=

PS: See this blog post for more info on my experiences and observations NonCNVi M.2 Wi-Fi Device Delivers LAN Access