RE: rtw88: RTL8822BE (10ec:b822) never authenticates on 5 GHz with a Huawei router; poor 2.4 GHz link; same hardware works fine on Windows

[Ping-Ke Shih <pkshih@realtek.com>]

Pablo Martínez Ríos <pabloriosmartinez@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I would like to report a problem with an RTL8822BE using rtw88_8822be.
> The same card, in the same spot, works well on Windows, so I suspect a
> driver/firmware issue rather than coverage. I am happy to run any tests
> or try patches.
> 
> HARDWARE / SOFTWARE
> - Laptop: HP Pavilion 15-bc450ns (i5-8300H), BIOS F.32
> - Card: Realtek RTL8822BE, PCI ID 10ec:b822 (04:00.0), HP subsystem.
>   Both antenna cables are connected; "iw phy" reports available and
>   configured antennas TX 0x3 / RX 0x3.
> - Debian 13.7 live USB, kernel 6.12.107+deb13-amd64, firmware-realtek
>   20250410-2, rtw88 firmware 27.2.0 (H2C 13)
> - Same behaviour earlier on CachyOS (a recent 7.x kernel, exact version
>   not recorded) and on an Ubuntu live session (26.10)

Is there any version working well to you?

> - Module parameters at defaults: disable_lps_deep=N, disable_aspm=N,
>   support_bf=Y
> - Router: ISP-supplied Huawei OptiXstar EG8145X6-10, separate SSIDs for
>   2.4 GHz (ch 6, 20 MHz) and 5 GHz (ch 36, auto width). The router is
>   one floor below the laptop, with a concrete slab in between.

I think it is worth to try putting closer.

And, can you try another AP to see if anything different?

> 
> PROBLEM 1: 5 GHz
> Linux never authenticates. This repeats indefinitely:
> 
>   wlo1: authenticate with 22:87:ec:xx:xx:08 (local address=90:32:4b:xx:xx:xx)
>   wlo1: send auth to 22:87:ec:xx:xx:08 (try 1/3)
>   wlo1: send auth to 22:87:ec:xx:xx:08 (try 2/3)
>   wlo1: send auth to 22:87:ec:xx:xx:08 (try 3/3)
>   wlo1: authentication with 22:87:ec:xx:xx:08 timed out
> 
> - It fails with WPA2-PSK and with WPA3 (SAE), and with the router set to
>   WPA/WPA2 TKIP+AES and to WPA2/WPA3 AES, so it fails at the 802.11
>   authentication frame, before any SAE/EAPOL exchange.
> - Same result with regulatory domain 00 and with "iw reg set ES".
> - The BSS appears in scans (its beacons carry country IE ES), but no
>   authentication response is ever received.

How can you prove "no authentication response is ever received" ?
Can AP ack the auth? I mean that might be a TX side problem.

> - Windows 11 on the same laptop, same spot (Realtek driver
>   2024.0.10.209): connects with WPA3-Personal, reported RSSI -76 to
>   -81 dBm, 80/80 pings answered, 3-9 ms, link rate 260-292 Mbps as
>   reported by Windows.
> 
> PROBLEM 2: 2.4 GHz
> - Linux associates, but the link is very poor: iw reports about -73 to
>   -76 dBm, and the beacon loss counter rises about once per second
>   (14 to 65 over roughly 2 minutes). Across 5 runs, ping to the router
>   showed 0-54% loss and average RTT of 37-278 ms.
> - Kernel messages: "rtw_8822be 0000:04:00.0: firmware failed to leave
>   lps state" (several times), and once "failed to send h2c command".

For this case, "iw dev wlo1 set power_save off" should help.

> - The beacon signal average (-97 to -109 dBm) is far below the frame
>   signal average (about -75 dBm). With a phone hotspot at -48 dBm both
>   agree (-46). Occasionally signal readings of -100 to -112 dBm appear
>   with the second chain at 0 while traffic continues.
> - Windows, same spot: 60/60 pings, average 12 ms (max 157 ms).
> - With a phone hotspot (2.4 GHz, ch 1, -48 dBm), Linux works well:
>   rx 78 Mbit/s (VHT-MCS 8, NSS 1), tx 65 Mbit/s (MCS 7).
> 
> TRIED WITHOUT EFFECT
> - "iw dev wlo1 set power_save off" (one run had 54% ping loss)

How about the loss rate comparing to power_save on? Almost the same?

> - rtw88_pci disable_aspm=Y (lspci still showed "ASPM L1 Enabled"
>   afterwards)
> - WPA2 vs WPA3, regulatory domain 00 vs ES
> 
> COULD NOT CHECK
> /sys/kernel/debug/ieee80211/phy0/rtw88 does not exist on the Debian
> kernel (presumably rtw88 debugfs is not enabled), so I could not read
> tx_pwr_tbl, phy_info or coex_info, nor test the edcca_enable switch.
> A single correctable PCIe error (BadDLLP) was logged once; the AER
> counters were 0 later.
> 
> QUESTIONS
> Is this a known issue? Which additional data would be most useful (a
> kernel with rtw88 debugfs, a debug_mask setting, a monitor-mode
> capture)? I can provide full logs and test patches.

The kernel v5.3 or earlier support RTL8822BE. Could you bisect (use
distro live image) which kernel can work to you? It would be easier
to address problem. 

Have you tested with disabling Bluetooth, since this is a combo chip?

Another point is that rtw88 can only support these types:

static const struct rtw8822b_rfe_info rtw8822b_rfe_info[] = {
	[2] = I2GE5G_CCUT(efem),
	[3] = IFEM_EXT_CCUT(ifem),
	[5] = IFEM_EXT_CCUT(ifem),
};

You can add a printk to print the type of your RTL8822BE.