Radxa Wireless Module A8

Radxa Wireless Module A8 is a standard M.2 2230 Wireless Module based on Realtek RTL8852BE, a highly integrated single-chip that support 2-stream Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) solutions with multi-user MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) with Wireless LAN (WLAN) PCI Express network interface controller with integrated Bluetooth 5 USB interface controller. It combines a WLAN MAC, a 2T2R capable WLAN baseband, and RF in a single chip.

Compatibility

• Radxa ROCK 3A
• Radxa ROCK 3B
• Radxa ROCK 5B
• Radxa ROCK 5A

Tutorial

Installation

For products that support the A8 module, Radxa has integrated the corresponding driver in the official image. You can directly insert the wireless module into the M.2 E Key connector to use it.

Take the use under the official Debian system of ROCK 5B as an example, the installation is as shown in the figure:

Wi-Fi usage

1. After entering the system, open the terminal

2. Enter the following command to enable Wi-Fi

sudo nmcli r wifi on

tip

When you use the sudo command for the first time, you need to enter the password of the login account.

3. Enter the following command to scan Wi-Fi

sudo nmcli dev wifi

4. Enter the following command to connect to the Wi-Fi network

sudo nmcli dev wifi connect "wifi_name" password "wifi_password"

Among them, wifi_name is the name (SSID) of the Wi-Fi you want to connect to, and wifi_password is the password of the Wi-Fi.

In addition, you can also perform visual operations through the WiFi control provided by the Linux desktop.

Bluetooth usage

1. Test the Bluetooth module and check the Bluetooth device.

sudo systemctl status bluetooth

2. Run the Bluetooth device.

sudo systemctl start bluetooth

3. Detect Bluetooth devices

sudo hciconfig

hci0: Type: Primary Bus: UART
        BD Address: 10:2C:6B:49:D5:53 ACL MTU: 1021:8 SCO MTU: 64:1
        UP RUNNING
        RX bytes:850 acl:0 sco:0 events:58 errors:0
        TX bytes:2814 acl:0 sco:0 commands:58 errors:0

4. Test Bluetooth function

   To connect a Bluetooth speaker:

   First install pulseaudio

   sudo apt-get install -y pulseaudio-module-bluetooth pulseaudio

   Run pulseaudio

   sudo pulseaudio --start

   Connect using pulseaudio

   sudo bluetoothctl
   
   [bluetooth]#default-agent
   [bluetooth]# power on
   [bluetooth]# scan on
   [bluetooth]# trust 41:42:1A:8D:A9:65 #BT-280
   [bluetooth]# pair 41:42:1A:8D:A9:65
   [bluetooth]# connect 41:42:1A:8D:A9:65

Hardware

Features

• IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax compatible WLAN
• Support Bluetooth 5 system (BT 5.2 Logo Compliant)
• Complete 802.11n MIMO solution for 2.4GHz and 5Ghz band
• Maximum PHY data rate up to 286.8 Mbps using 20MHz bandwidth, 573.5Mbps using 40MHz bandwidth, and 1201Mbps using 80MHz bandwidth
• Backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g devices while operating at 802.11n data rates
• Backward compatible with 802.11a/n/ac devices while operating at 802.11ax data rates
• Compliance with Windows operating system host-implemented FIPS 140-2 security requirements
• Support 20/40/80MHz 5GHz
• supports WLAN-Bluetooth coexistence
• supports low power Bluetooth
• Compatible with Bluetooth v2.1+EDR

Block Diagram

Specifications

Features	Description
Name	Radxa Wireless Module A8
Product Description	IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wireless LAN 2T2R and Bluetooth 5.2 Combo Module (M.2 2230)
Chipset	RTL8852BE
Host Interface	Wi-Fi: PCIe BT: USB
Dimension	22mm x 30mm x 2.25mm
Form Factor	M.2 2230 E Key
Antenna	I-PEX MHF4 Connector Receptacle (20449) ANT1(Main): WiFi/Bluetooth  TX/RX ANT2(AUX): WiFi  TX/RX
Operating Temperature	0 to +70°C
Weight	3g

Dimensions