Slow WiFi connection using Fenvi T919 [OpenCore]

[ammutable]

I've recently moved from Clover to OpenCore and I'm on BigSur (11.2.3).

I have a TPLink (TL-WDN4800) 450Mbps wifi card that works using both IO80211Family.kext and AirPortAtheros40.kext.
Thought about upgrading the card since I would like to have higher speeds, I'm working on a MacBook Pro and that sits in the same desk and the Wifi speed is almost double in the MBP.

Grabbed a Fenvi T919 since I read good feedback about the card (that works OOB) and I could finally connect to ac network.

I've removed the previous kexts, installed the card and it simply works! AirDrop is there and it actually works. At this moment I'm not worried about the BT, one problem at a time

Know the sad news is that the signal strength and speed are slow, even slower than the TPLink I had before, which I don't understand. I saw other users mentioning the same problem, but couldn't find any thread with the same problem.

Comparing both cards (see the screenshot, you will find the TPLink vs Fenvi), I found it quite odd that the RSSI is so low in the Fenvi, and I guess that is the biggest indicator of why I get a slow connection:

• Fenvi (802.11ac): -87dBm
• TPLink (802.11n) -53dBm
• MacBookPro (802.11ac): -55dBm

What I've tried so far:

• I've moved the tower just next to the router and the values improve a little, but still having a very low RSSI (~80dBM).
• Disable 2.4GHz in the router, no noticeable improvement.
• Activated beamforming in the router, slight improvement.
• Tried to remove some of the antennas, no noticeable improvement.
• Use the TPLink antennas, no noticeable improvement.
• Installed AirportBrcmFixup, no noticeable improvement (TBH I got confused when reading this, I'm afraid it's not as simple as installing the kext, but not sure what should I do there).
• Move the card to a different Pci slot, no noticeable improvement.
• Disconnect Bluetooth, no noticeable improvement (I'm not injecting any BT kext).

My questions:

• Could this be a defective card? How could I check that?
• Am I missing something? Should I use any particular kext or change my actual EFI config?
• Is there any way to debug this problem?

Any help would be great! Please let me know if you need more information about the current build.

 

[Edhawk]

Big Sur won't work with the standard AirportBrcmFixup.kext. Due to one of the injector kexts in the plugin folder not being supported in Big Sur.

You have to block (or remove) AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext in BigSur.

Option 1.
In OpenCore you can specify MaxKernel 19.9.9 for AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext.

ProperTree view of AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext

Same plugin kext with MaxKernel set, so it doesn't load in Big Sur.

Simple.

Option 2.
Delete the AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext from the Plugins folder:
Create a copy of the AirportBrcmFixup.kext, on your desktop.

Right-click on the kext and select 'Show Package Contents'

You should see the'Contents' folder in a Finder window

Open the Plugins folder

This will show the two injector kexts.

You can simply remove the AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext from this folder. Then use this revised AirportBrcmFixup.kext in your OC or Clover setup.

Just make sure you don't have an entry in your OpenCore config.plist for the deleted plugins kext.

See if that helps any.

 

[ammutable]

Big Sur won't work with the standard AirportBrcmFixup.kext. Due to one of the injector kexts in the plugin folder not being supported in Big Sur.

You have to block (or remove) AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext in BigSur.

Option 1.
In OpenCore you can specify MaxKernel 19.9.9 for AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext.

View attachment 516901 ProperTree view of AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext

View attachment 516902Same plugin kext with MaxKernel set, so it doesn't load in Big Sur.

Simple.

Option 2.
Delete the AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext from the Plugins folder:
View attachment 516904 Create a copy of the AirportBrcmFixup.kext, on your desktop.

View attachment 516905 Right-click on the kext and select 'Show Package Contents'

View attachment 516906 You should see the'Contents' folder in a Finder window

View attachment 516907 Open the Plugins folder

View attachment 516908 This will show the two injector kexts.

You can simply remove the AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext from this folder. Then use this revised AirportBrcmFixup.kext in your OC or Clover setup.

Just make sure you don't have an entry in your OpenCore config.plist for the deleted plugins kext.

See if that helps any.

Thank you for the detailed explanation! I was having a hard time understanding that the `AirportBrcmFixup.kext` has the other two kexts inside, after looking at your config images all made sense

I've opted for Option 1:

1. I've added the AirportBrcmFixup.kext
2. OC snapshot the EFI drive
3. Updated the config adding the MaxKernel to AirPortBrcm4360_Injector.kext
4. Added the locale ES using bootargs `brcmfx-country=ES`

No improvements. Same RSSI values and speed. Please check the attached images.

What I noticed is that when using the AirportBrcmFixup.kext my AirDrop no longer works. Looking in System Report I can see it's active but I'm not able to be seen or see others.

I've also tried:

• Connect to a 2.4GHz just to have an idea of how it behaves, the RSSI is lower -72dBm
• Remove and disconnect all BT devices, no effect.

(BTW we share the same motherboard GA-Z87X-D3H)

 

[ammutable]

I've tested before to move the card to a different PCI slot, but the only two available below my GPU are 8x and 4x.
I read about users solving their issues (generally not being able to have BT and WIFI at the same time, which is not my actual problem) by moving this card to a 1x PCI slot.

Finally, I was able to remove my GPU in order to free the only 1x slot I've available on the board, but unfortunately, there isn't any improvement.

On the positive side now I know that it's not an issue about the PCI slot and neither it is about interference with the GPU.

Is there any way I can discard this isn't a hardware malfunction? I can RMA and if I don't manage to find a solution for this it makes little sense to keep the card if it performed worst than the TPLink... but I would like to know if I should ask for a replacement...

 

[Edhawk]

For AirDrop and Handoff to work you need to ensure the following settings are enabled:

Handoff:
Open System Preferences > General pane. Ensure Handoff option is enabled (usually is by default), option is highlighted in a red rectangle in the screenshot below.

System Preferences > General pane - Enable Handoff option

AirDrop:
Open Finder Window, navigate to AirDrop tab in Favourites

Finder > AirDrop

Select the 'Allow me to be discovered by:' text and select 'Everyone'

As can be seen in the screenshot above, you have three options for AirDrop, No One, Contacts Only and Everyone.

The usual reason for AirDrop not working is that No One or Contacts Only is selected. I think Contacts Only is the default setting. Changing it to Everyone will make your Hack visible to anyone with an Apple Device that are nearby.

 

[Edhawk]

You might want to look at changing the Channel for the AM Wireless network, as you are using the same channel that AirDrop uses by default. See screenshot below:



Both using Channel 44, moving your AM wireless network to another channel might help with the throughput. You would need to manually set/change the Wireless channel on your router to fix this.

To check if the Fenvi card is defective I would suggest installing it in a Windows 10 system. You would need to install the Windows Fenvi drivers for the WiFi and BT modules, and then see what throughput you are getting on Windows, see how it compares to your macOS setup.

If the Country Code: ES is not correct, i.e. you don't live in Spain, then you can use an AirportBrcmFixup boot argument to set this to the correct country - brcmfx-country=XX - changes the country code to XX (US, CN, GB, FR, DE, ES, IT, etc.)

Here is a view of the System Information > Wi-Fi report from my Big Sur setup (original Apple Airport card):



As can be seen the two channels are not the same (44 & 48) and the country code is set to GB. I have to use the AirportBrcmFixup boot argument, otherwise the country codes between the WiFi adapter and router don't match.

The other thing I noticed about your setup is that you have your WiFi card set as en0. This is not normal, unless you are using a MacBook Air that lacks a physical Ethernet port. Normally the Ethernet port is set as en0 and the WiFi set with en1 or en2.


System Information > Network Report, showing network device names.

Hope this helps.

 

[ammutable]

The usual reason for AirDrop not working is that No One or Contacts Only is selected.

True story, this is a common pitfall for many users... In my case, I'm aware of this, and even having selected "everyone" it does now work after using the AirportBrcmFixup.kext.
I'll try to remove the kext and just to be sure, but Airdrop was working before I used the kext.

Regarding the handoff feature to be honest I might try later to see if it works out of curiosity, but since I don't have any other devices besides a Macbook laptop I'm not sure how useful it would be.

You might want to look at changing the Channel for the AM Wireless network

Well spotted! I was playing before with a different channel in my router and I totally missed this. I've now tried different bands, but the same result, no improvement at all.

To check if the Fenvi card is defective I would suggest installing it in a Windows 10 system.

I'll do this, I still have an extra SSD, just a matter of download the ISO and give it a try!

If the Country Code: ES is not correct, i.e. you don't live in Spain, then you can use an AirportBrcmFixup boot argument to set this to the correct country - brcmfx-country=XX - changes the country code to XX (US, CN, GB, FR, DE, ES, IT, etc.)

I've explicitly set this brcmfx-country=ES since I live in Spain and my router is configured that way:

The other thing I noticed about your setup is that you have your WiFi card set as en0. This is not normal, unless you are using a MacBook Air that lacks a physical Ethernet port. Normally the Ethernet port is set as en0 and the WiFi set with en1 or en2.

This is a good one, I've no clue why is this happening. I have a GA-Z87MX-D3H motherboard, since I'm not able to reach the router using an ethernet cable I've never connected using wire. Looking at my devices there is no Ethernet device being pickup, probably I'm missing some kext on my OpenCore EFI in other to detect my LAN, and because of that the WiFi card pick up the first available interface... just my guess.

That said, do you think this might interfere somehow? Do you have any ideas for moving this to en1? I can only think about disconnect the Wifi card, try to make my ethernet work and possibly will register at en0 and then connect the Wifi card, but I not sure if this will change the quality of the signal on the Wifi... and if it is worth investing time here.

My next step is to test the card in Windows, once I've that I'll post back with more news!

Edhawk, thank you for sticking around and help me troubleshoot the problem. I hope I can get to work.

 

[Edhawk]

The Ethernet will appear if you add IntelMausiEthernet.kext to your /OC/Kexts folder and a corresponding entry for the kext in your config.plist. A copy of the ethernet kext is attached below.

I am not sure the old fix for getting the ethernet port set with en0 and the WiFi set with en1 will work in Big Sur, due to the way the snapshots of the system drive works. As the fix requires you to delete a file from a protected system folder. In Catalina you have to set the macOS drive in read/write mode (disable Gatekeeper) so the plist can be deleted. I don't think we have the same option to disable the drive protection - Signed System Volume (SSV), used in Big Sur.

It may be we need to set the Ethernet as en0 when undertaking a clean install, by having the Ethernet kext in the OC folder during the installation.

I think this post explains what is happening and what needs to be done to alter the system files or folders on a Big Sur drive - https://eclecticlight.co/2020/06/25/big-surs-signed-system-volume-added-security-protection/

 

[ammutable]

The Ethernet will appear if you add IntelMausiEthernet.kext to your /OC/Kexts folder and a corresponding entry for the kext in your config.plist. A copy of the ethernet kext is attached below.

Ok, I'll give it a go. Totally worth having a working ethernet

I think this post explains what is happening and what needs to be done to alter the system files or folders on a Big Sur drive - https://eclecticlight.co/2020/06/25/big-surs-signed-system-volume-added-security-protection/

WOW! Great article, I had no idea about this. Looks like it can be done, there is a way to disable SSV, to be honest I know nothing about this, so I'll leave it there. In any case, the fresh install wouldn't be a problem since I've a script to bootstrap any new OSX install to make things easier

---

Some news regarding testing the card on Windows 10.
TLDR: No improvement, the RSSI in Win is exactly the same as in OSX (~80dBm).

My old SSD drive had Windows 8, and the driver for this card is only compatible with 7 or 10. I tried to install either way, but no luck, failed with both drivers.
So I decided to install Window 10, it took me a few hours and patience to be able to install it, all problems related to the split of the 5GB file and partitioning of the bootable USB drive, looks like you have to be very strict with this, otherwise, the Windows installer won't let you continue.

I've already contacted the card vendor through Amazon, waiting for the response. My doubts are if I should simply ask to return another card like this one or if I should try a different model.

The one I got is this one:
MQUPIN fenvi T919 BCM94360CD

There is a similar one:
MQUPIN BCM94360DTX

They look the same, I don't know what could the CD / DTX mean.

 

[Edhawk]

You could try the Apple Bootcamp drivers for the Broadcom BT and WiFi. The installers attached are what I use in Windows for my dual booting systems.

For the AppleBluetoothBroadcom64 select the DPInst.exe to install the Apple drivers.

For the BroadcomWirelssWin8x64.exe, just run the exe.

Both installers work in Windows 10 latest version.

I think the difference between the two cards you linked is that one has a BCM94360CD and the other has a BCM943602CS chip. No difference in the WiFi or BT protocols, but the 2CS chip is slightly newer and used in new Apple models compared to the CD version.