Potential for 802.11n wireless-n on the Evo

[NeoteriX]

I was wondering about this earlier in the weekend because I know the Nexus One features a broadcom communications chipset that features 802.11n support. Searching did not turn up any specifications on the Evo with regard to its wireless package though... until today.

iFixit just released its teardown of the Evo 4G, ( HTC Evo 4G Teardown - Page 2 - iFixit ) and it turns out that it features the Broadcom BCM4329 chipset -- known to have 802.11n support!

I've read that some people believe that wireless-n support for the Nexus One comes with Froyo... maybe this is something else to look forward to when Froyo comes to the Evo.

 

[scottarbaugh]

Wow... nice find!

 

[Jordus]

WOW now THIS is the kind of threads we need here. GREAT find.

I hope its just a software enable away from having N, and that it will come in Froyo. I kept wondering why they left it out when it was in the Nexus one.

 

[esone1ll]

Nice find, I noticed it too.

The trouble is: Even with 802.11n speeds, the rendering of HTML would be the bottleneck. You could pull down data faster than it could be rendered in the browser...

...but having Wireless-N would be useful for downloading large updates or media.

 

[Wrxdrunkie]

Ya and I also believe Froyo 2.2 is supposed to support 802.11n

 

[DeusInnomen]

The real question for me with 802.11n is how it compares to 802.11g for power draw on a mobile device. Plus, doesn't 802.11n need more than one antenna to really get its throughput? (I'm not a hardware guy, so this is an actual question.)

Regardless, it would definitely be nice to see that get enabled once they perfect drivers for the chipset, because I know I can get better range from the base station with 802.11n than the other protocols in my house.

 

[NeoteriX]

The real question for me with 802.11n is how it compares to 802.11g for power draw on a mobile device. Plus, doesn't 802.11n need more than one antenna to really get its throughput? (I'm not a hardware guy, so this is an actual question.)

Regardless, it would definitely be nice to see that get enabled once they perfect drivers for the chipset, because I know I can get better range from the base station with 802.11n than the other protocols in my house.

Yes, to get the maximum benefit of wireless-n (the MIMO interference optimization), you need three antennas. It's definitely true that for a wireless N access point, there is increased power demands, especially because of the increased computational requirements as well as the third antenna. From a quick google search, it seems that the wireless clients (like your phone or laptop) may experience increased power draw as well (sources: Xirrus: High Performance Wi-Fi - 802 11n FAQ , http://www.buffalo-technology.com/files/802_11n-WP100-R.pdf ).

That said, what is probably most relevant is the amount of power draw compared with wireless 3G. It's well-known that wireless b/g consumes less power than 3G, so if N is somewhere in between, there could still be benefits.

I think the power consumption ranking goes something like this:

802.11 b/g < 802.11 n (?) < CDMA 3G < WiMAX

 

[Synthetickiller]

The real question for me with 802.11n is how it compares to 802.11g for power draw on a mobile device. Plus, doesn't 802.11n need more than one antenna to really get its throughput? (I'm not a hardware guy, so this is an actual question.)

Regardless, it would definitely be nice to see that get enabled once they perfect drivers for the chipset, because I know I can get better range from the base station with 802.11n than the other protocols in my house.

There are 802.11n microSD cards now, well, at least announced:
Mythical Spectec MicroSD Now 802.11n

Honestly, 1 antenna would work. The signal is stronger...

Keep in mind, you need all your devices on a network to be 802.11n to get the most speed out of it. At least this is what I've read. Adding 802.11n to this device would rock. Wireless transmission of files would be awesome. No need for wires anymore (besides charging).

 

[sikclown]

Yup if this happened I could finally just turn off mixed mode and do full N on both sides of my router (Dual Broadcasting). My phone is the last thing I have that is not N

 

[Synthetickiller]

I'd go out on a limb and say since the hardware is there, then YES, there WILL be 802.11n on this device.

Froyo Feature: 802.11n WiFi support | Android Central

When the Nexus One first came out, there was some question about wireless N. Mainly why didn't it work. N1 users who were rooted and running Cyanogen Mod started seeing some 802.11n goodness last month, but now it's official. Wireless N support is included in Froyo. You probably won't notice much speed difference (at least I didn't) as even the Snapdragon processor can only process so much information. But the increase in signal strength and range is awesome -- especially for spending a Sunday morning out on the deck reading the news with a pot of coffee and a cigar. I used to have to depend on Sprint 3G and my Hero to do that, but Froyo lets me bring the N1 out for some fresh air and to join the party.

I really want a fast wireless sync.

 

[cesjr02]

haven't there been reports of Nexus users connecting with a N-only router?

 

[katmandoo122]

Anyone able to confirm this is an N-based radio? Just curious.

 

[hharte]

If you look in the kernel syslog output from an EVO 4G after turning on the WiFi, you will see:

<4>[ 30.313720] Dongle Host Driver, version 4.218.161.0
<3>[ 32.830017] mmc0: Command timeout (cmd= 8 mci_st=00000004)
<7>[ 32.842010] mmc0: queuing CIS tuple 0x91 length 3
<6>[ 32.842132] mmc0: new high speed SDIO card at address 0001
<4>[ 32.846008] DHD: dongle ram size is set to 294912(orig 294912)
<4>[ 32.975036] wifi: Disable 802.11n
<4>[ 33.074584] Enter set packet filter
<4>[ 33.076019] start to add pkt filter 100
<4>[ 33.077301] Enter set packet filter
<4>[ 33.078552] start to add pkt filter 102
<4>[ 33.081481] dhd_preinit_ioctls:str=0x00112233445538e7d81103840800450000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
<6>[ 33.082244] eth0 (): not using net_device_ops yet
<4>[ 33.083496] eth0: Broadcom Dongle Host Driver mac=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Looks like the bcm4329.ko driver disables 11n in the chip. Once HTC releases the kernel source for the EVO 4G, it should be possible to recompile the driver so it does not disable 11n, or you can patch the binaries on the phone (with root, using the Recovery mode).

-Howard
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