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Running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265. I've been trying to setup a 5Ghz ac hotspot to tether my wired connection, but I can't get the hotspot to use 802.11ac.
I've set the regulatory region to US with iw reg set and with the following NetworkManager profile loaded:
[connection]
id=Marcus Secured
uuid=ca2368eb-0013-47e5-ab74-0f313f9e1637
type=wifi
interface-name=wlan0
permissions=
timestamp=1557925975
[wifi]
band=a
channel=165
mac-address=<MAC ADDR>
mac-address-blacklist=
mode=ap
seen-bssids=<BSSID>;
ssid=Marcus Secured
[wifi-security]
key-mgmt=wpa-psk
psk=<Hotspot Password>
[ipv4]
dns-search=
method=shared
[ipv6]
addr-gen-mode=stable-privacy
dns-search=
ip6-privacy=0
method=shared
When I connect to the Hotspot from my Mac, it shows that the wifi is connected to a 5Ghz channel but its not using 802.11ac.
Current Network Information:
Marcus Secured:
PHY Mode: 802.11n
BSSID: <BSSID>
Channel: 165
Country Code: US
Network Type: Infrastructure
Security: WPA/WPA2 Personal
Signal / Noise: -42 dBm / -96 dBm
Transmit Rate: 145
MCS Index: 15
Marcus
Posted 2019-05-21T13:24:28.883
Reputation: 11
What model Mac? What's the model of the wifi adapter in the Mac? – Tim_Stewart – 2019-05-21T17:14:15.627
I don't think my Mac is the one to blame, since the PHY mode is determined and broadcasted by the access point. But FYI its a MacBookPro14,2 with BCM43xx (I believe its BCM4360). – Marcus – 2019-05-22T16:28:03.277
That is a common misconception, the PHY rates are advertised through the SSID beacon. The card connects with the fastest speed it can negotiate, but can/will gracefully fallback to the lower rates advertised for many reasons. (Interference, buggy drivers, a bad antenna connection, etc). This sounds like the drivers in Ubuntu honestly. I have only done this through hostapd in Ubuntu which has the configuration variable "hw_mode=". You may want to try alternative drivers for the card or use hostapd to force it to use a newer 802.11 standard. – Tim_Stewart – 2019-05-23T17:12:32.547