ASRock Offers Wi-Fi 6E Upgrade Kits for AM4, LGA1700 Motherboards

ASRock has introduced two Wi-Fi 6E upgrade kits for motherboards in the AMD AM4 and Intel 600 series. The upgrade kit contains an M.2 2230 Wi-Fi 6E module and two antennas. The motherboard must support Wi-Fi modules with dedicated radios. This kit is optimal for those using Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 modules.

Wi-Fi 6E is the newest wireless standard. 6E is a significant improvement over previous editions. Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ac) features less latency and quicker networking speeds. 6E will be a significant improvement for Wi-Fi consumers. Only the kind of interface differentiates the two kits. Intel's M.2 module uses CNVio2, whereas AMD's uses PCIe. Intel developed the interface internally to simplify and reduce the cost of their wireless modules. It works only with Intel products. Non-Intel systems are incompatible with CNVio2 Wi-Fi modules. Since there are more AM4 than Intel 600-series motherboards, ASRock buyers will choose for the AMD kit. Many of them are similarly outdated and only support Wi-Fi 5. The exceptions are ASRock's B550 and X570/X570S motherboards.

ASRock's LGA 1700 (600 series) Intel motherboards enable Wi-Fi 6E because the Alder Lake CPU family was just released. Few ASRock 600 series motherboards use the older Wi-Fi 5 modules, hence the Intel Wi-Fi 6E upgrade kit is unneeded for the vast majority of consumers. Both costs and availability of wireless upgrade kits are unknown. Several PCIe M.2 Wi-Fi modules are compatible with AMD and Intel ASRock motherboards for Wi-Fi 6E upgrades.