0034 MPDW7 EN

Keywords

Raspberry Pi 5, PCIe Expansion, Dual WiFi7, BE200, Bluetooth, Ubuntu, RPi OS

I. Introduction

The Raspberry Pi 5 features an onboard 16-pin PCIe interface, allowing users to connect various PCIe devices externally. This expansion board is specifically designed for the Raspberry Pi 5 as a dual WiFi7 adapter. The WiFi7 (BE200) requires driver installation to function with WiFi7 on the Raspberry Pi OS, while it is plug-and-play on the Ubuntu OS. This expansion board also supports M.2 E-key WiFi6 and WiFi5 modules. It features two 1.25mm-4Pin USB ports for connecting to USB Bluetooth of WiFi7 modules.

II. Hardware Spec

1) PCIe expansion board designed specifically for Raspberry Pi 5.

2) 2*M.2 E-KEY PCIe interfaces support WiFi7 module BE200, with hardware compatibility for WiFi6(E) and WiFi5, such as AX210, AX200, MT7922, and Intel 8265C.

3) 2*USB Bluetooth interfaces (built into the WiFi module) are routed through a 1.25mm 4-pin USB port. To use Bluetooth functionality, this USB connection must be linked to the USB 2.0 port of Raspberry Pi 5, along with compatible drivers and profiles.

4) Onboard there is 1*Power LED ("PWR") and 2*WiFi Operation LED ("WIFI1", "WIFI2").

5) Use high-efficiency imported DC-DC chips.

6) Lead-free production, PCB boards are UL and RoHS certified with a flammability rating of 94V-0.

7) 4*M2.5 mounting holes.

8) The optional antenna can be either a PCB antenna or an SMA antenna. The WiFi module itself features IPEX4 interfaces, with four SMA antenna connectors pre-installed.

9) Aluminum alloy casing(OPT.)

III. Work with Raspberry Pi OS

The version of Raspberry Pi OS is: 2024-11-19-raspios-bookworm-arm64.img.xz.

You can download it in:

https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/operating-systems/#raspberry-pi-os-64-bit

The OS is flashed onto the TF card.

For the flashing method, please refer to:

How to flash OS

3.1 Install WiFi7 driver (BE200)

Note: Once the WiFi 7 driver (BE200) is successfully installed, the original WiFi module on the Raspberry Pi 5 will no longer be usable!

(This step is applicable to both the AX200 and AX210）

Update header files in the terminal:

sudo apt install -y raspberrypi-kernel-headers firmware-iwlwifi flex yacc

Then download the source code:

mkdir wifi && cd wifi

wget http://www.mcuzone.com/wiki/2004_CM4_WiFi7/backport-iwlwifi-20231029.tar.bz2

sudo tar -xvf backport-iwlwifi-20231029.tar.bz2

Prepare the compilation environment:

sudo make defconfig-iwlwifi-public

sudo sed -i 's/CPTCFG_IWLMVM_VENDOR_CMDS=y/# CPTCFG_IWLMVM_VENDOR_CMDS is not set/' .config

Compile source code:

sudo make -j 4

sudo make install

Note: If the system freezes or reports errors during compilation when using -j 4, please try compiling with -j 2 or -j 1 instead.

The OS is now prompting a restart. Please hold off on restarting for now.

Install the firmware (only for BE200, AX200 or AX210, no need to install the firmware):

cd ..

cd Downloads

wget http://www.mcuzone.com/wiki/0011_MPW7/firmware_wifi7.zip

unzip firmware_wifi7.zip

sudo cp iwlwifi-gl-c0-fm-c0-86.ucode /lib/firmware

sudo cp iwlwifi-gl-c0-fm-c0.pnvm /lib/firmware

Restart the OS:

sudo reboot

3.2 Test WiFi7 module (BE200)

Restart the OS, then in the terminal, execute the lspci command, and the area marked in redbox is the BE200 WiFi 7 module:

At this point, you can use the BE200 (WiFi7) module to connect to a wireless AP. In the Raspberry Pi OS, although two WiFi7 modules are detected in lspci, only one WiFi module is visible in the OS, specifically, the one in the WiFi2 slot. If used individually, the WiFi module can be inserted into either slot:

Note: The core board's built-in WiFi module has been automatically turned off and replaced with the WiFi7 module.

In the network connection information, we can also see that this connection uses the iwlwifi driver (if it's the wireless network card integrated on the core board, the driver will be displayed as brcmfmac):

Execute the command ifconfig in the terminal:

"wlan0" refers to the WiFi7 module (BE200).

Speed test for WiFi7 wireless router connection:

We use the network speed testing tool iperf3 for speed tests.

Download iperf3 for Windows:

http://www.mcuzone.com/down/Software.asp?ID=10000634

Install iperf3 on Linux:

sudo apt-get install iperf3

The hardware equipment used for speed testing:

The router is a Xiaomi BE6500 Pro (WiFi6/7+ 4-port 2.5G router), and the Raspberry Pi 5 + BE200 is about 1 meter away from the router.

Using the Raspberry Pi 5 + BE200, connect to a WiFi7 wireless network and perform an iperf3 speed test with Windows (with a 2.5G USB network adapter) under the same router:

▶ Raspberry Pi OS as Client, single-threaded speed test, the speed is around 415Mbps:

30-threaded speed test, the speed is around 969Mbps:

▶ Raspberry Pi OS as Server, single-threaded speed test, the speed is around 442Mbps:

30-threaded speed test, the speed is around 947Mbps:

Note: Network speed tests are affected by the network environment and testing methods. Please refer to the actual speed, as this test is for reference only.

3.3 WiFi7 (BE200) Bluetooth test

We are currently using the WiFi7 module in the WiFi2 slot, so connect the 1.25mm 4-pin USB port labeled "BT2" to the USB 2.0 port of Raspberry Pi 5. Then, execute the lsusb in the terminal. The item highlighted in the red box is the Bluetooth function integrated into the BE200 WiFi7 module:

▶ Install Bluetooth driver:

Execute the command in the terminal:

cd Downloads

wget http://www.mcuzone.com/wiki/5001_CM5_WiFi7-PoE/intel.zip

sudo cp intel.zip /lib/firmware/intel && cd /lib/firmware/intel

sudo unzip intel.zip

If there are file name conflicts while extracting, choose "A" (replace all):

Then restart the OS:

sudo reboot

▶ Bluetooth test:

Execute commands in the terminal:

rfkill unblock bluetooth

hciconfig -a

There are two visible devices: hci1 is the core board's onboard Bluetooth (manufactured by Cypress Semiconductor, a UART device), while hci0 belongs to the BE200 (manufactured by Intel, a USB device). Both Bluetooth interfaces are currently active.

In order to test hci0, we need to disable hci1. Please execute the following command in the terminal:

sudo hciconfig hci1 down

(If you need to enable this device, please run sudo hciconfig hci1 up.)

Now, executing hciconfig -a shows that hci1 is down:

Click the Bluetooth icon at the top-right of the desktop, then choose "Add Device..." from the menu:

Put the target device in discoverable mode, and the Bluetooth module will scan and find it shortly. This example uses Bluetooth earphones:

Select the earphones, click "Pair", and it will connect successfully after a short wait:

Click the Bluetooth icon in the upper-right corner of the desktop to connect the earphones:

When the connection is successful, the device will display green:

Then you can use the earphones to play songs:

Execute the command in the terminal:

hcitool -i hci0 con

You can view the status of the devices connected to this Bluetooth:

IV. Work with Ubuntu OS

The version of Ubuntu OS is: ubuntu-25.04-preinstalled-desktop-arm64+raspi.img.xz.

You can download it in:

https://ubuntu.com/download/raspberry-pi

The OS is flashed onto the TF card.

For the flashing method, please refer to:

How to flash OS

4.1 Test WiFi7 module (BE200)

BE200 is plug-and-play on Ubuntu OS.

Start the OS, then in the terminal, execute the lspci command, and the area marked in redbox is the BE200 WiFi 7 module:

At this point, you can use the BE200 (WiFi7) module to connect to a wireless AP. In the Ubuntu OS, although two WiFi7 modules are detected in lspci, only one WiFi module is visible in the OS, specifically, the one in the WiFi2 slot. If used individually, the WiFi module can be inserted into either slot:

In the "Wi-Fi" section at the top right corner of the screen, you'll find "PCI Wi-Fi", which represents this WiFi7 module. Once you connect to a wireless AP using "PCI Wi-Fi", you can access the internet through the WiFi7 module:

In the "All Networks" section of the image above, you can see a wireless WiFi network named Intel, which is this WiFi7 module:

The Ubuntu OS does not come with the ifconfig command by default, so you need to install net-tools first to use the ifconfig command:

sudo apt install net-tools

Execute the command ifconfig in the terminal:

"wP1p3s0f0" refers to the WiFi7 module (BE200), wlan0 is the built-in WiFi module of the Raspberry Pi 5.

Speed test for WiFi7 wireless router connection:

We use the network speed testing tool iperf3 for speed tests.

Download iperf3 for Windows:

http://www.mcuzone.com/down/Software.asp?ID=10000634

Install iperf3 on Linux:

sudo apt-get install iperf3

The hardware equipment used for speed testing:

The router is a Xiaomi BE6500 Pro (WiFi6/7+ 4-port 2.5G router), and the Raspberry Pi 5 + BE200 is about 1 meter away from the router.

Using the Raspberry Pi 5 + BE200, connect to a WiFi7 wireless network and perform an iperf3 speed test with Windows (with a 2.5G USB network adapter) under the same router:

▶ Ubuntu OS as Client, single-threaded speed test, the speed is around 187Mbps:

30-threaded speed test, the speed is around 525Mbps:

▶ Ubuntu as Server, single-threaded speed test, the speed is around 221Mbps:

30-threaded speed test, the speed is around 620Mbps: