Dennis HilkLinux diagnosticsDE

Wi-Fi adapters

Qualcomm WCN6855 PCIe family

An ath11k PCIe family with separate hw2.0 and hw2.1 firmware mappings. One PCI pair does not distinguish those firmware branches.

Editorial source review: Share public profileOpen in the identification tool
On this page
  1. Overview & identity
  2. Driver & binding
  3. Firmware
  4. Read-only diagnostics
  5. Limitations & related issues
  6. References

Overview & identity

17cb:1103 identifies the WCN6855 table entry. SoC version checks refine the hardware revision; an NFA/Killer retail label is not derived from the pair.

Curated identifiers
pci 17cb:1103

A numeric match establishes a candidate family within the reviewed evidence. Marketing names, board variants, subsystem conditions and successful operation remain separate questions.

Driver & binding

ath11k_pci selects a firmware directory after hardware checks. The two listed directory patterns are alternatives for different detected revisions.

  • ath11k_pci — kernel driver/module candidate

Detected, bound, operational: learn the difference

Firmware

Host-loaded firmware required

The checked firmware directory or filename is family/revision specific. The complete requested files and board data must be read from the running system.

Checked examples or filename branches, not a complete installation list:

  • ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.0/*
  • ath11k/WCN6855/hw2.1/*

Inspect firmware packaging on your distribution

Read-only diagnostics

Run one displayed command at a time. Replace uppercase placeholders with the affected device, interface or module from your own output. Commands are never executed here. Read-only output can still contain private identifiers.

Read the selected PCI function

lspci -nnk -s BDF

Replace BDF with the address from your report. Compare Kernel driver in use with Kernel modules; only the former records binding. This ordinary query normally needs no root privileges.

Read firmware metadata

modinfo -F firmware MODULE

Replace MODULE with ath11k_pci or the actual candidate module in your report. Metadata lists declared filenames; it does not prove a file was loaded. This query needs no root privileges.

Read existing Wi-Fi association

iw dev INTERFACE link

Replace INTERFACE with the wireless interface from iw dev. Association and rate are observations, not a throughput or firmware test. This query normally needs no root privileges.

Limitations & related issues

A source entry is not a promise that either firmware branch can replace the other. Board-data selection and actual 6 GHz availability require their own evidence.

These guides are linked for relevant observations, not as known defects of every device in this family.

Choose a hardware diagnostic workflow · Inspect a log excerpt in Fix Lab

References

Source review records a checked implementation or document, not a reproduced hardware test. Version-specific tables do not establish a minimum kernel or guaranteed operation.