Ubuntu 24.04 - Enabling Wi-Fi 7 Multi-Link Operation (MLO)

Introduction

Wi-Fi 7’s Multi-Link Operation (MLO) lets your device use multiple bands (for example, 5 GHz + 6 GHz) at the same time. This improves throughput and makes the connection more resilient.

Requirements 

On Ubuntu 24.04, MLO does not work out of the box because the default software stack is too old. You need to update three layers:

  1. Kernel
    • Ubuntu 24.04 ships kernel 6.8.
    • MLO support only appeared in 6.16+.
  2. Firmware
    • Wi-Fi 7 adapters (Intel BE201, Qualcomm WCN7850) require the newest firmware from the upstream linux-firmware repo.
  3. Supplicant
    • The system uses wpa_supplicant to negotiate Wi-Fi.
    • Ubuntu ships v2.10, which does not support MLO.
    • You need 2.11+.

Additional requirements:

  • Set the correct regulatory domain (e.g. cfg80211.ieee80211_regdom=BE) so 6 GHz channels are enabled.
  • Configure the AP (e.g. TP-Link Deco BE85) with MLO enabled and WPA3-SAE only.
Verify

When all of these are in place, running:

iw dev <iface> info

will finally show an “MLD with links” block with two (or more) link IDs — proof that MLO is active.

ByteBlower Compatibility

MLO is supported in the Byteblower ecosystem from version 2.23

Please make sure to update all components: Server, GUI, and Endpoint software. Visit our Setup Page to download the latest and greatest software. 

Step-By-Step

For a step-by-step guide on implementation of MLO, please visit this article:

How-to-MLO-Ubuntu 24.04