Contact Purism and try to buy the standard and supported WiFi module.
Persevere with the WiFi module that you have inherited (which is in some ways superior) but, in that case, you should search this forum for any one of the many discussions on how to get the Intel WiFi module working. It will require loading an additional driver / firmware (and one that is not open source).
Thank you for your prompt response. I didn’t think of the possibility of hardware being replaced as I thought one of the reasons to have such a device was the open hardware option.
When I compare with the Librem 14 specifications it says the WiFi card is:
It was replaced likely because the Intel card has significantly better performance (from what I’ve seen on the forum) but needs proprietary firmware. You decide if you’d rather have the open firmware or the better speed and connectivity.
In Purism’s defense, the Atheros one was the best they could do and still remain open source (according to Nicole).
Yes, the seller really ought to have included the original WiFi module as a loose item, or indeed reinstalled it, so that the OP does readily have that choice.
The OP could also have carefully saved the firmware file / package before reinstalling PureOS, had he or she been aware of the issue.
The performance of 802.11ac is generally going to be much better than the performance of 802.11n - regardless of make and model - and anecdotally the Intel module gets a stronger signal than the Atheros, ceteris paribus.
Yes, but only if the hardware manufacturer plays ball - and Intel does not.
At this stage, unless you are really determined to stick with open firmware, I would suggest keeping the Intel WiFi module that the seller included and pursuing the firmware for it (forum Search is your friend).
Actually here the problem may be a different one… because we do not only trigger the DISABLE signal on the M.2 socket, which would have to rely on the card honoring it, we also cut power to the card when the kill switch is flipped. So when you turn it back on the card has to reenumerate on the PCIe bus. We have enabled PCIe hotplug support for the port in Coreboot/Pureboot but not all cards work properly in this regard (likely a case not many manufacturers test for).
That being said, we have pretty successfully tested Intel AX200 and AX210 by now - of course also requiring a firmware blob. AX210 require a quite recent kernel to work properly (IIRC 5.16 or 5.17 and newer).