Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V - any plans on fixing this disaster, or not anytime soon Intel?

[BryanFury]

Dear Intel,

do You please intend to fix this disasterous NiC or not anytime soon?

This exact SKU've been haunting me since it's day of conception. Always trouble, double trouble, triple trouble, and more.

Do You intend to fix/patch this product of Yours, or should me and thousands of people around the world be left with dedicated/discrete NiC's on motherboards cursed and afflicted with this NiC?

Please, take Your time, it's only been 3 years since You released this nightmare upon the world, but any time now would be great to fix it, till it becomes an obsolete product...

With best regards

Bryan

P.S.: Btw. nice touch having zero software for this unit on Your page, really clever move from Your side, really clever.



P.P.S.: I'm talking about low speeds [constant speed downgrade from initial handshake dedication starting at 2500/2500 mbps or 1000/1000 mbps to 100/100 , continual disconnects and reconnects, unable to make the NiC work at all many times - unable to start device, etc. [Windows 10/11], and many more. World iT forums are infested with topics regarding this NiC...]

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello BryanFury,

Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities. 

We sincerely apologize for all the inconvenience that the Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V has caused. For us to further check this matter with our engineers, can you share the following information?

1. Exact issue that you encountered on your Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V. You mentioned below statement, we would like to confirm if you encountered all of these on your I225 controller.

I'm talking about low speeds [constant speed downgrade from initial handshake dedication starting at 2500/2500 mbps or 1000/1000 mbps to 100/100 , continual disconnects and reconnects, unable to make the NiC work at all many times - unable to start device, etc. [Windows 10/11], and many more.

2. Operating System you use on your system

3. Brand and model where the Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V was embedded. 

4. Driver version you used

Awaiting to your reply. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[BryanFury]

Greetings Criselle,

Well, sure, let's do this:

1. Degrading speed from 2.5/1 gbps to 100 mbps and disconnects from network. I debugged this to the NiC. I changed switches, routers, etc.
2. Windows 11 Pro 21H2 Build 22000.795
3. EVGA Z690 DARK K|NGP|N, 121-AL-E699-KR
4. Driver provider: Intel
Driver date: 5.3.2022
Driver version: 1.1.3.28

I tried multiple reinstalls of the OS, I tried both NiC's on board [there are two identical], nothing helped. I changed switch from Ubiquiti Flex Switch Mini to GX-U1051 and I also factory reset Asus ZenWiFi AX XT8 multiple times, also tried to leave the Huawei EchoLife HG8245H to route everything.

What helps is disabling the NiC on board and re-enabling, this helps for a few minutes and restart of PC helps for half an hour to an hour.

With regards

Bryan

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Thank you for the reply. 

We understand that this is an Ethernet controller that's embedded with EVGA system. For Original Equipment Manufacturer(OEM) on-board Ethernet controller, we'd like to set your expectation that we might have a limited support and it would be best if you can also get in touch with EVGA for further support since they have customized drivers and software to enable or alter features on your system. They are in best position where you can seek assistance so you don’t lose features or customizations of the Ethernet controller.

We also tried looking for Ethernet driver from their site and found version 2.0.1.3. 

https://www.evga.com/support/download/

Will you be able to test this out and contact your board manufacturer's support as well in case this didn't help resolving the issue? You may also check with them where you can obtain NVM/Firmware for this controller.

Feel free to let us know if you have questions or clarifications. 

Looking forward to hear from you.

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't receive a reply. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[BryanFury]

Greetings @Caguicla_Intel 

I tried their driver at first, it delivers the same results, exactly.

When I write to EVGA, they tell me to write to Intel, You, Intel, tell me to write to EVGA.

I mean this is Catch 22 situation, do You realize that?

I will write to EVGA again, paste it here, and I will paste Your message to them, so at least users can see the lack of logic in this situation.

Btw. all of the drivers are signed by Intel, isn't the FW made by Intel too? I mean it's Your chip, Your peripheral, what does EVGA has to do with it?

Best regards

Bryan

[kharnagor]

Running into this issue as well. 

1. Exact issue that you encountered on your Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V. You mentioned below statement, we would like to confirm if you encountered all of these on your I225 controller.

Immediately after a driver update, connection was dropping constantly and could not exceed 100mbs download speeds. After trying a variety of different drivers, I now have a stable connection but still capped at 100mbs.

2. Operating System you use on your system

Windows 11 Home 22000.795

3. Brand and model where the Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V was embedded. 

ASUS PRIME Z690-A

4. Driver version you used

Driver provider: Intel

Driver date: 2/2/2022

Driver version: 2.1.1.7

Following some of the other troubleshooting guides out there, I've done a clean windows install, updated my bios, updated every driver possible, switched ethernet cables, bought a network switch, and bought a PCI-E network card all with the same results. Every other device in my household can achieve 950mb download speeds except this device. Only thing I haven't been able to update is the NVM firmware, as I receive an error.

[BryanFury]

Hmm, You have a newer driver than me, wow, nice! I might try it tomorrow. Mine worked today, by some reason or miracle, I'm running "native" Windows 11 driver.

[insurgent]

This NIC is broken on fresh Win11 install on ASUS Prime Z690-A MB with MS driver, ASUS driver and the latest Intel drivers from this site. 

Disconnects, 100 instead on 1GB negotiation,  terrible-to-no-throughput, packet loss, etc. This is a complete embarrassment for Intel and I've been an Intel CPU and NIC fanboy for 30 years!

Will find a PCI adapter (Non-Intel) to use to solve this issue and forget about Intel.

Chip has been out for 2 years and still doesn't work.

Shame on you.

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Thank you for the reply. 

Reason why we are requesting you to contact EVGA as well is that your OEM might have altered the features, incorporated customizations, or made other changes to the software or software packaging they provide. They are also responsible in providing NVM/Firmware package on the OEM controller hence, they are in best position where you can seek assistance so you don’t lose features or customizations of the Ethernet controller.

Please feel free to send us their reply so we can try to check this further with our engineers. 

Hoping to hear from you soon. 

Should there be no reply, we will follow up after 3 business days. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[BryanFury]

Hey there @Caguicla_Intel 

Well, this is kind of news for me, since I've never seen modified Intel driver by 3rd party. The drivers are always from Intel, the package is almost always identical with one available from Intel website, but sure, it might be the case, that OEM will modify their driver/fw, though, I've never met with this before, that's all.

Anyway, how come there's absolutely no driver/software available for this NiC on Your webpage whatsoever?

I've never met with this one either, there's always a package for Your integrated products on Your page, though, for this widely used one there's none.

Why is that?

Thank You!

With best regards

Bryan

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Appreciate your swift response.

The software drivers linked from our page are generic versions, and can be used for general purposes. Please see link below for Intel® Network Adapter Driver for Microsoft* Windows* 11

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/727998/intel-network-adapter-driver-for-microsoft-windows-11.html

You can also see this information from link above. 

About Intel® drivers

The driver or software for your Intel® component might have been changed or replaced by the computer manufacturer. We recommend you work with your computer manufacturer before installing our driver so you don’t lose features or customizations.

Here's available downloads for Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/184676/intel-ethernet-controller-i225v/downloads.html

Can you also share if you have contacted EVGA again for the NVM/Firmware? We can try to escalate this request to our engineers but we'd like to set your expectation that we cannot guarantee anything regarding NVM packages as this should be provided by the manufacturer. 

Awaiting to your reply.

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Good day!

Please be informed that we already escalated this request to our engineers. Kindly see their feedback below regarding this matter. 

We checked the download center and it is working well. Please try to clear cache or use different browser.

As for the issue that you are encountering, it is still best to contact the motherboard manufacturer. Reason we are referring you to contact EVGA because they are still the best source of support. Unfortunately, our support is limited since this is an Original Equipment Manufacturer(OEM) on-board Ethernet controller. We understand that this is an Intel Ethernet controller that's embedded with EVGA motherboard but it would still be best for him to get in touch with EVGA for further support since they have customized drivers, software, procedure and firmware to enable or alter features on his system. They are in best position where he can seek assistance so he does not lose features or customizations of the Ethernet controller.  

You may check this link as an example that the NVM that fixed the issue should came from 3rd party manufacturer such as ASUS and Gigabyte.

Network Issues with Intel® Ethernet Controller I225-V

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057261/ethernet-products/gigabit-ethernet-controllers-up-to-2-5gbe.html

Feel free to let us know if you have additional questions or clarifications.

Hoping to hear from you soon. 

Should there be no reply from you, we will follow up after 3 business days.

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support 

[BryanFury]

Hey there @Caguicla_Intel!

Well, the thing is, now stuff is working well for me [holding steady 1000/1000 mbps, no disconnects, I did many tweaks with the NiC though, I'll list them later], and as the saying goes: "When it works, don't touch it." I'll be doing a clean install soon on the PC, since new VGA should arrive to my secondary PC tomorrow, and than I'll update this thread, whether it'll work, or not.

Thank You for Your patience,

With best regards

Bryan

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Thank you for the update.

We will patiently for your update on this thread regarding the clean install. In case we don't hear from you within 3 business days, we will make a follow up. 

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Good day!

This is just a follow up to check if you are able to perform the clean install you mentioned. In case you need additional assistance on this matter, feel free to let us know and we will be glad to help.

Awaiting to your reply. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel® Customer Support

[BryanFury]

Hey there @Caguicla_Intel!

Could we leave this topic opened for a week or two?

The NiC works, but I suspect it's not drives [though I received everything from EVGA, both FW and drivers, already had FW] but one "hack" from a guy on EVGA forums. 

Double click on NiC > Properties >  double click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IP) > General Tab > Advanced > Wins > Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP

But, this worked with super old driver, now after new driver, this is disabled. God knows, I'm still gonna do fresh install and will report back.

Can we leave this topic open please?

With regards

Bryan

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Thank you for the update and sharing additional information on this matter. 

We will be glad to keep this thread open for 2 weeks as per your request. However, we'd like to set your expectation that we are only providing our best effort support and your manufacturer is still best source of support for this request.

Feel free to let us know should you have any other concern. 

We will make another follow up after 2 weeks in case we don't hear any update from you.

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

Good day!

This is just a follow up to check the current status of your system. Are you able to perform your pending fresh install on your system? Feel free to share an update on this one and let us know should there be any assistance needed. 

Looking forward to your reply. 

We will follow up after 3 business days in case we don't hear from you. 

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[Caguicla_Intel]

Hello Bryan,

I hope you're having a good day!

Please be informed that we will now close this request since we haven't received any response from our previous follow ups. Please feel free to post a new question (in reference to this one) if you may have additional assistance needed in the future as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Thank you for choosing Intel and stay safe!

Best regards,

Crisselle C.

Intel Customer Support

[BryanFury]

Hey there @Caguicla_Intel!

Well, here I am, clean Windows install and still the same issues :(. The thing that helps is:

Control Panel [the old one] > Network and Sharing Center > Network Connections > Ethernet > Properties > General > Advanced > WiNS > NetBiOS settings > Enable NetBiOS over TCP/iP

No driver, no clean install, nothing, just this. And a restart of course

Hope this helps to debug this problem to Your engineers or sys. devs?

With best regards

Bryan