Intel(R) Ethernet Connection I219-V stays connected without being connected

[tbarhspie]

Hello,

we have been having this problem for a year now, without exactly knowing what is happening and how to correct it.

Our Lenovo laptops, model T14s and T15, frequently have an issue where the Ethernet adapter (Intel(R) Ethernet Connection I219-V) appears connected to the domain network, even though no Ethernet cable is connected.

All models use the latest driver provided by Lenovo (12.19.2.50 and 12.19.2.45) and none of our other Lenovo laptops present this issue.

It seems to happen when users are on their home network, put the computer in sleep mode, and resume Windows after putting the laptop on their docking station on site at work.

Ethernet won't connect when the user tries to dock, but the adapter still acts as if it were connected, so WiFi can't be enabled (due to security GPO).

Do you have any idea what could cause such behaviour ? We have attempted to change adapter settings (EEE, Intel SIPS, energy savings...), to no avail.

Best regards,

[B_Y]

Hello Derrick,

Thank you for posting in Intel Ethernet Communities.

May I ask following info for our reference:

a) OS version and Build

b) The exact model of T14s and T15 (T14 Gen1 models apparently facing network identifying problems after waking up from sleep/hibernate)

c) Did you mean your issue with T14s and T15 was the laptops won't connect to Internet/company intranet after waking up from Sleep mode?

For this matter, this may related to domain, gpo or security in place. You may need your IT Admin to verify the GPO block in placed or if the network switch have NAC/MAB.

Usually, LAN connection will restored if you restart the laptops or flush dns.

In case you haven't make changes on Power Management (uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power) at ntel(R) Ethernet Connection I219-V s, please refer to this link:

https://binaryfork.com/fix-no-internet-sleep-hibernate-windows-5866/

From BIOS, the 'Deep Sleep' option should be disabled. This option in the BIOS varies from PC to PC, so refer to your hardware manual for your motherboard.

From another perspective, VPN connection may also tried to auto reestablish connection between domain when it wakes up from sleep.

You could see if corrupted by trying "chkdsk c: /f" and then "sfc /scannow". SSDs in particular may corrupt the OS today. Some drives are worse than others.

We'll be waiting for your response.

Best regards,

BY_Intel

Intel Customer Support

[tbarhspie]

Hello, and thanks for your answer !

a) This is Windows 10 (Enterprise) 21H2 with february cumulative update (19044.2604)

b) The models we have with this issue are the following:

• 20T1S2PM00 (T14s Gen 1)
• 20WM00AFFR (T14s Gen 2i)
• 20S7S28D00 (T15 Gen 1)
• 20W40091FR (T15 Gen 2i)

c) I'll rephrase the issue. There is, indeed, a GPO touching this: "Prohibit connection to non-domain networks when connected to domain authenticated network" (registry key fblocknondomain 1). That, however, means when the issue happens, users are stuck and have to reboot.

The issue is this:

1. User is using Ethernet through docking station
2. User takes laptop off docking station, switches to WiFi automatically
3. User moves around with laptop in sleep mode
4. User puts Laptop back on docking station after a while
5. Laptop will not connect to Ethernet
6. User tries to connect to WiFi after taking laptop off docking station again
7. Laptop acts as if connected to Ethernet, and refuses Wi-Fi connection

7 is the result of the GPO, so it's "normal" that the laptop would refuse to connect to Wi-Fi since it believes it's connected to Ethernet.

Why, however, does it acts like the ethernet connection is still active, when it isn't ? It's not just that there is no internet when put back on the docking station, but that it sees the laptop as plugged in through Ethernet and won't accept there isn't any cable plugged in.

Users have no administrator rights and can't restart the Ethernet adapter themselves.

We have great difficulty trying to reproduce the issue since it seems to require that at some point the user moves to a point where site Wi-Fi is lost.

As for the rest:

• Restarting the laptop fixes the issue (but inconveniences users, so they don't want that, obviously)
• Flushing DNS might fix the issue (but requires users to do something, which isn't a possibility)
• Disks are fine, we've checked the systems several time, it's just...Happening =/
• Lenovo Bios has one "Sleep State" setting that can be set between "Windows 10" (default) and "Linux", switching to Linux means we enable S3
• Deep sleep is otherwise disabled in the power options, users can only put their laptops in regular sleep mode
• We haven't tried disabling VPN client, but it isn't running on site and the issue still happens
• EEE is enabled, SIPS is disabled, Ultra Low Power Mode is disabled
• For the Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX201, MIMO is at SMPS disabled
• Power Management tab is disabled by default, I can't change the csenabled value, it resets every reboot.

We're experimenting with the GPO at the moment, because if disabled, obviously the issue "disappears" (since users can still reconnect to Wi-Fi when laptop gets stuck on LAN), but we can't let users connect to domain network and any other random WLAN at the same time anyway.

Thanks again for your help, any input is appreciated !

Best regards,

[B_Y]

Hello Derrick,

Thank you for your patience and hard work. You may consider to try deploying a fresh image with/without joining the domain to rectify the issue on T14s / T15.

We are still researching internally on this.

Best regards,

BY_Intel

Intel Customer Support

[B_Y · Accepted solution]

Hi,

We could not replicate the issue in our lab, and there are no settings in our driver that could fix this, it seems that the issue could have a solution on BIOS level.

Certain BIOS have LAN/WAN switching function that could solve this.

LAN/WAN Switching function for HP notebook: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/zmoumr/lan_wlan_auto_switching_hp_laptops/

Wireless Auto Disconnection for Lenovo notebook: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-10/Does-Lenovo-have-the-utility-to-turn-off-Wi-Fi-automatically-when-Ethernet-is-available/m-p/4196581

You may reach out Lenovo for further support if the issue persisted.

Best regards,

BY_Intel

Intel Customer Support

[tbarhspie]

Hello, and thanks for the answer.

Sadly, we are already using that feature on the affected models. I think it has something to do with the soft-disconnect from Windows 10, as it doesn't seem to happen when we don't let Windows soft-disconnect machines from a network (instead fully dropping connection when going from wifi to ethernet).

Anyway, thanks for your help, sorry you couldn't replicate this issue on your side.

Best regards,

[B_Y]

Hi,

Appreciate your time and effort. Is there anything else that we can help you with before closing this thread and no longer monitored by Intel support?

Best regards,

BY_Intel

Intel Customer Support

[tbarhspie]

No, thanks for trying to look into this.