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i-218v and powerline ethernet problems (on levono T450s)

bethe
Beginner
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I have three different powerline adapter brands and all of them work fine at 100 Mbps with atleast three other different PCs and laptops. I can only manage a stable 10 Mbps full duplex connection with the i218v on my T450s. I have the latest drivers, etc. The connection can negotiate at 100 Mbps, but it immediately becomes flaky, and ping times are around hte range of 2-3 seconds even to the local router. I'm pretty sure this is an intel adapter specific problem. Sad to see it has never been taken care of (as there are many other open threads on this issue from a few years ago).

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
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Dear OneIntelUser,

Thank you for contacting Intel.

We would like to suggest troubleshooting tips below to resolve connection problems you've encountered:

1. Tuning the Adapter's Throughput Performance:

a. Reduce Interrupt Moderation Rate to Low, Minimal, or Off

Also known as Interrupt Throttle Rate (ITR).

The default is "Adaptive" for most roles.

The low latency profile sets the rate to off.

The storage profiles set the rate to medium.

b. Disable Flow Control.

The default is Generate & Respond.

Note: Disabling Flow Control can result in dropped frames.

c. Increase the Transmit Descriptors buffer size.

The default is 256. Maximum value is 2048.

Note: Increasing Transmit Descriptors increases system memory usage.

d. Increase the Receive Descriptors buffer size.

The default is 256. Maximum value is 2048.

Note: Increasing Receive Descriptors increases system memory usage.

For transmit and receive buffer size, try doubling the default value - 512.

You may also try the other settings, please refer to our website below:

http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/cs-025829.htm Network Connectivity — Tuning Intel® Ethernet Adapter Throughput Performance

2. Use the driver supplied by notebook manufacturer:

https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-t-series-laptops/thinkpad-t450s Laptops and netbooks :: ThinkPad T Series laptops :: ThinkPad T450s - Lenovo Support (US)

Select Networking: LAN (Ethernet) in Components

*This link will take you off of the Intel website. Intel does not control the content of the destination website.

In case you continue to encounter connection issues, please post your system details so we can help research about the issue.

1. Operating System:

2. Adapter's Driver version:

3. Intel PROSet Software version:

4. Error Message:

We look forward to your test results.

Sincerely,

Sandy

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bethe
Beginner
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Hi Sandy_intel,

I have the latest drivers and I tried everything you mentioned, it still hasn't solved the problem. The connection starts out good at 100 Mbps, after a few minutes of inactivity, the problems start.

pinging my local router after initial connection

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64

After few mins of no network activity

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1911ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1297ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=576ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=591ms TTL=64

If I unplug and plug back the cable, it goes back to better ping times

I also have an i218-LM in another laptop running linux, and it doesn't have this problem. I'm yet to install linux on this laptop to see if the Windows 8.1 driver is the problem. Something about inactivity/sleep seems to be triggering the problem.

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
1,580 Views

Hi OneIntelUser,

Thanks for updating us of your test results.

Please check if you have a system diagnostic tool to run cable, hardware tests on the network adapter.

If no, download and install the Intel® PROSet Software for Windows* Device Manager.

Once installed, go to Windows* Device Manager, then to i218 adapter properties.

Click on Link/Speed tab - Diagnostic button. Visit our website below for more information:

http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/cs-016041.htm Network Connectivity — What is Intel® PROSet Software and How Do I Access It?

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/23071/Network-Adapter-Driver-for-Windows-8-1- Intel® Download Center

We will wait for your test results.

Sincerely,

Sandy

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XXu16
Beginner
1,580 Views

Dear Sandy

I also have a T450s with i218-v apater and have very similar problems as OnIntelUser had, except that my connection is to my university's eternet, not a powerline. After a few minutes of inactivity the internet speed is effectively reduced to zero. Pinging the default gateway gives an average of 400ms, and webpages in the browser keep loading but never show up. When the ethernet cable is disonnected and reconnected, internet speed is restored, pining the gateway returns an average of 2ms, which is what you would expect. However, internet would go out again randomly after some time.

I tried turning off power management and your tips above, none of them works. I can confirm that another laptop T400s with Intel 82567LM never had this issue once in the past several months. So I can say with confidence that this is an issue with the new adapter.

Laptop Model: Lenovo ThinkPad T450s / Intel i218-v

Operating System: Windows 8.1 x64

Driver: 12.12.80.1950 (straight from Lenovo)

Intel PROSet: This is not installed in Lenovo's preload, and not available from Lenovo's website.

Error message: There is no error message, the internet simply stops. also pining still works, and there is still bytes received in Ethernet status. When I run Windows' own diagnostics, it says the 'Your computer appears to be correctly configured, but the device or reource (DNS server) is not repsponding.

I would be grateful if you could help on this issue. It is very frustrating to having to replug the ethernet cable every few minutes just to keep the internet going.

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
1,580 Views

Dear nautilus1982,

 

Thanks for posting.

 

The symptom you are experiencing is related to the power management. Please check the power options as follows:

 

1. Power management in the Network Connection properties. You can find this is Device Manager, then go to the Power Management tab of Intel® Ethernet Connection I218-V properties.

2. Windows* Power Options. To go to Power Plans, type "power settings" in search bar. You may modify the settings in there.

3. To further test the issue, please note the number of minutes the system is idle. Set a longer idle/inactivity time for power saving mode.

 

 

Hope this helps. Feel free to get back to us if you still encounter the disconnection issues.

 

Sincerely,

 

Sandy

 

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XXu16
Beginner
1,580 Views

Dear Sandy

Thank you for the reply.

For the Power Management tab under Intel i218-V properties, 'Allow the computer to trun off this device to save power' is currently unchecked. As I said in the earlier post, this does not seem to solve the dropped connection issue.

For Windows power options, I have 'Sleep after 30 minutes', 'Turn off hard disk after 5 minutes', Wireless Adapter Power Saving Mode at 'Maximum Performance', I have found no option directly related to ethernet power saving. mode So which setting do you want me to tweak?

It is also difficult to check exactly how long you idle before the internet drops, you see it's a catch-22 situation, if you keep pinging a server the internet will stay on, it's only when you stop using the internet that disconnection happens, and it is impossible to determine when exactly it happens...

Thanks.

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
1,580 Views

Hi nautilus1982,

Thank you for your response. The power options you have set so far is for the wireless connection. I will further check on the Windows* Power Options.

I see that you have installed the latest driver version for your network connection. Other tests you can try is re-install the driver.

We would also like to know the model of the switch where your system is connected. Please try to move to another port or other switch to further isolate the issue.

I'll be waiting for your test results.

Sincerely,

Sandy

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kwoma
Beginner
1,580 Views

Hi,

I want to let you guy's know that we are also experiencing bad response times with a T450 and a W550s. (Both are using the same Intel I218-V driver)

This is what I was able to determine:

- The issue appears after the computer turns off it's display. (Power setting) Set it to turn off after 1 hour, the problems begin after one hour, set it to turn off after one minute, the problems begin after one minute.

- When we switch the lan connection (on the network) to 10 MB and 1 GB we have no issue's, but 100 MB does.

- Unplug the network cable and plug it back in again solves the issue for a while (until display is turned off again)

I hope Intel is able to get the bug out of the driver, because I have aready lots of T450's to deploy and I would like to have them running smoothly.

Thanks for your help.

Kind regards.

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MSchi11
Beginner
1,580 Views

Please try to uninstall the Synaptec Touchpad Driver and see if it fixes the issue. I still think it is an INTEL driver issue, but this fixed it for us.

Thanks

Marco

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
1,580 Views

Hi schiffne,

Thanks for sharing your findings here. It seems like the touchpad driver is coming in conflict with the Intel driver.

To nautilus1982 and k-woman,

You may also test this out and see if this also fixes your network connection issues.

Since you are all using Lenovo* laptop, we suggest to try to contact Lenovo* so they can have a look at the network and touchpad drivers.

Looking forward to your test results.

Sincerely,

Sandy

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MSchi11
Beginner
1,580 Views

Hi Sandy,

I still do not think it is the Synaptec driver, as it is only happening on a 100 MBIT connection. Are you able to reproduce it on your site?

Thanks

Marco

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
1,580 Views

Hi Marco,

We can't reproduce it as we don't have these laptop models. That's why I would like the others to also try the resolution and see if it can resolve their connection issue like your case.

Anyway, we are looking into this issue and will keep all of you posted on any updates.

Sincerely,

Sandy

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SYeo3
Valued Contributor I
1,580 Views

Hi All,

Not sure if you have tried using Intel's generic driver, see below:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/search?keyword=Intel%C2%AE+Ethernet+Connection+I218-V https://downloadcenter.intel.com/search?keyword=Intel%C2%AE+Ethernet+Connection+I218-V

However, we suggest to report Lenovo* support for other suggestions on this connection.

We would also like to know your speed and duplex settings. As there is a known issue where the controller might put the setting from 100 Mbps/full duplex to

100 mbps/half duplex setting causing the slow network connection. Check out this website:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/20585/Intel-R-LAN-Driver-82579-I217-and-I218-Link-Negotiation-Process-Parameter-Change-Utility-for-Windows https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/20585/Intel-R-LAN-Driver-82579-I217-and-I218-Link-Negotiation-Process-Parameter-Change-Utility-for-Windows

We also discovered another settings in network connection properties which may cause connection issues. Try changing the settings in "Legacy Switch Compatibility Mode", see below:

Go to Network Connection Properties > Advanced Tab > Look for "Legacy Switch Compatibility Mode" Setting > Change setting Enable or Disable > then reboot computer.

Observe further is you are still encountering connection issues.

Sincerely,

Sandy

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