AC 7260 frequent ping spikes

[idata]

Anyone has had issues with this card? I cant seem to get rid of the regular and frustrating ping spikes. Im on Windows 7, running a Dell Precision 3800 laptop. I'm on an ASUS AC68U router, though Ive tried others with the same result. Ive also tried different driver versions and even reformatted my system to no avail. Anyone know whats going on? The collective knowledge of the internet seems rather divided and inconclusive on this matter despite my scouring of its depths over the last few days. Its definitely something to do with the wireless card. I just dont know what.

Here is the results I get when I ping my router. As you can see its sitting pretty dandy at 1ms and then it suddenly decides to explode to some ridiculous number for a second or two then it goes back to normal again.

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=160ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=190ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=109ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=82ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=80ms TTL=64

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[SLemo1]

Running Windows 10 and I've tried everything I can find related to this issue. Took hours to figure out it was even the wireless adapter. I've been running tests with multiple routers and computers and adapters to confirm it IS the adapter. To think I initially thought this was a software issue with Steam In-home Streaming... This is 100% bad INTEL hardware, and it is NOT an access point issue. How arrogant do you have to be to see that everything else is working fine together except for your hardware and say that everything else is broken and your hardware works. Unfortunately the 1 fix that DOES seem to work does not work on Windows 10 which I am using.

If you just bought a computer with this adapter in it, return it to the store for being defective before it's too late!!!

If you are visiting this thread looking for a solution because this is a computer you have owned for some time now, tough luck. You're stuck with it. Intel isn't likely to lend any support here either because they just don't care. They would rather push the blame off on something else and focus on profitable ventures then fix a mistake they made which most people don't notice.

[iniki1]

The AC7260 issues are indeed a shameful disaster for Intel, but I did find a combination of fixes that worked for me. I applied the ScanWhenAssociated fix mentioned in this thread, and in the Advanced tab in the adapter device properties, I set both of the channel widths to 20MHz only, and set the Roaming Aggressiveness to "Lowest".

[SLemo1]

I could not get this fix to work for me. Considering installing a broadcom card. $28 on Amazon but I'm not sure if it will work with my laptop.

[SLemo1]

I just bought a TP-LINK Archer T4U AC1200 USB 3.0 network adapter. After I installed the driver for this device from the disk that came with it the AC7260 started working... I'm not saying the other device fixed my issue. What I'm saying is that for some unknown reason I no longer get ping spikes of 200ms when using the AC7260 now. I think I will keep the TP-LINK USB adapter as a backup but it is rather bulky so I'm glad that my internal wireless card suddenly decided to work properly.

[SLemo1]

Oops. I spoke too soon. My spikes are spaced out on the internal card considerably more but still very much so present. (250ms+)

[SLead]

Greetings everybody.

I've encountered the same problem as many of you have and have managed to fix the problem.

Here is how:

1) Login to your router configuration in a random browser.

2) Find Wireless in the menu.

3) Go to Wireless Security.

4) Whether you are using 2.4GHz or 5GHz Wi-fi connection change the security mode to WPA2 and make sure that the encryption is AES.

By doing these simple steps I've managed to get the wireless connection fixed without the constant ping spikes and low connection issues.

Hope this helps.

[jbenavides]

Hello TheRedTiger,

Thank you for sharing this information, this will be very helpful for other users, as it adds another confirmed solution for this behavior.

[STan12]

i recently went to windows 10 and the driver is shit shit shit! bad spikes in dota2 and csgo. i tried something which reduced the spikes. i off the windows 10 wifi sense and add ScanWhenAssociated to the registry. but i need more than that cuz the minor spikes can be frustrating too

[jbenavides]

Hello,

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25279/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-for-Windows-10 Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software for Windows® 10, version 18.12.0 was recently released, please make sure you are using this driver version.

Also, make sure to apply the configuration from the advisory: http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/sb/CS-030709.htm Wireless Networking — What are the Recommended Settings for 802.11n Connectivity?

If the issue persists, there are other actions that may help in addition to disabling Windows 10* Wifi sense and the ScanWhenAssociated fix.

- Try disabling location services in Windows 10. As mentioned in this forum: - Also, you may disable P2P Windows updates in your wifi settings, as mentioned in this thread:

[STan12]

i am hurt. after i follow all the instructions, the lag became more noticeable. sigh seriously, what is wrong with the dual band ac7260?! it suppose to be a performer, not a loser D;

[jbenavides]

Hello Sams,

There may be other factors involved, for example, some older Access points, that are single band 2.4 GHz, may require additional tweaking to limit the capabilities of the wireless adapter, this was mentioned by user Surmenok in the thread:

Here are some additional actions that have resolved this for other users:

- Set the power plan setting to Maximum Performance when plugged in and on battery.

- Try disabling Bluetooth* (which also operates in 2.4 GHz).

[MAdbo]

The solution in my case was to uninstall the driver from the Device Manager --> Network Adapters --> Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 --> Properties --> Driver --> Uninstall. Now the driver is back to version 17.15.0.5 (dated 2015-02-22). I still get an occasional network scan, but I haven't really noticed any spikes during latency-sensitive gaming in the last 24 hours since applying this fix.

Before, with drivers 18.21 and 18.30, the spikes appeared clock-like with 1-2 seconds of latency spikes every 60 seconds. The latency seem to consist of two spikes combined: running a continuous ping (flag -t) on a wireless access point, I first saw 1-2 responses of 50-100 ms, then a 1 ms response, then 1-3 responses of 50-300 ms. The second spike is quite similar to what I see when I click the network icon in the Taskbar, which lists all available wireless networks nearby.

I am using a motherboard integrated Intel AC 7260 on my MSI Z87i AC. Running Windows 10. Can't really say when this issue started to occur, as I have been using both 2.4 and 5 GHz networks in two houses and have been moving the computer and the access point a few times too. It was just recently that it started bothering me to the point that I tried to find the root cause. I had no luck with any of the fixes suggested here nor elsewhere; I tried driver updates, registry hacking, bluetooth disabling, various adapter settings, various access point settings, wireless channel switching, zero/high load measuring, other access points, moving equipment around and so on to no avail. It is quite obvious that the issue is driver-related. The facts put forwarded in this post should make it quite easy for the devs to find a solution to this problem, I hope.

[JVanF]

Well this is interesting to learn. I'm on a desktop using a Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCI-E adapter that uses the AC 7260 chipset and I've been seeing this exact issue for months. I assumed it was my ISP because they've been a bit flaky, but after I tried updating my network drivers and noticed the problem manifested itself in a slightly different manner, I got curious. Thanks to this thread, I can reproduce the issue perfectly by jumping in an empty game server, tabbing out, refreshing the network manually, and watching myself warp around like crazy for a few seconds exactly like what I noticed before. Sadly, none of the solutions in this thread have helped so far on my Win 7 x64 system, in my case it's happening consistently every 5 minutes even with background scans disabled, so I wonder if something router-side is telling my computer to refresh the network or something like that.

In any case, it's nice to finally know that my wifi card is the problem, so now I can go buy something else that works properly and finally fix this annoyance!

Edit: Actually, it looks like the solution someone posted awhile back about going to b/g mode instead of b/g/a mode and then connecting over the 2.4GHz band instead of 5Ghz did help. The issue is still there but it's far less severe. Of course, my download speed is about halved but at least it's a working stopgap until I can find a good wifi card.

[Ifjkg]

I had exact the same problem and solution. SO revert back to 17.15.0.5 and also add ScanWithAssoiated in registrery. Intel just FIX these drivers.

The solution in my case was to uninstall the driver from the Device Manager --> Network Adapters --> Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 --> Properties --> Driver --> Uninstall. Now the driver is back to version 17.15.0.5 (dated 2015-02-22). I still get an occasional network scan, but I haven't really noticed any spikes during latency-sensitive gaming in the last 24 hours since applying this fix.

Before, with drivers 18.21 and 18.30, the spikes appeared clock-like with 1-2 seconds of latency spikes every 60 seconds.

It's not you guys, it's intel. I've tested with several devices and routers (and firmware's and drivers). The problem with ping is ALSO with AC-3160 the case.

Very very annoying those constant high ping, low low low....low..high ping hick-ups (even some occasional timeouts!)

Intel just FIX these drivers.

Intel just FIX these drivers.

Intel just FIX these drivers.

Intel just FIX these drivers.

It's not us, don't say fix your router, performance profiles, we already sorted that out. We already gave the problem and solution even, version 17.15.0.5 and scanwithassociated registry key fixes the problem.

[MMich22]

The solution I posted works for me on Windows 10. However, this is just treating the consequence and not the cause. My solution quickly stops the network card from looking for nearby networks. By the way, I think the problem is much more severe once you have a lot of wifi networks around. However, this is a problem related to Intel and switching to b/g is by far not a solution. This could be seen as driving a Ferrari like a Smart.

I do not know if this is a hardware or driver issue, but as long as Intel does not address it, reinstalling drivers or installing old driver will not help to solve it.

[jbenavides]

Hello,

We would like to let you know that the new version 18.32.0 of Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows® 7, 8.1 and 10 has been released.

* We strongly advise to check with your Computer Manufacturer for driver updates as first option.

This update is recommended Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 showing connectivity issues.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/75439/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC-7260 Drivers & Software

[SKip1]

Nice! Looking forward to test it and see if it fixed this issue!

[SKip1]

Nice, upgraded and rebooted, it's NOT WORKING!

>ping 192.168.0.1 -t

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=94ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=90ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=100ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

[jbenavides]

Please take into consideration that ping spikes can be caused by many reasons, we strongly advise you to review the actions mentioned previously in this thread.

The common causes include programs running in the background, Windows® features consuming bandwith, high CPU usage from other applications, highly congested wireless environments, wireless adapter configuration, etc.

If you consider that the adapter is having issues, you may contact the http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/oems.html Computer Manufacturer. If you prefer, you can also http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html Contact Support to engage you nearest Intel® Customer Support center.

[SKip1]

Then please explain to me why restarting the WLAN AutoConfig service fixes these ping spikes _every_ time?

[JYuan6]

Hey if you want a workaround for now I would recommend downloading WLAN Optimizer and setting it to run at start-up. Make sure to enable streaming mode in the program as well because only disabling background scans doesn't work. The Intel drivers seem to be self-initiating background scans and this can only be suppressed by enabling streaming mode.

Also disable location services and Cortana to get rid of the remaining, much more infrequent ping spikes. I'm using an Intel 7260 with the latest 18.33 drivers (From Jan 1, 2016)