AC 9260 dropping bandwidth throughput when connected to AC/DC power?

[yi000]

When the device is connected to AC/DC power the bandwidth throughput is dropping instantly and significantly by ~ 30% (from ~94 Mbps to ~60 Mbps) in comparison when running on battery.

There is no loss in the RSSI however.

Uninstalled the driver, including cached source files, rebooted and reinstalled and rebooted once more but to no avail.

Tried all sorts of variation in the device/driver settings but no remedy either.

Just to rule out something related to power plan setting the one for AC is matching/mirroring the one for battery.

Completely baffled and at a loss of why this is happening and how to resolve it.

• W 10 Pro x_64 v1809 b 17763.379
• driver v20.120.1.1

• Clevo Notebook P7xxTM1
• Intel Z370 (Kaby Lake)
• Intel Core i9-9900K (Coffee Lake-S, P0)
• 2x 16384 MB PC21300 DDR4 SDRAM - Crucial Technology BLS16G4S26BFSD.16F
• Super-IO/LPC Chip:  ITE IT8587E
• BIOS AMI 1.07.20, 01/10/2019

Is there some app/tool available to monitor what happens to wlan hardware/driver when switching between battery and AC power?

[yi000]

Just ran a live Ubuntu 18.10 and the issue is not present. Which pretty much rules out any hardware defect or misconfiguration in the BIOS and basically points to a serious bug in the driver for W 10.

Where/how can this be reported?

[yi000]

An online chat with an Intel rep did not bear any help and instead been deflected to the OEM manufacturer, however latter is not coding the driver's core in the first place and their customized version is just exhibiting the same issue - which would imply that the issue starts at upstream and is not something that can be remedied downstream.

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello yi000, Regarding your question about some app/tool available to monitor what happens to Wlan hardware/driver when switching between battery and AC power, I would like to share that Intel does not provide this type of software but we would like to check some information about this inquiry in order to provide you with the best recommendation. 1. Did the Intel® Wireless-AC 9260 come already installed in the system or did you integrate it after purchasing the computer? 2. I would recommend you to perform the clean installation of the wireless drivers following these steps: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html I would recommend you to perform the installation using the drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer first since they will provide you with customized drivers according to the system needs and features. You can also try to install our generic drivers provided in the Intel Download Center: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28623/Windows-10-Wi-Fi-Drivers-for-Intel-Wireless-Adapters?product=99445 3. Also, I would suggest using the following recommended settings for power management and connectivity: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005879/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000024678/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html 4. If the issue persists, please run the Intel® System Support Utility to have more details about your system and the drivers installed: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows- • Click the menu where it says summary to change to Detailed View. • To save your scan, click Next and click Save. You can save the file to any accessible location on your computer. • Please attach the document into the post. Regards, Abigail G Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[yi000]

1. The OS was not pre-installed by the OEM vendor. I did the installation clean from scratch and thus initially the driver provided by the OS installed. Thereafter I tried the OEM driver version 20.70.0 and 20.110.0.3 and then generic 20.120.1.1 from Intel.com. All exhibiting the same issue, as stated above this happens only in WIN 10 but not in Linux (Ubuntu 18.10)
2. As mentioned in the initial post all installations been clean installations, i.e. the source been marked for removal at uninstall/removal
3. Been through various power plan settings and in order to mitigate error sources the settings for AC are exactly the same as for battery
4. it does persist indeed, sys info attached

[yi000]

> Regarding your question about some app/tool available to monitor what happens to Wlan hardware/driver when switching between battery and AC power, I would like to share that Intel does not provide this type of software

What about

IntelWiFiDriverEtw_driver_customer.dll

listed as diagnostics?

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello yi000, Thank you for the information provided. I think that there was a misunderstanding with the information about the OS. What I meant was more related to the wireless adapter, I would like to know if the physical wireless adapter was already installed in the computer when you purchased this one? However, the information provided about the OS is helpful, I appreciate the details provided. Besides this, I would like to know if you have tested with a different power supply? Regards, Abigail G Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[yi000]

My bad, yes the card came pre-installed from the vendor. But I do not see how that makes a difference considering that the issue is not present in Linux.

The vendor offered to swap the AC 9260 against a Rivet Killer™ Wireless-AC 1550 and I will probably go for it if neither Intel nor Clevo will be able to get this sorted. Not sure whether it will make a difference though considering both using the same chip and that the drivers are likely almost identical, that if Rivet is basing their driver on the Intel code.

Got only 1 power supply available, I am afraid. And then again if it would be faulty the issue would likely be present in Linux as well.

Been monitoring the voltage when on AC and battery. The voltage on AC is hovering around ~ 17.1 V and ~ 16.3 V on battery respectively.

To me it looks like either a bug in the OS or the driver, not being aware whether the driver been tested with similar hardware settings and the OS version stated in the initial post.

But since there are no diagnostic tools provided it is difficult to debug the issue.

[yi000]

please del

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello yi000, Thank you for the details provided. I was working in the information provided, and since it seems to be a power issue, we would suggest getting in contact with the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) of this Clevo Notebook P7xxTM1 for further information or troubleshooting advice. We would recommend you to check with them if a BIOS update or a change in the the settings of the BIOS may help to improve the system compatibility/stability, since we are not familiar with their versions. If possible, we also recommend testing the computer with a different OS image. Regards, Abigail G Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[yi000]

You are completely vague of how you reached the conclusion that this being a power issue, care to elaborate?

Pointing to the OEM vendor seems to be rather a deflective reflex and not really trying to get to the bottom of the matter, e.g. by providing tools to debug/diagnose.

The OEM vendor is not coding the driver and as it happens with the generic driver too it seems rather a serious bug in the driver code than anything else.

Even the driver from the OEM does not state it being an OEM driver but Intel's driver...

If it would a BIOS/power issue such would be happening in Linux as well but it does not, like pointed out previously.

The Intel experience is rather sobering and as such I have voiced that in a recent survey.

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello @yi000​ ,

In order to continue checking your case, please provide us with the following information:

• Please fill out the Word document attached in this post.
• Please provide the system information report.

1. Click on the Windows icon from the tool bar and type “msinfo32” in the Search field.
2. A System Information entry will appear, click on it.
3. In the System Information window, click on File > Export and choose a location to save the System Information file.

I will be waiting for your response.

Regards, 

Abigail G 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[yi000]

Filling out forms and providing countless system information other than the already furnished SSU is hardly going to debug/diagnose the issue. What is needed instead are tools for debugging/diagnosing the driver when switching from AC to battery or vice versa.

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello yi000, Thank you for the response. We will review the information provided to address this issue. We will get back to you soon. Regards, Abigail G Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello yi000, We were reviewing the information provided and we would like to suggest the following set up for the wireless adapter power settings: On battery: Medium Power Saving Plugged in: Maximum Performance You also mentioned that you installed the OS and then you installed the drivers provided from the OEM and us, and the bandwidth issue persisted. I would like to know if the wireless speed was working properly when connected to the AC/DC power adapter before, or it never worked as desire? Did you perform any change on software or hardware in the computer? Regarding the tool inquiry/request, we would like to clarify that we don't have tools to recommend for power consumption monitoring as the power is more tied to the system OS. Please let me know the outcome of the recommended settings above. Regards, Abigail G Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[Abigail_G_Intel]

Hello yi000, I was checking this thread and I would like to know if you were able to perform the troubleshooting steps provided before? Regards, Abigail G Intel Customer Support Technician Under Contract to Intel Corporation.

[yi000 · Accepted solution]

@Abigail_Intel​ I had untertaken those steps already previously, the entire variety of power settings, all with the same outcome - the bandwidth throughput dropping the instant the device gets connected to the AC/DC.

Decided to use a product from a different vendor and that sorted the matter, no more issue with the bandwidth throughput in any power state/configuration