AC8260 & AC8265 major connection issues with Asus routers ...

[MSerm]

I have tried 2 separate HP Laptops, one with AC8260 and one with AC8265 cards,

and both have issues sustaining a solid connection to my RT-AC1900P (RT-AC68U)

Asus router on the 2.4Ghz band. The connection will randomly lose pings to the router

for about 20 seconds then fix itself, however the wireless link remains connected.

Laptops are Spectre x360 (one Pro - older model) and one newest Intel 8th Gen.

This is on both laptops running latest drivers 20.40.0.4 (also tried many older ones),

and Windows 10 Pro x64 (latest updates). The wireless network has a strong connection

and it's always full bars and 144/144 Mbps (this is running on a 20 Mhz channel width),

although I've tried many other options, including changing power options in the Intel

Wireless drivers as recommended on Intel Technical Bulletins, without success.

New installs of Windows 10, as well as factory resets, tried everything ...

Sometimes the issues happens every minute, sometimes every ~10 minutes.

The same cards seem to work fine with an Asus RT-N66U on 2.4Ghz band.

What's the next step for troubleshooting this issue ?

Thanks in advance!

[AlHill]

Have you updated the firmware in the RT-AC68U?

Doc

[MSerm]

Yes, newest firmware from February of this year (3.0.0.4.384.20308).

I've also ordered a 9260 card but I'm guessing it will have the same issue, sounds like a driver problem almost ...

[idata]

Hello escape75,

We would like to gather more information for at least one of the systems:- Intel® System Support Utility report. 1. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows- Download the latest Intel® SSU. 2. While connected to your WiFi network, run the scan. Select to include "everything." 3. Name and save the report.- Your WLAN Auto-Config log. 1. In the search box on the taskbar, type Command prompt, press and hold (or right-click) Command prompt, and then select Run as administrator > Yes. 2. Enter: netsh wlan show wlanreport 3. Go to: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\WlanReport\ locate wlan-report-latest.htmlAs for the router, do you have any custom configuration such as QoS (Quality of Service) or security restrictions?Best regards,Eugenio F.

[MSerm]

Here are the requested log files ...

I normally have QoS enabled in Auto Mode (web browsing)

but I have tried disabling it and it makes no difference.

When the network goes down sometimes the default gateway cannot be pinged,

but sometimes you just cannot open a specific website (or ping it) but another

website will load, and after 20 seconds everything works again.

I can sometimes reproduce the error but re-loading the same website over and over.

Thanks.

[idata]

Hello escape75,

Thanks for sharing the files. The WLAN report shows several disconnections, please try the following recommendations:

- Perform a https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html clean wireless driver installation using the https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-spectre-13-ae000-x360-convertible-pc/16779579/model/18164672?sku=2SP80UA driver provided by the OEM (20.0.2.3 Rev.P).

- If you're not using IPv6 or hotspot features, please disable "Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter" and "Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface" at Device Manager.

- Test https://www.lifewire.com/best-wifi-channels-for-your-network-818278 different wireless channels for 2.4GHz.- Reset the router to factory settings. Please bear in mind that you'll have to configure your network again, refer to the https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RT-AC1900P/HelpDesk_Manual/ router user's manual for details.

NOTE: Links to third party sites are being offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel of the content, products, or services offered there.

Please let us know the results.

Best regards,

Eugenio F.

[MSerm]

Thanks for your suggestions ...

I have performed a clean un-install of the driver and then installed HP's 20.0.2.3 - but the issues continued.

I have tried different channels, but the issues still continued on multiple other channels.

I have also reset my router and unfortunately the issue is still there.

I was pretty sure that would be the outcome as I've already tried about 10 different driver versions,

resetting windows, clean windows installs, even reversing the wireless antennas in one laptop,

and also different router options, plus Intel wireless advanced options to do with power and sleep.

Please note that my other devices,- 2 iPad's, Macbook Pro, Samsung cell phones all work just fine,

and I believe this is the only device that uses the Intel wireless adapter (and not a Broadcom card).

It seems the issue is more complex than that, just to give a further example of the issue:

Start a large download in Chrome, and it will continue downloading, and while that is taking

place go to some website and keep re-freshing and usually within 10-50 reloads it will freeze

and either give a connection error or partially load a few website resources,- however at the

same time the previously started download will continue downloading. Pings to the website

will also go down and unreachable and in about 20 seconds everything will fix itself ...

I should also add that the above behavior isn't always the case, sometimes the link

actually does go down, either with a yellow exclamation mark and unable to ping router,

or no notifications but yet the router cannot be reached,- and this fixes itself shortly ...

Thanks!

[MSerm]

Just a follow up to the issue, after a clean reset, original HP drivers,

I triggered an internet outage so my router could not be reached via ping,

then rebooted the system and run the intel and wlan reports ...

It seems whatever takes place (10-20 second complete outage) is not recorded at all.

Only a single entry in the system log having to do with the DNS servers cannot be reached:

Log Name: System

Source: Microsoft-Windows-DNS-Client

Date: 2018-03-24 4:32:34 PM

Event ID: 1014

Task Category: (1014)

Level: Warning

Keywords: (268435456)

User: NETWORK SERVICE

Computer: DESKTOP-HURJVO2

Description:

Name resolution for the name client-office365-tas.msedge.net timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded.

Event Xml:

http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">

1014

0

3

1014

0

0x4000000010000000

1217

System

DESKTOP-HURJVO2

client-office365-tas.msedge.net

128

02000000C0A80064000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Thanks.

[idata]

Hello escape75,

Thanks for your reply. We understand from the first post that the issue is limited to Asus RT-AC1900P*. Have you tried contacting https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/oems.html Asus* to learn if there are any known limitations with certain adapters?Also, the Asus RT-AC1900P* is a dual band router. Is there a particular reason why you're using the 2.4GHz band over 5GHz?Best regards,Eugenio F.

[MSerm]

No, I have not tried contacting Asus as it's *not really* an Asus issue as far as I can tell.

I have actually tried getting another brand new RT-AC1900P and it behaved in the same way.

The RT-AC1900P (RT-AC68U) has a fairly standard Broadcom BCM4360 wireless chip,

and routers aren't really meant to work with any specific client card,- it should just work.

The reason I run 2.4 ghz is because of range, the signal on 2.4 ghz is much stronger

and I do not require speeds that 5 ghz offers, as my internet connection is limited.

Plus when I travel I'd like to have a reliable wifi client, and most hotels offer 2.4 ghz only.

The RT-N66U on the other hand uses an older Broadcom BCM4331 I believe ...

This is the first time (aside from driver issues) where I've seen a wireless card behave this way,

and I'm hoping it would be in Intel's best interest to try to nail down and fix this weird issue.

Thanks!

[idata]

Hello escape75,

Thanks for your reply.As you confirmed before, the wireless adapters on your HP Spectre x360* laptops are working properly with other routers/networks.We noticed that your router is transmitting the 2.4 GHz band in 802.11n protocol instead of 802.11ac. This makes a huge difference in connection rate. Please try the following for comparison:- While connected to the 2.4 GHz, open a CMD and run netsh wlan show interfaces command. - Without closing the same CMD windows, connect to the 5 GHz band an run the same command.- Pay attention to the Radio type and Receive/Transmit rate.Please let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.Best regards,Eugenio F.

[idata]

Hello escape75,

The idea was to demonstrate that the connection rate is slower that it could be, if transmitted on 802.11ac the overall connection quality might improve.

At this point, please contact the router manufacturer for further assistance.

Best regards,

Eugenio F.

[MSerm]

Thanks for the reply, but I fail to see how this helps the situation ...

Using a wifi analyzer I can see my 2.4ghz signal upstairs varies from

-35db to -65db depending on the location where testing is performed.

We can also see that 144 mbit is the max rate on 2.4ghz in a 20 mhz channel,

and if switched to 40 mhz it becomes 300 mbit, however, it is set to 20 mhz

because I have other devices that will not work when forced to 40 mhz,

and the router will fall back to 20 mhz in that case anyways.

To summarize, the connection issues happen while the signal is at -35 db,

on 2.4ghz on a 20 mhz channel, with an Asus RT-AC1900P (RT-AC68U).

What can we do to further troubleshoot the issues as opposed to looking at connection rates and workarounds ?

Do i need to setup wireshark on the laptop and try to figure out the issue by myself, or just buy a Broadcom card ?

I have also contacted Asus about this (as suggested) and linked to this forum entry,.. so far no response.

Thanks again!

[MSerm]

Right, both the connection rate and quality would definately change ...

Operating at 5 ghz the connection rate would be higher but connection quality would be lower.

The current signal with -60 db is certainly excellent, with a noise floor of -90 db,

and there is absolutely no issues with either signal quality or the connection rate.

The point was that even during a background transfer, new requests to other websites can fail,

and this will persist for about 10-20 seconds after which the partial connectivity returns to full again.

From other posts on the internet it seems other reported issues might be very similar to this one,

and most of them are still unsolved, or solved by upgrading to a different adapter which is worrisome.

Thanks.

[idata]

Hello escape75,

You should be able to connect using either band and still operate in 802.11ac. Using the 802.11n radio will make you more vulnerable to RF interference as well as further limit your maximum connection rate. A lower connection rate will result in more frequent disconnects due to signal degradation.Ideally, you should be able to connect to 2.4 GHz in 802.11ac.If this is not something you wish to address, we can still make the following suggestions:1. Power Options: - Go to control panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Set to High Performance and apply the default settings. - Check the Change Plan Settings > Change Advanced Power Settings > Wireless Adapter > Power Saving Mode and make sure both "On battery" and "Plugged in" are set to Maximum performance.2. Advanced Adapter Settings: - Right click on Windows* Icon and choose Device manager > Network Adapters > Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 > Right click and select Properties. - Go to the Advanced tab. Note: these settings will be named differently if you're using an older driver. - Channel Width for 2.4GHz: 20 MHz - Roaming Aggressiveness: 1. Lowest - Disable all "Wake on.." settings if like most of us, you don't use WoWLAN.3. Try by manually choosing a wireless channel on your router. The recommended non-overlapping 2.4 GHz channels are 1, 6, and 11.Best regards,Carlos A.

[MSerm]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will do more testing in 2.4 ghz band after changing the power settings.

I have already put my router on channels 3 or 4, after scanning the spectrum for interference.

When using 5 ghz band I can confirm that there's no issues, however the card supports both, so

saying that I should be using 5 ghz and not 2.4 ghz is like saying you should be driving your ferrari

always over 100 kph because below that speed the engine might stall

The point is that I will not always be able to control the routers I'm connected to, so 2.4 ghz should work.

As far as 802.11ac vs 802.11n, by definition 802.11ac is only available on 5 ghz ...

"Keeping 802.11ac constrained to the 5 GHz band was a reasonable decision on the

part of the working group, largely because we have done everything we can with the

2.4 GHz band. We have squeezed just about every bit out of every Hertz of spectrum

that we can, so it's time to find new territory"

Like I said, I will do more testing, but again the issues I'm seeing on 2.4 ghz

are NOT related to interference, and NOT related to signal strength, because they will

happen while there's a background download doing 1 MB/s, and yet new website requests

will fail while the download is continuing, and then resume on their own 20 seconds later

Thanks again!

[idata]

Hello escape75,

Thanks for your reply. Please let us know if there's anything else we can do for you.Best regards,Eugenio F.

[MSerm]

I have done more testing and there was a also router firmware update in the meantime ...

The issue is still there using 2.4 Ghz, so although 2.4 Ghz is usable you can tell right away

the product is simply malfunctioning and not loading websites (once in a while) like it should.

Running on 5 Ghz "seems" to fix the issue, of course as expected signal strength is lower,

because 5 Ghz has less penetration than 2.4 Ghz, but at least it doesn't disconnect.

Of course, the above fix is unacceptable because I will not always have access to 5 Ghz,

so I expect a wireless product to perform just as well on 2.4 Ghz as it does using 5 Ghz,

but I guess most testing was done in 5 Ghz so there is a fault with 2.4 Ghz connectivity.

I'm also pretty sure I've seen this issue on 2.4 Ghz in windows 7, so it's not OS related.

I have seen this on 8265 & 8260 (different laptops) so I'm guessing it's affecting all Intel cards.

The issue is not solved, and won't be solved, unless Intel engineering is willing to look at this ...

There has been no reply from ASUS yet, mind you, the router works with my 20 other devices,

and I have also tried replacing the router with the same model, and the issues were identical.

Thanks in advance.

Edit, this is typically what happens ...

1) I noticed issues loading sermak.ca

2) pinging default gateway still works ...

3) 10 seconds later, default gateway goes down

4) 20 seconds later, default gateway comes back

5) we can again reach sermak.ca, connection restored

Pinging 192.168.0.100 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.100: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.100: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Pinging sermak.ca [192.185.160.194] with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Pinging 192.168.0.100 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.158: Destination host unreachable.

Reply from 192.168.0.158: Destination host unreachable.

Pinging 192.168.0.100 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.

Reply from 192.168.0.100: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.100: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Reply from 192.168.0.100: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Pinging sermak.ca [192.185.160.194] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.185.160.194: bytes=32 time=85ms TTL=50

Reply from 192.185.160.194: bytes=32 time=81ms TTL=50

[idata]

Hello escape75,

Thanks for your reply. As you pointed out before, the both systems are working properly when connected to a network managed by a different router.

If you're convinced both wireless adapters are defective, we recommend https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/oems.html contacting the systems OEM to request a hardware warranty replacement or purchase the spare parts directly from them.

Best regards,

Eugenio F.

[MSerm]

Yes, I've tried 4 separate systems now, all with either a Intel 8260 or 8265 card.

3 systems were Hp Spectre's, and one was Lenovo Miix 700.

I've tried 3 routers, 2 of them were RT-AC68U, and also a RT-N66U.

All 4 systems had issues on 2.4 ghz with the RT-AC68U.

It seems there's no issue on 5 ghz, and it seems there's no issue with the RT-N66U.

I don't think 4 cards are broken,- what's broken is something with Intel driver wireless code,

because the issues happen regardless of driver version, or windows operating system version.

I am guessing this issue affects thousands of users running 2.4 ghz with specific router models.

Thanks.

[CMora8]

If a plethora of driver versions, operating systems, and devices --- all present issues only when connecting to one particular router model... well, that's your common factor and should be your main suspect.