Firstly I've been having this issue for a long time and in different system builds. Right now I'm on Asus z690 tuf wifi that comes with an intel ax201 pre installed.
This is what i'm talking about.
Idle latency test. No other devices on 5Ghz band, smart connect off, fixed channel selected. 1200/1200 connection. These random spikes happen exactly every 10min when idle.
Since I upgraded my router i've been doing a lot of latency tests to see if I could finally play wireless without these random hiccups. (I can't).
With all the testing I found the problem and a few solutions.
Solution 1: Downgrade driver to 22.120.1.9 and set Global BG scan blocking to always.
Solution 2: Keep the latest driver 23.30.0.6 and make a script to enable/disable netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled.
Both solution 1 and 2 give me results like this. Perfect when idle, no more big 50+ms spikes.
Does Intel plan to fix this issue with a new driver? Maybe bring back Global BG scan blocking setting? Or work with microsoft to improve the way windows handles wireless? There is no reason to scan for other networks when the connection is good. I could understand the need to scan when moving around to switch to the best AP, but there should always be an option to disable it.
Just like smartconnect on a router, it supposed to switch the client to the most optimal band but it never works as intended/optimally and it's best to keep it disabled and select the network manually.
I'd be happy with solution 1/2 results, I've been playing without noticing any major hiccups but running a driver this old is not ideal. I could get used to enabling/disabling wlan autoconfig by having a .bat on the desktop but i'd prefer not to have to do that.
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I don't like installing any driver provided by the manufacturer because they include a lot of adicional software bundled with the drivers. I usually download driver only and update with device manager.
The link I mentioned earlier is from Microsoft update catalog. It was posted on station-drivers forum. But it's http not https that's why the browser is blocking it.
I was using that driver for testing purposes, I just reverted back to 22.120.1.9. Since it's the last that has Global BG scan blocking.
My previous desktop(years ago) with 8700k also had an intel 8265 and I remember I had the exact same issue while playing PUBG. But I fixed it by setting ScanWhenAssociated 0. That reg key no longer works though.
The laptop is a lenovo 10th gen intel laptop don't remember the model but it's not even relevant. It's a work laptop I just ran ping -t to the router to to test, the driver wasn't even up to date.
Edit: I installed the driver that's on the asus page but through device manager. I didn't use the installer.exe since I didn't want any of the bloat. Didn't take long, same spikes...
Reverted back to again with Global BG scan blocking. Still spikes, but less often.
Setting
netsh wlan set autoconfig enabled=no interface="Wi-Fi"
Is the only way to completely fix it since ScanWhenAssociated reg key no longer works. 30min no spikes and I was using the pc for basic web browsing + discord + spotify.
There needs to be an option to stop the wifi adpter from scanning networks when connected, similar to ScanWhenAssociated reg key. Global BG scan blocking helps but it's not enough on it's own it seems.
Every time it scans latency skyrockets.
