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AX201 weak signal level

Krzysiex
Beginner
8,563 Views

I have just bought brand new Asus laptop (UX425EA) with Intel AX201 Wifi card.

 

I have got Huawei WiFi router working with 802.11n radio staying at my attic.

This Asus laptop has very weak signal level - about -80 dBm, meanwhile all my old latops (even ancient HP mini) have got -60 dBm in the same place.

 

This is my second new Asus laptop, I have returned previous one to the shop because I was sure it was faulty. Unfortunately this one works evenly bad.

 

What can I do with that?

 

Regards

 

Chris

 

 

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,151 Views

Krzysiex, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.


In order for us to provide the most accurate assistance on this topic, we just wanted to confirm a few details about your system:

What is the specific model of the Router?

Was it working fine before using this same laptop and the same Router?

When did the issue start?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes?

Just to confirm, the wireless card, did you purchased it separately, or did it came installed on the computer?

Which Windows* version are you using?

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

Please attach the SSU report so we can verify further details about the components in your platform, please check all the options in the report including the one that says "3rd party software logs":

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91600


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician



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Krzysiex
Beginner
7,143 Views

Hi Albert;


SSU report is already attached to my original post, you can find there most of answers for your questions.


To summarize:


What is the specific model of the Router?

Huawei B315

Was it working fine before using this same laptop and the same Router?

No. It never worked fine.

When did the issue start?

Just after switching on brand new laptop. And it is second Asus laptop with exactly the same problem.

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes?

It is brand new item, I have just install W10, with all newest drivers and Windows updates.

Just to confirm, the wireless card, did you purchased it separately, or did it came installed on the computer?

Card was installed. It is brand new laptop unpacked a few hours ago.

Which Windows* version are you using?

W10 64-bit - see SSU.txt for details.

Does the problem happen at home or in the work environment?

It happens at home. It is a detached house with two floors and attic. Router stays at attic and covers whole house. There are no problem with interferentions. Rest of my electronic equipment works fine.


I attach anoher picture showing this problem. You can see there Assus laptop with AX201 (signal level -80 dBm, Inssider link score: 57), HP Elitebook (signal level -61 dBm, Inssider link score: 100), HTC smartfone (signal level -58 dBm).


AX201 has signal level about 20 dBm lower. I can't use it on ground floor.


Regards

 

 

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Krzysiex
Beginner
7,143 Views

And the picture...

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,135 Views

Hi Krzysiex, Thank you very much for confirming that information and providing the picture.


Based on the information showing in the SSU report, we can confirm that the wireless driver currently installed is version 22.50.1.1, which is the latest Intel® Generic wireless driver that we have available on our website:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30434/Windows-10-Wi-Fi-Drivers-for-Intel-Wireless-Adapters


Just to let you know, we always recommend to install the graphics driver provided by the manufacturer of the computer, since that driver was customized by them to work with your specific platform.


I looked on ASUS's website and the latest wireless driver version they have available is V22.30.0.11. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below:

https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-Home/ZenBook/ZenBook-14-UX425-11th-Gen-Intel/HelpDesk_Download/?model2Name=ZenBook-14-UX425-11th-Gen-Intel

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/wireless/intel-wireless-gigabit-products.html


If the problem persists after that, then please verify the information in the link below and try to:

-Change the channel width from "Auto" to "20 MHz"

-Change the Wireless Mode or HT Mode to "HT mode or 802.11n only, then "VHT mode or 802.11ac only" and after that to 802.11ax only to confirm if the behavior is the same with all 3 modes. 

-Disable Fast BSS Transition Roaming

-Test different bands, only the 5Ghz band and then the 2.4GHZ band only to confirm if the problem is the same on both bands

-Do you have the option to connect the computer to another network/Router/AP?

-Are you using a VPN connection? Do you have the option to disable it and test if the behavior is the same?

-For testing purposes, disconnect all other devices connected to the Router and test just your computer connected to it, to verify if the issue persists that way.


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Krzysiex
Beginner
7,131 Views

To keep thing stright: yes, I vahe plenty of time to experiment and test all possible software settings variants. No change.

I could try to use Asus drivers, but I always thought yours are better ones...

 

And yes, I tried different AP (on my smartfone) on 5 GHz and result is even worse. Take a look at attached picture.

There is 5GHz network named KS buld wih my smartfone (Samung A50 this time).

On  the right you see HP laptop with huge signal level (-14 dBm), and on the left you have got Asus latop not even seeing that network.

Note also, that HP laptop sees my neighbour's networks, while Asus sees my home network only (named Hubert).

 

I am not using VPN.

 

Regards

 

  

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,107 Views

Krzysiex, Thank you very much for sharing those details and providing the picture.


"I could try to use Asus drivers, but I always thought yours are better ones", the Intel® wireless drivers are generic, meaning they might or might not work with your system. The proper drivers for your computer are the ones tested and validated by ASUS, those are the drivers that contain the customizations advertised by them and that should work with your machine with no problems, please try a clean installation of those drivers and when you get the chance please let us know the results.


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Krzysiex
Beginner
7,100 Views

OK. I did that. No change.

 

Find attached new SSU report. 

Driver is a bit older (now January 2021 - was April 2021) but nothing else changed.

 

Regards

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,089 Views

Krzysiex, Thank you very much for letting us know those results and the updated SSU report.


We are sorry to hear the issue persists after installing the wireless driver provided by ASUS. We will do further research on the matter, as soon as I get any updates I will post all the details on this thread.


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,066 Views

Hello Krzysiex, I just received an update on this matter.


Just to confirm, do you know if your Router only supports the 802.11n protocol? I looked at the specifications of the Huawei B315 in order to confirm that information but it was not showing in there:

https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/4g-lte-routers/lte-cpe-b315/


What is the model of the wireless card in the HP laptop that does not present any issues?


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Krzysiex
Beginner
7,053 Views

HI Albert,

 

Yes, this router supports at most 802.11n and it is just fine for me.

This HP laptop has probably Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 9560 (I am not sure, I am on my vacations now), but it is NOT a matter of my WiFi network.

Find attached pictures of others laptops - all of them work fine, and all of them show the same (quite decent) signal level, even the oldest HP Mini.

The olny exception is Asus ZenBook.

 

Regards

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,049 Views

Hi Hello Krzysiex, Thank you very much for confirming that information and sharing the pictures.


"Yes, this router supports at most 802.11n and it is just fine for me", then the thing, in that case, is that if the Router only has 802.11n support it may be affecting the connection since you will not be able to use the full features of the AX card and changing the settings in the Laptop to AX or AC will not help tor cause any effect on this issue. 

 

"This HP laptop has probably Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 9560", for that same reason, is that the laptop that is working with a different Intel® Wireless card that is not using an AX protocol works without any problems since it is capable of using the full features of that protocol.


" I am on my vacations now", just to confirm, is it possible or do you have the option to test the laptop with a Router or Access Point that fully supports the AX protocol?


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Krzysiex
Beginner
7,043 Views

Hello Alberto,

 

I can't agree with you.

I am not interested in using "the full features of the AX card" - I just like to get it useful. There is something like backward compatibility. Do you try to suggest that AX card can't work properly in 802.11n network?

 

There are several electronic equipments more, which works like a charm with this network: washing mashine, air purifier, water detectors, and a bunch of laptops and smartfones. Should I rebulid my network because of one AX card??? It sounds ridiculous.

 

So, I think test with new AX router is pointless. Even if it works fine - what next? Should I drag my own AX router everywhere I need to connect to Internet properly?

 

Regards.

 

 

 

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n_scott_pearson
Super User
7,037 Views

This has come up again and again and again. The AX modules *have* to work properly with *any* router that is encountered. Do not ask people to test with AX routers; this is simply idiotic. Regardless of whether they have an -AC router or a -N Router or even a -G Router, it should just work. No one should have to change the configuration to make it work. A significant portion of users do not understand things at this level and simply cannot be expected to make these kinds of changes. I find it *unbelievable* that Intel would have such expectations. Fix this properly and do it quick; no more screwing around!

It's times like this that I am embarrassed to admit that I worked for Intel...

...S

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
7,026 Views

Krzysiex, thank you very much for your response and your comments.


We will continue with our research on this matter, as soon as I get any updates I will post them on this thread.


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Krzysiex
Beginner
6,967 Views

Hello,

 

any news?

Do you plan to test it? Confirm it? To take Asus ZenBook and see what is going on? 

 

Or any other plan?

 

Regards

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
6,952 Views

Hello Krzysiex, I just received an update on this matter.


After reviewing the case, based on the fact that the combination of this laptop and Router never worked fine before and since this is a range issue, we determine that the best thing to do is to verify with the manufacturer of the laptop if the antennas are properly installed and working correctly as well, also because the device never worked fine.

 

In reference to your questions, "Do you plan to test it? Confirm it? To take Asus ZenBook and see what is going on? Or any other plan?"


That will not be possible since we do not have an Asus ZenBook to test, however, we have plenty of systems using the Intel® AX201 card and no issues have been reported, in this case, the next thing to do will be to report this scenario directly to ASUS since the system might have a hardware problem. If Asus debug an issue between their system configuration and our Intel® wireless card they should report that directly to Intel® internally so we can work on this matter along with them:

https://www.asus.com/support/


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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Krzysiex
Beginner
6,924 Views

Hello Alberto;

no, problem with Asus antennas has low probability. It is my SECOND new Asus Zenbook with exactly the same symptoms. It is unlikely to encounter the same problem in two different new laptops.

It is a pity you don't have a Asuus laptop, but maybe it is not an issue to a global enterprise?

I have reported prolbem directly to Asus. I did it four times. Here you got RMA numbers: PLB4M34077, PLB4M35545, PLB4M42315, PLB4M51750.
Asus always claims there is no problem with WiFi, nevertheless finally they have returned money. So I have bought Asus ZenBook again...

And it is not working again.

 

Maybe you are ritght wirting: "they should report that directly to Intel® internally", but what I can do for that???

If there is a vendor (like Asus) installing your product (WiFi card) in a way it is working really badly so maybe it should be also YOUR INTERNAL PROBLEM?

 

Regards

 

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JMr
Beginner
6,940 Views

Hello,

I have the sane system Asus UX425EA and exactly the same problem, weak RX and TX signal. Tested on several routers and in office multi AP environment. It's about 20% less strength (reported by laptop) and about 18-20 dB less (reported by router) than other 2 laptops. 

I've started discussion on Zentalk: https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/50401/ux425ea-weak-wifi

I've also called Asus support but they advised to buy USB WiFi dongle.... great support Asus!

I will be happy to talk to Asus to look for solution but how to get through call centre and talk to real technician? Krzysiex if you will find a way let me know. There is more people having similar problem with this laptop. (I know at least one more person.)

 

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Krzysiex
Beginner
6,922 Views

Hello JMr;

 

Quality level of Asus services is really low.

I sent them my first laptop (UX425JA) four times. And I received four identical "service reports" saying something like: "our multilevel, advanced, proffessional test conducted according best producer's procedures showed no problem".

 

But after sending them more and more proofs they finally returned me money.

 

Then I made a mistake, and bought ZenBook again (UX425EA this time). And this model has exactly the same problem.

ZenBook looks nice and is quite decent laptop - the only problem is its WiFi range.

 

Regards 

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Alberto_R_Intel
Moderator
6,915 Views

Hello Krzysiex, Thank you very much for letting us know that information.


JMr, Thank you for posting in the Intel® Communities Support.


In regard to both of your responses: 

"they should report that directly to Intel® internally", but what I can do for that??? 

"I will be happy to talk to Asus to look for solution but how to get through call centre and talk to real technician?"

 

I will double-check if there is a specific method or way for you to report this scenario to ASUS so they can work internally with Intel® about this matter, as soon as I get any answers I will post all the details on this thread.


Regards,

Albert R.


Intel Customer Support Technician


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