AX210 laptop card won't update drivers

[EJHonda]

I've been getting prompted to update the WiFi & BT drivers for my AX210 WiFi card, but I get an error each time I attempt to update the WiFi driver (the BT driver updates just fine).

Recently installed a new NICGIGA AX210 WiFi card in my Dell Latitude E5550 laptop, which runs Win10.  Card immediately picked up a driver and was working.

Ran the IDSA to make sure it didn't just have a generic driver in place, and the results said the 22.180.0 version of the driver was ready to install.  Attempted an install, but I get an error message stating "One or more issues caused the setup to fail. Please fix the issues and then retry setup."

I started searching through the support forums for potential answers, and tried various things.  Downloaded version 22.170 of the driver and attempted to install that, but got a message that my current driver was newer than the version I was trying to install. 

Somewhere in the forums, I found someone suggesting that a file they attached to their response had valid drivers for the AX210 card.  I downloaded and installed, and it worked.  I can't find the thread I got the file from, but Firefox tells me the download path was "https://community.intel.com/cipcp26785/attachments/cipcp26785/wireless/39195/1/".

I still was getting prompts that an update was available - 22.180.0 - but each time I tried to install it it failed with the same error message, and an error code of 1603

Saw some other folks reporting similar issues with applying the 22.180.0 update, so posted that I too was having an issue.  A user replied with a very detailed task list (https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Intel-Software-Installer/m-p/1439834/highlight/true#M44461) to try for me, so I did *everything* listed and noticed something: when all the drivers were uninstalled, Windows Device Manager classified my AX210 card as a "Network Controller", separate from the other network adapters.  The IDSA process didn't see the device as a WiFi card.  It was only as I scrambled to get my WiFi card working again, as this time nothing automatically repopulated the driver for it, that I poked around in the details for it and it led me back to the "intel-wireless-2.45.1.1.zip" file that gets it working once again.

I'm at a loss to understand what I've got going on at this point.  Again, Bluetooth is working all as expected, at least from a driver install/IDSA perspective.  I don't use BT anything on my laptop, but a quick test of pairing my Samsung GS21 phone to my laptop showed BT was working as expected.

I've uploaded my SSU log in anticipation of that being requested, and I do see some noise concerning the AX210 card.

[EJHonda]

So, I decided to do a search on the driver package I had earlier downloaded for my card.  The results were interesting, in that it didn't really offer me results but showed me suggested search terms that would result in findings.  The one that seemed somewhat related to my card was "intel wireless-ac 160mhz", so I clicked on it.

I looked through the offerings, and while most referred to a "AC 9650" card (not my card),  I saw one listed as a more generic "Windows® 10 and Windows 11* Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel® Wireless Adapters", which seemed like it would be worth a shot.  I downloaded the resulting file - WiFi-22.190.0-Driver64-Win10-Win11.exe - ran it, and it applied an update.

I switched over to the IDSA web page that had been nagging me to perform an update, and sure enough, rather than giving me the usual error, it now reports that the driver I had was more current than the IDSA version it had been nagging me to install.  Rerunning the IDSA now says I'm up to date!

My guess is the next time an update is available, I'll still have issues with using the IDSA and will have to manually search, download, and install the correct update.

[Jocelyn_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hello, @EJHonda.  

I appreciate the information provided. 

You should know that Intel does not support wireless integrations (installing a different wireless adapter into your system or laptop).  

We recommend you to speak with your Laptop the manufacturer of your equipment for support on wireless integrations and replacement parts to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements of your country and support. It is important to check for compatibility with the motherboard manufacturer, as there could be certain cards that will not work with the system. 

For more information, read the following article under the title "Regulatory Information Regarding Wireless Hardware Installation or Upgrade." 

Please, keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel. Thank you for your understanding. 

Best regards,   

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician.  

[EJHonda]

Got it - no IDSA support for me.