AX211 Signal drop and slow connection under load

[haum]

Heyho,

I am having problems with (mainly) my download rate. I'm using 2.4GHz because of the distance (5-6m with 2x floor in between). The signal strength of 5GHz is way to bad and causes complete disconnects.

When idling (no download in progress) I get a rate of 144MBps for up/download rate. However, once a download has started, the download rate drops dramatically, having a very low download speed (sometimes the download speed drops to <100kBps) and can't listen music and watch my 3d printers video stream at the same time.

Infos:

I have an XMG Pro 17 E23 and using the latest drivers for the AX211 module (installed via DSA) on Win10x64. A BIOS and EC update has also been released by XMG in the last few days, which I have already installed. In addition, I have attached a detailed system report generated by Intel's DSA to provide all the necessary data about my system ("DSA_Detailed-System-Report.zip").

I've already written to Schenker XMG support and got a new module to exclude damaged hardware, but that didn't solve the problem, so it seems to be a driver issue.

To illustrate the problem, I wrote a WLAN logger python script that logs upload and download rates as well as signal strength over 60 seconds. A speedtest (speedtest.net) was always performed approx. 5 seconds after starting the log script. The plot ("_Plot Workspace.png") shows that the download rate of the old and new AX211 drops dramatically compared to my older AC8265 Dual Band module from my XMG P707 (2017), causing very slow download speeds. (Edit: I just noticed a model-typo "AC 8256" instead of "AC 8265" in the plot)

I have included the plotted "*.log" files and the screenshot of the speedtest results as an archive ("Workspace (Distance ...).zip").

Please let me know if theres anything I can do to improve the connection to my FritzBox7590 (FritzOS 7.50).

Kind regards,

haum

[Alberto_R_Intel]

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

We are sorry to hear about this issue and we will be more than glad to assist you with this matter. 

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

When did you purchase the laptop?

What is the model of the Router?

Was this specific machine, under the current configuration, working fine before without showing the download rate issue that you are describing?

If yes, when did the issue start?

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes that might cause this problem?

Just to confirm, the wireless card currently installed in your machine, did you purchase it separately or did it come 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, 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

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[haum]

Hi Albert,

When did you purchase the laptop?

On March 15th 2023.

What is the model of the Router?

It's a FritzBox! 7590 running FritzOS 7.50.

Edit: Only 2.4GHz are active at the moment, because of the distance. I also tried 5GHz, but that was even worse.

Was this specific machine, under the current configuration, working fine before without showing the download rate issue that you are describing?

I had the issue since the beginning. That happened also with older drivers, but I'm not sure about the exact version number t.b.h.

If yes, when did the issue start?

-

Did you make any recent hardware/software changes that might cause this problem?

I changed an AX211 Modul by a newly delivered one from the XMG-Seller (bestware).

Just to confirm, the wireless card currently installed in your machine, did you purchase it separately or did it come installed on the computer?

The module is the original one, planned and equipped by the XMG-developers. As i just mentioned, I just changed it by a new one i got from their support.

Which Windows* version are you using?

Win10 22H2 (Build 19045.2728)

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

The problems happens at home, but never was that extremely bad with my old P707 (AC8265 Dual-Band).

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

The full SSU-Report you can find as an attachment.

Kind regards,

haum

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi haum, Thank you very much for providing that information and the SSU report.

Based on the details shown in the SSU report, the wireless driver version currently installed in your computer is 22.220.0.4 which is provided by Intel®:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19351/windows-10-and-windows-11-wi-fi-drivers-for-intel-wireless-adapters.html?wapkw=ax211

For this scenario, it is very important to mention that when you install a wireless card on a laptop that is what we called "Wireless Integration". The thing about that process is that there are a lot of components that come into play, like for example: board, wireless card, drivers, PCI adapters, antennas, m.2 ports, all those parts need to be fully compatible for the proper functionality of the Wireless connection. There is also regulatory information about the "Wireless Integration" that you can verify in the following links:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005687/network-and-i-o/wireless.html

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005846/network-and-i-o/wireless.html

Additionally, the Intel® wireless drivers are generic, meaning that they might not work as expected with some devices. Based on that, it is always recommended to install the wireless driver provided by the manufacturer of the computer, since that driver was heavily customized by them to work with your specific platform.

I looked on XMG PRO (E23) website and I can see that they have a wireless driver available for download. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below:

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

[Driver-Intel_Wifi (for Standard Intel Cards)]:

https://download.schenker-tech.de/package/xmg-pro-15-17-e23-xpr15e23-xpr17e23/

Also, we suggest to get in contact directly with XMG Support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed on your machine or, if necessary, to gather the instructions on how to update it:

https://www.xmg.gg/en/contact/#

Once you get the chance, please let us know the results.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[haum]

Hi Albert,

I looked on XMG PRO (E23) website and I can see that they have a wireless driver available for download. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below:

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

[Driver-Intel_Wifi (for Standard Intel Cards)]:

https://download.schenker-tech.de/package/xmg-pro-15-17-e23-xpr15e23-xpr17e23/

As I got the notebook, I started with drivers on the bestware-driver site, including wifi, where I was redicted to intels AX211 driver download page: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19351/windows-10-and-windows-11-wi-fi-drivers-for-intel-wireless-adapters.html

Also, we suggest to get in contact directly with XMG Support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed on your machine or, if necessary, to gather the instructions on how to update it:

https://www.xmg.gg/en/contact/#

I was already in contact with their support. They've sent me a new AX211 to see if the hardware is affected. As this was not the case, there was only the driver left, and due to bestware redirects to the generic driver, I wrote into intels community forum.

Btw:

On the bestware-driver site recently a new BIOS and EC Firmware was released. That updates I have already installed, so I'm running on the latest ones.

Best regards,

haum

[Etk]

did you find an answer? I have the exact same issue, it jumps from 0.7 download to 300...

[haum]

Hi etk,

no not until now. But it's recommended to install the drivers clean, if you didn't checked that solution out before: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/wireless.html

In my case that didn't worked. Therefore I asked a friend if I can borrow his WLAN-module to exchange the AX211 with the one he has, but due to lack of time I wasn't able to try this out still yet. If this fixes the problem, I will downgrade to another module and built the AX211-module back in from time to time to check if the performance-issues are fixed.

Best regards,

haum

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi haum, Thank you very much for letting us know those results.

We are sorry to hear the issue persists after trying the troubleshooting steps provided previously.

Based on that, we will do further research on this matter to try to find a possible solution for this scenario. As soon as I get any updates, I will post all the details on this thread.

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

We hope you can find the solution to the issue on this thread. Just to let you know, as an alternative, you can also always submit your inquiry on a new thread, the reason for this is that every scenario is different even if the same product is being used, so for us to better assist you and in order to try to fix the problem, please submit a new thread:

https://communities.intel.com/community/tech

Let me apologize for any inconvenience.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

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

While we are still working on this case, we just wanted to confirm:

Did the issue happen with the original card?

Does it happen on different networks?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello haum, I just wanted to check if you saw the information posted previously and if you need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[haum]

Hi Albert,

I'm waiting for new driver revisions and didn't replaced my WLAN module testwise, because I didn't got the module, which I mentioned above, yet.

When I found solution I post again to help others, having the same problem.

Best regards,
haum

[Etk]

I've tested the ax200 card, swapped it and it seems to be much better. I've also tested some other card but I forgot which model it was, it's whatever lenovo p14s is using, so I think the issue is the ax211.

It seemed to me that the distance is the biggest factor. Though the other 2 cards achieved respectable results even under load at the same distance, ax211 not only had lower download speed, but it performed terribly underload. When bringing the ax211 card closer to the wifi, did it achieve similar download speed.

[haum]

Hi Etk,

thanks for the infos.

I can confirm, that the distance is highly critical. As I go downstairs and reduce the distance, I have also similar upload- and download rates and speeds as I had with my old AC8265 Dual Band.

Compare the attached 2 data-sets:

- Plot Workspace (5-6m with 1x floor inbetween) - Bad AX211 Performance (Same plot as in my first post)

- Plot Couch (2-3m with 1x floor inbetween) - Same AX211 Performance

Then I will try to change my module as well and report again, if it was "fixed" by that too.

Kind regards,

haum

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hi haum, Thank you very much for your response.

Perfect, no problem at all, take your time to do the tests and once you get the chance, please let us know the results.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello haum, I just wanted to check if you were able to replace the module and if you still need further assistance on this matter?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[haum]

Hi Albert,

yes, I borrowed an AC8260NGW module from a friend which I replaced with the AX211 from my XMG Pro 17 (E23). It took now a while, as I used the module a few days for test reasons. Since the replacement I hadn't any problem with stuttering videos or something.

I just finished the log-capturing now and uploaded the same plots as in my previous post, but with the log-data of the new module added in addition.

- Plot Workspace is the problematic case (5-6m + 2x floor inbetween)

- Plot Couch is for comparison (1-2m + 1x floor inbetween)

It can be clearly seen that both AC8260NGW (XMG Pro17 replacement) and the AC8265 (my old XMG P707) have a better performance regarding the connection quality and stability. Therefore I assume, that the AX211 has some kind of problem. If it's coming from hard- or software I can't say. Anyway, I hope it helps Intel to fix whatever is causing this issue, because when the connection drops it's just annoying to try to use the device further.

Kind regards,

haum

[Andres_Intel]

Hello haum,

Thank you for all the information provided it is very helpful.

We will start with an investigation of this issue to provide with more information as soon as possible.

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Andres_Intel]

Hello haum,

We have been working on the investigation, we covered all the troubleshooting that we can perform on our end. Signal strength issues are mostly caused by antenna problems, I would recommend checking the antenna connectors with your laptop manufacturer.

Now we will close this thread. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored. 

Regards,  

Andres P. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[haum]

Hi Andres,

I now, you mentioned, this thread is not tracked anymore, but for my answer I don't want to open a new thread.

Your argument with the signalstrength isn't valid, I would assert. As you can see on the plots, the signal strength seems not to be affected, the tested AX211 module is always in the same range as the AC8265 (P707) and the AC8260 (Pro17 E23 replacement). With both of them there was no connection problem. The Uploadrate seems also to be ok, as most of the time the curves stay in a "tolerance-band". The only significant difference is the downloadrate, where the AC8260/AC8265 very clearly stand out.

When the antennas are the reason, then why I can't see similar stand-out graphs in the uploadrate and signal strength plots?

Kind regards,

haum

[haum · Accepted solution]

Update:

My performance issues are gone with a clean install of the latest official WLAN/BT drivers from Intel (v22.230.0.2). Now the downloadrate is even better as before with my reference-notebook.

Kind regards,

haum