AX211 not connecting to 5GHz wifi

[solidos]

I have a new Gigabyte G7 KE laptop with the AX211 Wlan card, running the newest updated Windows 11. I have a 5 GHz and a 2.4 GHz wifi at home. The laptop mostly doesn't connect to the 5 GHz network (but sometimes it does after many tries). When I set the 5 GHz network bandwidth to 20 MHz it always seems to connect to it. To the 2.4 GHz one it always can connect to.

I removed the Wlan and Bluetooth drivers from device manager, restarted, checked in device manager that the Wlan nor Bluetooth is installed, then installed the latest version of Bluetooth and Wlan drivers (22.190.0.4) from the intel website.

I also tried an Ubuntu 22.10 live disk and there it always connected fine to the 5 GHz network. This problem seems to be with Windows.

The router is Asus RT-AC53. I have multiple other laptops and smartphones that always connect fine to the 5 GHz network.

I tried to debug the Wifi connection like described here (i.e. run "netsh trace start wireless_dbg capture=yes", try to connect until it fails, then filter the resulting log as they suggest): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/networking/wireless-network-connectivity-issues-troubleshooting

With the recommendations there I got the log attached to this message. It says "Connection failed" and it gives "Reason code = 0x38002".

Any advice?

[Alberto_R_Intel]

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

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?

Was this specific machine working fine before being able to connect to the 5GHz band with no problems?

If yes, when did the issue start?

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

The wireless card, did you purchase it separately or did it come installed on the computer?

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

Any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[solidos]

It was purchased last week. I have not made any hardware changes to it, it has the same wireless card as it came with. I installed Windows 11 on it and since the beginning it has had problems connecting to the 5 GHz network at my home, but sometimes still connecting to it.

If I make a 5GHz Wifi hotspot with my phone, it connects fine to it. If I set the home 5 GHz wifi bandwidth to 20 MHz in the router settings, it also connects fine to it, but then I don't get the full speed of my internet connection. On the Ubuntu live disk (without changing anything, just booting into it with default settings), it connects fine to the home 5 GHz network no matter what bandwidth I set in the router settings (so also 40 or 80 MHz).

I have also tried the version of the drivers from the manufacturers website, but they still have the same problem: https://www.gigabyte.com/Laptop/G7--Intel-12th-Gen/support#support-dl-driver-wlan

[Alberto_R_Intel]

solidos, Thank you very much for providing that information.

We are sorry to hear the issue persists after trying the troubleshooting steps you mentioned previously. In that case, since you also tested the drivers provided by Gigabyte, we will do further research on this matter to try to find a possible solution for this scenario. For us to be able to do that, 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

Just in case, it is important to mention that this could be related to a hardware issue with the computer itself. Since the laptop is brand new, you can also get in contact with the place of purchase to claim the warranty on it, most of the times they have a 30-day policy. 

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Alberto_R_Intel]

Hello solidos, 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

[solidos]

Yes sorry I'm currently away from the laptop, but I hope to be able to get the SSU log in the coming days.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

solidos, Thank you very much for letting us know those updates.

No problem at all, once you get the chance, please provide the SSU report. I will be doing a follow-up on this case in a couple of days.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[solidos]

Here is the SSU log.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

solidos, Thank you very much for providing the SSU report.

According to the information shown in the SSU document, the wireless driver currently installed on your computer, as you mentioned, is 22.190.0.4.

It is important to mention that we always recommend 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 Gigabyte's website and the latest wireless driver version they have available is 22.100.0.3. Please try a clean installation of that driver following the instructions in the links below:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Laptop/G7--Intel-12th-Gen/support#support-dl-driver-wlan 

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

If the problem persists after that, then try a clean installation this time of our latest wireless driver version 22.200.0.6:

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

We also recommend to get in contact directly with Gigabyte Support to make sure the latest BIOS version is currently installed on your device or to gather the instructions on how to update it:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Support

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

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[solidos]

Currently a person is on a trip with the laptop and it might take some time (maybe even months) before I can test the laptop at home again. I will write again once I can try the newer 22.200.0.6 drivers.

The drivers on the Gigabyte website I have tried, they had the same problem. The Gigabyte website doesn't have any BIOS update for this laptop (for example for older laptops there are also BIOS updates at the same page where they have the Wlan drivers, but for this laptop there aren't any).

I note again that on Linux the Wifi connection works fine on the same laptop with the same BIOS. Somehow the Intel drivers on Windows don't work as they do on Linux.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

solidos, Thank you very much for letting us know those updates.

In reference to the drivers and BIOS provided by Gigabyte, it is always helpful to get in contact directly with them because they might have drivers that are not currently available on their site and also you will be able to report this scenario. They also may have a solution for it and if this situation was reported by other users, they might be able to replicate the issue using the same exact board being described on this thread.

Since it is unknown when the person will be able to test the computer at home again, if it is ok with you, we will close this case, he/she will be able to re-open it or create a new one once him/her becomes available?

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[solidos]

Yes sure you can close this for now.

[Alberto_R_Intel]

solidos, Thank you very much for your response.

We will now proceed to close the case.

Regards,

Albert R.

Intel Customer Support Technician