Ax201 driver 22.150.0

[meowkung]

I have Surface pro 7 with Windows 11. The system updated my driver to 22.150.0 and wifi becomes unstable. Network package has been lost. I tried to uninstall the wifi driver, but it doesn't give me the option to delete the driver.

I tried to install driver 22.140.0, but the installer won't install the older driver saying a new driver has already been installed.

I tried to remove the 22.150.0 driver from device manager and pnputil as well. 

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello @meowkung

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

In order to review this further, could you please provide the following information?

1- Is the Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (Gig+) the original wireless adapter that came pre-installed in your system or did you install/integrate it on the laptop?

2- Are you having issues with Wi-Fi only or with Bluetooth too (both)?

3- How was the driver version 22.150.0 installed on the system? Was it through Windows* Update Service, Intel® Driver & Support Assistant (Intel® DSA), or using any other update tool? Please provide details:

4- When you said: "tried to remove the 22.150.0 driver from device manager". Was this step successful or not? What is the exact behavior/outcome?

5- Run the Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) to gather more details about the system:

• Download the Intel® SSU and save the application on your computer
• Open the application, check the "Everything" checkbox, and click "Scan" to see the system and device information. The Intel® SSU defaults to the "Summary View" on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View".
• To save your scan, click Next and click Save.
• Once you have saved the file (.txt file), please attach it to your reply.

To upload and attach a file, use the "Drag and drop here or browse files to attach" option below the response textbox.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[meowkung]

Attached is the text generated by SSU. I found a work around to my problem. I am using driver version 22.80.0.9.

Here is what I did and my current solution.

1. It is pre-installed in the system

2. I haven't tried bluetooth yet

3. The driver version was 22.150.0. It was updated by windows update

4 I opened device manager and then I went -> network adapters -> select "Intel Wi-Fi AX201 160MHz" then right mouse click to "uninstall driver"

The driver was removed successfully.

Then I do  "Scan for hardware changes"

"Intel Wi-Fi AX201 160MHz" was added back automatically

The version added back was 22.150.0

Wifi connection works intermittently. When I tried to ping my router, about half of packets were lost

I tried to

C:\WINDOWS\system32>pnputil /delete-driver netwtw10.inf
Microsoft PnP Utility

Failed to delete driver package: The specified file is not an installed OEM INF.

I repeated multiple times to remove driver 22.150.0 without success.

WiFi-22.140.0-Driver64-Win10-Win11.exe won't install because of newer driver in the system

I was so frustrated. I did pnputil /e into a text file.

Published name :            oem[XX].inf
Driver package provider :   Intel
Class :                     Network adapters
Driver date and version :   02/20/2022 19.51.40.1
Signer name :               Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

I deleted all driver package with Intel as driver package provider and Class as Network adapters with

pnputil /delete-driver oem[xx].inf

Out of those packages, I was able to delete all of them except one. I cannot remember the name package that I cannot delete.

I rescanned the hardware change in device manager. "Intel Wi-Fi AX201 160MHz" was added back automatically by device manager

My current driver version is 22.80.0.9 and I have no issue with WiFi at this moment.

By the way, the submit button in SSU directed to a broken link

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello meowkung

Thank you for your response and for all the details.

We're glad to know that you found a workaround and it is working fine at the moment with driver version 22.80.0.9. Please allow us to review this further and we will be posting back in the thread as soon as more information is available.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG_Intel]

Hello meowkung

After reviewing the download website for the laptop "Surface Pro 7" and clicking on the link to Surface Pro 7 update history, we noticed that the latest customized wireless driver (a.k.a OEM driver) provided by Microsoft is version 22.80.0.9 (Intel - Net - 22.80.0.9 - Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz - Network adapters) which is actually the one you reported that "is working fine at the moment".

Your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) may have altered features, customized drivers and software, or made other changes to provide improved operation and/or for better compatibility with their product, therefore, there is a difference between Intel® Software (generic drivers) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)-supplied software (OEM drivers).

Intel provides generic versions of software and drivers, thus, the usual recommendation is to use the OEM drivers as the first option and contact the manufacturer for the latest updates and technical support information.

As this Microsoft Surface laptop is usually a "closed platform" highly customized by Microsoft and considering that it does not have issues with the OEM driver, at this point the best recommendation is to keep using the OEM driver and check with your OEM Microsoft to ask for newer OEM drivers. For your convenience, here is the link to Microsoft* Support.

Having said that, we will proceed to close this thread now. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored. Thank you for your understanding.

Best regards,

Andrew G.

Intel Customer Support Technician