BE200 trying to use WPA3 when WPA2 is selected

[LP-E8]

After explicitly setting WPA2-Personal when manually configuring a WiFi connection. In the Windows Event viewer you'll see that Windows is trying to make the connection using WPA3-Personal, even though WPA2-Personal was selected. If wireless network does not have WPA3 enabled, the device will fail to connect to network.

Only occurring in Windows 11 24H2, does not occur in 23H2.

This issue is NOT present on driver version 23.40.2.1 or older.

All driver versions 23.60.1.2 and newer seem to have this issue.

Additional Information:

- The issue is with the original adapter that came pre-installed. This is also vendor agnostic. We are seeing the same issues with the BE200 adapter installed on several different Dell and Lenovo models. 

- This happens with multiple different WiFi networks. both in-office, and on home networks. 

- Event viewer screenshots attached

[VonM_Intel]

Hi LP-E8,
Thank you for posting in our Community. Customers have reported issues with WPA2 and WPA3 clients failing to connect to WPA2/WPA3 Enterprise (mixed mode) networks on systems running Windows 10 and 11 Versions and later. This problem is particularly associated with the use of specific wireless security configurations, especially when SHA-256 with MFP (also known as PMF) is enabled. To help mitigate this for now, you may follow my suggested steps below:

• Make sure that your network is configured to support WPA2 as a fallback if WPA3 is unavailable
• Keep your system updated with any future driver releases or Windows updates, as this issue may be addressed in upcoming versions.

By the way, to help me track this further internally, could you confirm:

• Are you able to consistently reproduce the issue on multiple devices with the same driver version?

• Are there any other network configurations or security policies applied in your environment that might affect Wi-Fi authentication?

Have a nice day!

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[LP-E8]

Hi VonM, 

Thanks for the response. in answer to your questions:

We are able to consistently reproduce the issue on multiple devices. We have multiple Dell and Lenovo devices with the BE200 adapter. All devices exhibit the same behavior on driver versions newer than 23.60.1.2. We are able to reproduce on enterprise wireless networks at our facilities, and on home networks. 

I don't believe there are any configs or policies impacting this. as noted above this issue is consistent and easy to reproduce on enterprise and home networks. But we will keep this in mind. 

[VonM_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Thanks for the detailed update. I can see that the behavior is not isolated to a specific configuration or network policy and appears to be tied to driver versions newer than 23.60.1.2 for the Intel® BE200 adapter. This information gives me a solid baseline for further investigation.

At this point, I’ll need to conduct additional research on this issue and review your observations more closely, and I will post an update in this thread as soon as I have more information to share.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Thank you for your patience. I would like to ask additional details:

• Are you able to consistently reproduce the issue on multiple devices with the same driver version?
• Is the working driver the OEM-provided version? If so, could you confirm the exact version so we can reference it for comparison?
• How many devices are experiencing this same issue with the same driver version?

Thanks.

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[LP-E8]

• Are you able to consistently reproduce the issue on multiple devices with the same driver version?
  • Yes
• Is the working driver the OEM-provided version? If so, could you confirm the exact version so we can reference it for comparison?
  • Yes, the last working driver is 23.40.2.1, A43 (Dell). Also working with A41, but that is the earliest driver we could get. 
• How many devices are experiencing this same issue with the same driver version?
  • currently about a dozen. we have many device with the BE200 adapter that are still working as they are still on 23H2. We have had to suspend 24H2 deployments to all devices with this adapter for this reason. 

[VonM_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Appreciate you sharing the SSU logs via email and the extra details here. I’ll dig into this further and post an update here once I have more information.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[PTE1]

We are having the same or similar issue - WPA3 transition-mode interoperability failure

Dell Latitude 7450  with Intel WiFi7 BE200 adapter running latest driver 23.160.0.4,
won't connect to a specific clients WiFi network.
Another Dell 7430 with Intel WiFi6 AX211 adapter connects fine.

Attached please find WLAN report sections from Intune Diagnostics, side-by-side in attached JPG.

Had instructed the user to attempt disable of WPA3 and set PMF to Optional within the adapters advanced properties,
but these options don't seem to exist.

My user is deployed to this client for several months,
and if we don't get it fixed, will have to send him a new notebook.

What can I do to fix this ?

Thanks,

Phil

[VonM_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Thank you for your patience. Based on my review, please note that in Windows version 24H2, the primary change regarding WPA3 is the automatic, mandatory prioritization of WPA3-Personal over WPA2-Personal when a network supports both. To better isolate, I kindly recommend checking the configuration on the access point (AP) side. Please verify whether WPA3 is enabled and share the exact model.

For additional reference, you may review the Microsoft article below:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/faster-and-more-secure-wi-fi-in-windows-26177a28-38ed-1a8e-7eca-66f24dc63f09

@PTE1 , I empathize with your situation and the issue you are facing. However, I kindly request that you create a new thread for your case. This will allow us to focus on your specific problem and provide you with better assistance.

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[LP-E8]

I can confirm WPA3 is NOT enabled on the APs. They are in WPA + WPA2 mixed mode. The models of the APs are Cisco CW9164I-A.

It doesn't make much sense that this would be only caused by the change in 24H2, as we are only seeing this issue on one specific adapter model, and older versions of the driver did not have this behavior. 

[JeanetteC_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Thank you for the detailed information. We can confirm that WPA3 is not enabled on the Cisco CW9164I-A APs, and they are operating in WPA + WPA2 mixed mode as you mentioned.

We will further investigate this matter to identify the root cause and any potential contributing factors.

We appreciate your patience and will update you as soon as we have more information.

Best regards,

JeanetteC.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Just a quick update, and thank you for your continued patience. I am still actively investigating the case at the moment. I will keep you posted here as soon as more information becomes available

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[VonM_Intel]

Hello LP-E8,

Thank you for your patience. Based on my internal review, if the older driver version is operating normally, it is most likely the OEM driver. OEM drivers are often customized and validated specifically for the platform hardware and firmware combination. For this reason, I recommend continuing to use the OEM-provided driver version that is functioning correctly on your system. Sticking with the OEM driver helps ensure compatibility with the system’s wireless hardware, BIOS configuration, and enterprise network environment.

Best regards,

Von M.
Intel Customer Support Technician

[LP-E8]

Hi Von, 

I dont think its advisable to stay on an old driver version indefinitely. That would be a security risk. Also, while we have a working Dell OEM driver, Lenovo does not. They arent able to provide old enough drivers. 

[LP-E8]

Hi Von, 

Requesting continued investigation and follow-up into this matter. 

Staying on old driver versions is not a safe or acceptable solution to this issue. It also does not seem to be related to OEM drivers as the issue presents the same on Dell and Lenovo hardware. This seems to be an issue with the base Intel driver for this adapter.