Does your AX201/AX211 work fine with mesh network? Mine constantly roams beetween APs. Ideas?

[AndrewG10i]

If you have AX201/AX211 and mesh network with several APs - can you please confirm that your AX201/AX211 WiFi card works fine and doesn't constantly roam? (assuming PC/laptop not moved)

I have installed TPLink Deco PX50 mesh network at home and noticed that two my computers:

• PC with ASUS MB B560-I and AX201 (Win10)
• laptop Lenovo Legion with AX211 (Win11)

both started behave the same, particularly they both constantly roam between APs, what can be confirmed by checking current BSSID using command "netsh wlan show interfaces". Alternatively I have created a script which constantly prints BSSID after making ping, and it demonstrates how AX201/AX211 constantly roams:

Also in the Event Log message with ID 7003 constantly logged, what means "Roam Complete":

7003 Roam completed

On Win11 it doesn't show event description, but it can be seen in Win10 as follows:

I have already closely worked with TPLink senior engineer on this issue. He connected to my network, logged into Deco units, we reproduced the roam issue and he showed me logs on Deco units which say "Station XX:XX:XX:86:74:87 roams itself" (where MAC belongs to my PC with AX201):

So conclusion from TPLink engineer that the issue is with the Intel AX201/AX211 card which can not properly work with MESH network. Unfortunately I do not have another mesh routers (from another vendor), thus was not able to confirm conclusion from TPLink re AX201/AX211 with other vendor mesh network. 

I have already tried the following ways fixing it, but nothing helped:

1. Install Win10 from scratch and test on the clean system;
2. Use latest WiFi drivers from Asus and Lenovo websites for the MB and laptop;
3. Use latest drivers from Intel website;
4. Tried to set property "Roaming Aggressiveness" to "1. Lowest" in WiFi adapter advanced properties, but it didn't have any effect.
5. Tried to use different channel width (80 and 160 MHz), but no effect as well.

And to clarify that I am using 5GHz band enabled only on the Deco units with 160MHz channel width. Deco units set to AP mode. For the PC (AX201) I have disabled "Mesh Technology" option in the Deco App.

Highly appreciate if community can share feedback on the issue described above!

Thanks in advance!

[AndrewG10i]

And to clarify that I am using 5GHz band enabled only on the Deco units with 160MHz channel width. Deco units set to AP mode. For the PC (AX201) I have disabled "Mesh Technology" option in the Deco App.

[AndrewG10i]

As an option and to avoid spending $$ on another mesh devices I am thinking about rather purchasing WiFi card with chip from another vendor (Broadcom? ...need to search which are available...), for replacement of AX201/AX211 in pc or laptop as that going to be a more cost efficient.

[n_scott_pearson]

The AX201, AX211 and AX411 all use an architecture where the MAC portion of the solution is implemented in the chipset and only the PHY portion of the solution needs to be implemented in the Wireless card. Bottom line, you must have a card that supports the CNVio2 bus in order for the two portions of the solution to work together.

In some cases, M.2 connectors that support the CNVio2 interface will allow you to use a card that includes both the MAC and PHY (like the Broadcom cards would). In other cases, however, this won't work. I have found no rhyme or reason for this difference; it just is or isn't.

Hope this helps,

...S

P.S. You say you played with the Roaming Aggressiveness. Did you also try playing with the Channel Width? Not saying this will make any difference, but...

[AndrewG10i]

@n_scott_pearson, thank you so much for your input! ...oh, okay, maybe I won't messing with replacing wifi card then, as I have already wasted too much of my time dealing with the the roam issue, thus don't wont to spend more time on dealing with not compatible cards...!

As per channel width: Deco PX50 allows to set 80 or 160 MHz channel width only, and yes, I have tried 80MHz but no luck with 80MHz as well. (will update initial post with this info).

Thank you so much again for spending your time on this topic!

Some more updates:

I have also tested today two another laptops with Deco PX50 mesh network:

• Lenovo X1 Gen4 with AC8260 (Win10, latest wifi driver from Intel website)
• Lenovo X1 Gen6 with AC8265 (Win10, latest wifi driver from Lenovo Support website for this specific model)

and they both seems to behave properly, without random roaming. They roam only when I move them from one room to another room (so behave as expected).

The only issue I noticed with them both - that their System Event Log spammed with the following event: ID 6000 - BSS missed beacons

6000 - BSS missed beacons

Just adding it here as additional diagnostics I have performed. But not sure how to interpret this.

[Jean_Intel]

Hello AndrewG10i,

Thanks for posting on the Intel Communities. We are more than glad to help you with the roaming issue.

To better assist you, please, provide me with the following:

• Were you able to have your wireless connection in a normal/expected performance before?
• Do you remember if this issue happened after a new Operating System update or Wireless driver update?
• Have tried a rollback to a previous driver version for testing?
• Have you checked if this issue happens on different networks?

Best regards,

Jean O. 

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG10i]

Hello @Jean_Intel,

the answer for your questions is the following:

1. In my case, on two computers, AX201 and AX211 wifi cards work okay when they are connected to the standard WiFi (not mesh) network with one AP;
2. Once I connect them to the mesh wifi network (with several APs) - the described in the first post issue with random roaming start occurring.

I even did the following test:

• in my case I am using Deco PX50 mesh routers. So I took two of them, reset them, and then set them to the same settings (BUT not as a mesh network, just two separate routers with the same WiFi settings: band, network name, password, channel, channel width, etc). In such case AX201/AX211 do not have roaming issue.
• but once I set routers to work as wifi mesh network - the described originally issue with random roaming start happening.

So this test confirms that issue only with Mesh WiFi network and how Intel wifi cards AX201/AX211 handle additional info sent in mesh network. See more explanation about this test:

Any thoughts or driver updates? ))

Thank you!

[Jean_Intel]

Hello AndrewG10i,

Thank you for the information provided.  

We will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details. 

Best regards, 

Jean O.  

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Jean_Intel]

Hello AndrewG10i,

After reviewing this internally, we would like to inform you that our recommendation for roaming aggressiveness is to set up based on the article Advanced Intel® Wireless Adapter Settings.

However, we would like to confirm more information about your system:

• Were you able to connect without issues in the past?
• What WPA setting are you using?
• Which driver version are you using?
• Most roaming issues are related to Mesh configuration, so we would like to know if you have enabled fast roaming in your TP-Link configuration.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG10i]

Hi @Jean_Intel,

thanks for your reply! Please find my comments below:

Re "Roaming aggressiveness" - yes, I have seen that article. I also confirm that I tried different options (Lowest, Medium (default), even Highest), but none of them had any effect on the issue.

As per other questions:

• Were you able to connect without issues in the past?

This is the 1st time I am using mesh wifi network. But the important fact that absolutely the same issue reproduces on my two computers (see the 1st post): 1) PC with ASUS MB B560-I and AX201 (Win10); and 2) Lenovo Legion laptop with AX211 (Win11).

• What WPA setting are you using?

I am using WPA2-PSK [AES]

• Which driver version are you using?

I was trying different ones: latest version from the computer manufacturer website and also latest from the Intel Support website. Nothing changed with the issue.

Currently the following versions are installed:

1) PC with ASUS MB B560-I and AX201 (Win10): 22.200.2.1 (latest from Intel website)

2) Lenovo Legion laptop with AX211 (Win11): 22.190.0.4 (latest from the Lenovo website, but the latest one from Intel I tried as well, just saw recommendation from one of your teammates in another discussion thread that "drivers are heavily customized by manufacturers, thus you recommend to use the latest version from manufacturer website first and only after that try the latest version from Intel").

• Most roaming issues are related to Mesh configuration, so we would like to know if you have enabled fast roaming in your TP-Link configuration.

I have tried both options: with Fast Roaming enabled and not - still no effect, issue remains the same.

Below I am providing Deco settings are currently in use:

Let me know please in case you need any other information from me!

Thank you!

[Jean_Intel]

Hello AndrewG10i,

Thanks for the information.

We will continue researching this matter internally. We will post back as soon as we have more details.

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Jean_Intel]

Hello AndrewG10i,

We appreciate your patience.

Have you tested systems from other manufacturers that use third-party wireless adapters instead of Intel adapters?

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[AndrewG10i · Accepted solution]

Hi @Jean_Intel,

I have an update on this topic. Yesterday I bought a new mesh router set - ASUS XT8. And seems with the new mesh routers from Asus - everything works fine, no random roam issues occurring anymore, also no weird "BSS missed beacons" events in Windows Event Log on other laptops or any other info/warn messages related to network/WiFi. With Asus routers - everything works absolutely perfect, what basically is expected from Asus.

Thus obviously the root cause was actually related to sh*tty TPLink Deco XP50 routers, about what I am going to write them as well, as I have wasted on them a lot of my time and a couple hundred bucks. This was my last time I gave TPLink a try, no products from TPLink anymore in my tech landscape! :))

Thanks for investing your time in this!

Cheers!

[Jean_Intel]

Hello AndrewG10i,

We are glad to know you found a solution, thank you for taking the time to share this fix, and hopefully, it may help other community members experiencing similar behavior. Since you have marked this thread as solved, we will proceed to close it. Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel. Thank you for your understanding. 

Best regards,

Jean O.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KillsKilllen]

When my laptop with an Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 network adapter connects to one of my two mesh TP-Link XE75 APs (not the main AP then it works as expected) I get intermittent network failures that makes it impossible to use for e.g. gaming.

None of my other four laptops or other connected devices are having this problem and I did not have it with my old Wi-Fi router.

-

Many others describe this problem:

-

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Unstable-connection-with-Intel-AX200-AX201-and-TP-link-XE75-mesh/td-p/1523466

-

https://community.intel.com/t5/Wireless/Does-your-AX201-AX211-work-fine-with-mesh-network-Mine/m-p/1479291

-

It is easy to reproduce, setup an environment as described above and make a continuous ping to e.g. www.google.com and every 20 seconds or so it will fail.

Please fix this problem.

[jjd]

Know this is old, but wanted to add that I am experiencing the same behavior with Google Nest Wifi Pro.

[AndrewG10i]

Hi!

As author of this topic I may confirm that in my case root cause was related to the poor quality (as usual) of the TP-Link Mesh routers (TP-Link Deco PX50).

Now I have Netgear Orbi RBR760 and all the same computers / laptops - and everything works absolutely fine, no issues with roaming at all, moreover it works absolutely properly (roams me to the nearest AP when I move between rooms).

Hope this helps!

Thanks!