HP laptop with AX200 disconnecting frequently

[jg2910]

I have posted about this on Microsoft forums twice with minimal luck.

Original post on microsoft forum where I run wlan diagnostics and capture a lot of "The driver disconnected while associating." errors.

New post on microsoft forum where I ask again for help and get replies from what I think is an AI bot.

Laptop is an HP envy x360 with an Intel AX200 wireless adapter.

AX200 worked great on my wireless network, and then I updated from Windows 10 Pro to Windows 11 Pro.

After updating, I randomly drop off the network at least once per day. I can reconnect only by going to windows network connections and manually restarting the wireless adapter, at which time it reconnects immediately.

As a troubleshooting step I fully uninstalled and deleted the old AX200 drivers and installed 23.160.0.4 directly from Intel. This did not resolve the issue. I see now there is a new driver 23.170.0 which I'll try now. The microsoft forum recommended rolling back to driver 22.170.0 which I can't even find anyway. 

No other devices on the network have these issues. It does not seem to be associated with any specific application or network activity. 

What I've tried so far:

• Fully uninstalling (AND DELETING) old drivers and updating to latest drivers direct from Intel (will try 23.170.0 now)
• Disabling 802.11ax (didn't work)
• Forcing channel widths on 2.4 and 5GHz to 20MHz (didn't work)
• Lowering roaming aggressiveness (trying now, was medium now it's set to medium-low)

Any other thoughts or info I can provide to figure this out?

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

Thank you for posting on Intel Community Forum. I appreciate all the information and troubleshooting steps that you performed so far. Just to set the proper expectations, please be informed that product you are reporting is an OEM original equipment manufacturer device. Kindly take into consideration that our support may be limited since we are not familiar with the technology, settings and customizations that the OEM has designed on your system, However I will do my best to assist you with your concern.

To effectively address the issue, kindly share the additional information below.

1. Is this the original adapter that came pre-installed in your system, or have you changed/installed a new adapter recently?

2. Have you tried rolling back to Windows 10 Pro to isolate the issue?

3. Have you checked if this issue happens on different networks?

4. Have you tried the drivers from HP?

Additionally, to have a better understanding of your system configuration and components please generate a complete copy of the System Support Utility (SSU) report. Please follow instructions here and send the report - How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows*

I look forward to your response.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

Hi Jed,

Replying to your questions below:

1. Is this the original adapter that came pre-installed in your system, or have you changed/installed a new adapter recently?
Yes this is the original adapter which came with the laptop, no modifications were ever made.

2. Have you tried rolling back to Windows 10 Pro to isolate the issue?

No and I am not going to do that, Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 and it is considered discontinued and no longer secure. 

3. Have you checked if this issue happens on different networks?

I never use this laptop outside of my home and so have not had the opportunity to test this.

4. Have you tried the drivers from HP?

The HP website lists driver 22.120.0.3 Rev.A from March 2022 as their latest drivers listed.
Is your recommendation to roll back to this driver version?

[jg2910]

An update: I do think the dropout is happening more under high network load like video chats etc.

Changing roaming aggressiveness does not appear to do anything.

Updating to the latest Intel drivers (23.170.0) does not appear to have done anything.

I have now downloaded the old 22.120.0.3 drivers from HP and have successfully rolled the driver back to this. I'll report back if the dropout occurs again.

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

Thank you for sharing all this information. I truly appreciate your proactive approach in installing the driver from the OEM. This is an excellent step, and we also recommend using this driver since it’s specifically customized by the system manufacturer to ensure full compatibility with your device. Please continue to monitor your system, and if the issue reappears or anything unusual comes up, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’m here to help.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

I just had a dropout again with the rolled back drivers direct from HP. They did not resolve the issue. 

What do I do now?

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

Thank you for keeping me updated. Since installing the drivers from HP didn’t resolve the issue, could you please generate a System Support Utility report? This will help me review your system configuration and identify the next steps. You can follow the steps here: How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows*

I look forward to your response.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

See attached @JedG_Intel 

[jg2910]

And a (maybe unrelated) update - I see a number of storage related errors as well in the logs

"The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk2\DR2."
I ran CHKDSK in powershell as well as a separate HP diagnostic utility and it returned zero issues with the drive. 

I've checked and the drivers for my Intel SSD, SSDPEKNW512G8H, are dated 6/21/2006 (well before this laptop was even built).

I searched Intel and HP for driver etc updates. Windows update says the drivers are the latest and are okay.
On HP drivers there are some SSD firmware updates in 2022, and I've updated the SSD firmware to the latest they have listed (HPS3). 

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

Thank you for the effort you’ve put in and for sharing your observations during your checks. I truly appreciate your attention to detail. To help us move forward and resolve the issue, please follow the steps outlined below.

1. Confirm there are no pending Windows updates.

2. Make sure the router or Access Point (AP) is well configured. We recommend contacting your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to ensure this.

3. Make sure you have the recommended settings for the wireless standard: Recommended Settings for 802.11ax Connectivity.

You may also check this article for more information: Intel® Wireless Adapter Keeps Disconnecting from the Network

If the same issue persists, please let me know.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

1. There are no pending Windows updates.

2. There are 15-20 other wirelessly connected devices on this wireless network and no other devices have problems. Why would my ISP provide recommendations for a separate third party (Netgear) wireless router? What settings specifically would you expect them to provide suggestions on? IPV6?

3. Every single setting mentioned in this recommended settings article is the way my AX200 is currently configured. 

What should we try next?

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

Reaching out to your ISP or router manufacturer is an important step to ensure everything is configured correctly. Since the issue still persists despite the troubleshooting steps, I’ll take this forward and investigate the matter internally. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

What router settings specifically would you want to investigate? I am going through my router documentation and it's all configured in line with Netgears recommended settings. 

What were you able to learn from the SSU log I shared on 11-3?

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

Regarding the router settings, I’m unable to provide specific configurations since these can vary by manufacturer. It’s best to confirm the details directly with them. If the settings in your router documentation align with Netgear’s recommended configurations, that should be fine.

Based on the SSU logs you shared, the laptop appears to originally support Windows 10 and does not have drivers specifically for Windows 11. This could potentially cause compatibility issues, though this is only a possibility and can be confirmed by the OEM. We’ll need to continue troubleshooting to be certain.

Since you prefer not to roll back to Windows 10 Pro due to its end of support, could you try performing a System Restore on the current Windows 11 installation and check if the issue persists? If that doesn’t resolve it, please proceed with a clean installation of Windows 11.

If the problem continues despite these steps, kindly perform a clean installation of Windows 10 for isolation purposes and to verify stability.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

Unfortunately I think this is where our troubleshooting ends.

I'm just not going to fully reinstall an OS, whether a discontinued one or reinstalling Win11, on a total guess that it may or may not do something. It's a massive inconvenience and doesn't really have much justification of what it might accomplish beyond throwing darts at the wall.

I don't understand how after multiple forum posts, providing logs and diagnostics to HP, Microsoft and now Intel I can't get a clear explanation of what the issue is and how to resolve it. 

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

I'm sorry that you feel this way, and I perfectly understand where you are coming from. Based on what was mentioned—that the wireless network worked well before the OS update—we’re currently focusing on the Operating System as a possible cause. To help us narrow down the issue, could you confirm whether the OS compatibility was checked prior to the update? You can also confirm this information by contacting the system manufacturer. This detail will be very helpful in identifying the root cause and finding the best solution for you.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

HP does not list any drivers beyond Windows 10 for this laptop but it's almost certainly because they are disorganized and not because they are suggesting it's not Windows 11 compatible. I have a troubleshooting thread on the HP forums about this as well but it hasn't yielded any new solutions.

Reverting to Windows 10 is not a reasonable troubleshooting step as remaining on Windows 10 is not a realistic solution. It is no longer recommended by Microsoft, no longer supported with security updates and considered no longer secure.

The AX200 worked fine on Windows 10 and no longer works reliably on Windows 11. 

If we did revert to Windows 10 simply to gather more information and it began working properly, what specifically would our next troubleshooting step be?

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

I completely understand your perspective and appreciate your input. However, as previously mentioned, based on the specifications provided in the official HP link, your laptop is listed as supporting Windows 10: HP ENVY x360 Laptop - 15z-ee000 CTO Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Support.

At this point, what we can do is proceed under the assumption that your laptop may support Windows 11, or it’s possible that HP’s documentation is incomplete. Only the manufacturer can confirm this with certainty.

If you revert to Windows 10 and the Wi-Fi card functions properly, this would indicate that the issue is related to the operating system. Taking this step will also help us determine whether there’s a compatibility issue with our drivers or if the problem is isolated to your system.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel]

Hello jg2910,

I sent you an email to continue the support. Kindly check your inbox at your earliest convenience.

Best regards

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[jg2910]

Thanks, I saw the message requesting that I reach out to the manufacturer.

I have already done this since posting to the Intel forum, and HP's only recommendation is to install the latest Intel drivers in spite of the fact that

1. HP does not post these drivers on their own support page for this laptop
2. I have already tested with these and it did not resolve the issue

So HP has not provided any useful alternative insights