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Intel Centrino Wireless-n 2230 - Windows7 - random disconnects

FM3
Beginner
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Hi

I am the recent owner of an Asus N76VZ notebook, which has an Intel Centrino Wireless-n 2230 card, running on Windows 7 64 bit.

My router is a DLink DIR 615, and I have 2 other machines using wireless (n and g) without any issues for years. Security type is WPA2-Personal, encryption is AES+TKIP. Range/Strength are good/excellent, 4/5.

I am experiencing random wireless disconnects followed by reconnects... sometimes wireless will work for hours, sometimes it will disconnect every 10 minutes. When reconnecting, sometimes it works on first attempt, sometimes it keeps reconnecting for 3 minutes, 1 attempt every 30 seconds. The disconnects are more frequent when the wireless connection is not continuously in use (browsing internet) or not in use at all, and rare when continuously using the connection (online gaming, radio).

The tool I am using to monitor them is the Wireless Event Wiever that comes with the drivers package, but Windows logs are showing the same thing.

I have tried all driver/app versions I could find for the Intel Centrino Wireless-n 2230 card, starting with 15.0.1.1 and 15.1.1.1 from Asus, also the versions available from Intel 15.6.1, 15.8.0, 16.1.1, 16.1.5. There was no improvement. [To make things worse, the Wireless Event Viewer tool that is installed by the newer Intel packages is functionally inferior to the older versions: looses the events logged in "realtime mode" when closing, and does not log anything while closed, unlike the one that comes with the original drivers from Asus.]

Also I tried every reasonable setting on router and card config: setting a fixed channel, disabling N, changing encryption, setting lowest roaming aggressiveness, nothing worked. Tested with another computer next to me and only the Intel Centrino Wireless-n 2230 was disconnecting from wireless. Disabled power saving for the adapter, that made things worse, wireless would stay off every time computer starts/wakes up.

Tried every checklist trick recommended on Intel support also.

The only info I could find are the log entries, showing sometimes an error RxDeAuth, with REASON_PRIOR_AUTH_INVALID, and more often AddToExclude with WEV_EXCLUDE_LIST_REASON_802_11_AUTH_FAILURE, the last one happens on each disconnect/reconnect.

I have no other ideas to try so I would appreciate some help in finding a solution. Next thing to do would be buying an external wireless Usb adapter, and never buying a computer having Intel Wireless again. So at least an explanation would be nice.

thanks

I can confirm that the problem is caused by the wireless card. Tested with another 2 different routers(DLink, Linksys) and also got some disconnects/reconnects when not continuously in use.

The worse part is that sometimes the reconnects fail, and are followed by another reconnect that fails, again and again, until I need to reboot both the laptop and the router.

Message was edited by: Francisc M

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9 Replies
Jose_H_Intel1
Employee
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At this moment our engineering department is working on a solution for the connection drops issues that were not solved with the latest driver (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=23169 16.1.5) and are driver (and not hardware) related. We are also asking for collaboration from technical savvy users who can give us a hand debugging and testing our drivers. You may also consider contacting your system manufacturer for further assistance.

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-034535.htm Intel� Wi-Fi Products; TechNote: Sporadic wireless disconnects caused by data reordering issue

In the meantime we appreciate your patience and understanding.

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FM3
Beginner
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Hi,

@joe_intel: I checked the "data reordering issue" description. As it is stated in the link you provided, that issue does not apply to the 2230 adapter on Windows7, which is my case.

I would appreciate if someone could explain the meaning/cause of the errors showing up in logs.

Thanks

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TLind7
Novice
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You'd think the engineering department would be able to fix something like this in less than 6 months or however long this has been a repeatedly reported problem.

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FM3
Beginner
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Workaround: Always keeping open an internet radio in a player that has the volume set to mute in order to keep the wireless connection alive seems to help. Poor solution obviously.

If I close the player and not use the wireless continuously, or not use it at all, it will usually disconnect/reconnect in about 5-60 minutes.

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Jose_H_Intel1
Employee
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You may also follow up in an older discussion about this very same topic: /thread/38676?start=210&tstart=0 https://communities.intel.com/thread/38676?start=210&tstart=0

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FM3
Beginner
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After trying to fix this for more than 6 months it's obvious that:

1. There is a problem with the drivers probably (or the hardware, less likely). After trying at least 7 driver versions and getting same results I gave up. Also the newer driver packages come with worse monitoring tools. After becoming (involuntary) a wireless "expert" it's time to move on.

2. The workaround I provided above (keeping the wireless continuosly in use by streaming something) works.

3. There is no real help from Intel. Posting some threads (that sometimes don't even apply to the situation) was not helpful.

4. The vendor of the computer (Asus) gets (the same) newer drivers from Intel from time to time, so no luck with that either.

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RWill13
Novice
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I have a Lenovo E430 Windows 7 Pro 64 with the Intel N2230 wireless card and was also experiencing random disconnects. Did the update driver routine and ended up with version 15.11.0.7. Still had problems. I worked and studied trying to solve this issue. Ended up making one settings change in the Device Manager and haven't had one disconnect since. Here's the change I made. Right click Computer and select Properties. Open the Device Manager. Click on the Network arrow to see the list. RIGHT click the N2230 entry and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab. Hilite the first entry 802.11N Channel width for band 2.4. Change value from 20 mhz only to Auto. Click OK.

Please note: the disconnects were random. I was having problems and after making this change the problem hasn't shown up again. Hope this helps..

RWill13
Novice
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Just had one disconnect. Not as bad as it was but still a problem. Frustrating!!!

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RWill13
Novice
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I'd made a couple of posts thinking I had this problem licked only to get frustrated again. I'd finally given up on the Intel card and purchased a Netgear adapter. With the Intel card disabled the adapter worked fine. Then the disconnects started happening again. OK, so we don't have a wifi card problem; it appears to be a Windows problem. Here's what I did.

1. Went to the manufacturers (Lenovo) website and downloaded the drivers for the Intel card. Even though the drivers were older a fresh start was needed.

2. Went to the Device Manager. Right clicked the Intel card and selected Properties. Went to the Power Management tab and Unchecked " Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

3. Went to the Control Panel and Clicked on Network and Sharing. Clicked on Change Adapter Settings. Right clicked on the Intel Wifi connection and selected Properties. UNCHECKED the IPV6 protocol.

So far so good. Only time will tell if this works.

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