Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 Intermittent Signal Drops

[JTio]

Hello,

I am seeking assistance to determine whether this is a known issue with the Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 adapter or if anyone has experienced similar behavior.

System Information

• Laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 (Type 21KC)
• Wireless Adapter: Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz
• Operating System: Windows 11 (fully updated)
• Intel Wireless Driver: 24.40.0.4 (Lenovo Driver)

Network Environment

• Router/Mesh: TP-Link Aginet BE18000 (HB710) Wi-Fi 7 Mesh
• Provided and managed by the ISP (StarHub SG)

Issue Description

The laptop experiences intermittent Wi-Fi signal drops only when connected to the TP-Link Aginet BE18000 network.

During the issue:

• The Wi-Fi signal suddenly drops from full strength to one bar for several seconds before automatically recovering.
• Microsoft Teams meetings freeze or disconnect.
• No manual reconnection is required as the connection recovers on its own.

Observations

• The issue only affects this Lenovo laptop with its integrated Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 adapter.
• Other laptops, smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network remain stable.
• The same laptop is completely stable on the same network when using an external TP-Link Archer T3U AC1300 USB Wi-Fi adapter with the integrated AX211 disabled.

Troubleshooting Performed

The following has already been completed:

• Motherboard replaced three times by Lenovo
• BIOS updated to the latest version.
• Windows fully updated.

The following advanced adapter settings were also tested without resolving the issue:

• Wireless Mode: 802.11ac
• Preferred Band: Prefer 5 GHz
• Roaming Aggressiveness: Lowest
• MIMO Power Save Mode: No SMPS
• Transmit Power: Highest
• Channel Width for 5 GHz: Auto

The issue persisted with these settings.

Current Status

Lenovo Engineering has reviewed the case and concluded there is no indication of a hardware defect based on the multiple motherboard replacements, BIOS/driver updates, and the successful operation using an external USB Wi-Fi adapter. They have recommended working with the network vendor.

My Question

Has Intel encountered any known interoperability issues between the Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211 and TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems, particularly the Aginet BE18000 (HB710)?

Are there any recommended driver versions, advanced adapter settings, or diagnostic tools that could help identify the root cause of these intermittent signal drops?

Any guidance or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[LohithG]

Hi JTio,

Thank you for posting in the Intel Community.

I appreciate you taking the time to provide such a detailed description of the issue and the troubleshooting you've already completed.

To help me better understand the behavior, could you please clarify the following:

• When did the issue first begin? For example, did it start after the TP-Link Aginet BE18000 mesh system was installed, after a driver update, or following any other hardware or software changes?
• Does the issue occur only on this TP-Link mesh network, or have you observed the same behavior on other Wi-Fi networks?
• Have you tested the laptop using a mobile phone hotspot? If so, does the same intermittent signal drop occur?
• Approximately how often does the issue occur?
• Is the laptop stationary when the signal drops, or does it also occur while moving around the environment?

In the meantime, I will send you an email with instructions on how to securely provide the diagnostic reports needed for further analysis.

I look forward to your response.

Best Regards ,

LohithG.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JTio]

Hi @LohithG,

Thank you for your response.

Please see my answers below:

1. When did the issue first begin?

The issue started immediately after replacing the home Wi-Fi system with a TP-Link Aginet BE18000 Wi-Fi 7 Mesh provided by the ISP.  Prior to that, there were no intermittent Wi-Fi issue on the previous home network.

1. Does the issue occur only on this TP-Link mesh network, or have you observed the same behavior on other Wi-Fi networks?

At this time, the issue has only been observed on the TP-Link Aginet BE18000 Wi-Fi 7 mesh network. We have not observed the same behavior on other Wi-Fi networks.

1. Have you tested the laptop using a mobile phone hotspot?

Yes. Connection was stable.

1. Approximately how often does the issue occur?

There is no fixed interval. During normal use, the Wi-Fi signal intermittently drops from full signal strength to approximately one bar for several seconds before recovering automatically. During these drops, Microsoft Teams meetings freeze. The issue occurs multiple times throughout the workday and is frequent enough to significantly impact normal use.

1. Is the laptop stationary when the signal drops, or does it also occur while moving around the environment?

The laptop is stationary on a desk when the issue occurs. The signal drops even without any movement.

I have attached the Intel SSU report collected after performing a clean installation of driver version 24.50.0.4. Please note that the external TP-Link Archer T3U AC1300 USB Wi-Fi adapter was disconnected while the SSU utility was running.

Thank you.

[LohithG]

Hi JTio,

Thank you for providing the requested information and for sharing the Intel SSU report. Based on your findings, I can see that the issue appears to be specific to this wireless environment, as the connection is stable when using a mobile hotspot and the issue started immediately after replacing your previous home network with the TP-Link Aginet BE18000 Wi-Fi 7 mesh system.

To help further isolate the behavior, could you please try the following?

• Does the issue occur only when connected to the 6 GHz band, or have you observed the same behavior on the 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz bands as well?
• If your router supports Multi-Link Operation (MLO), could you let me know whether it is currently enabled? If it is enabled, please try disabling it and check whether the issue persists.
• If possible, temporarily disable the mesh functionality (or connect to a single access point) and verify whether the issue still occurs.
• Please ensure you are using the latest available Intel Wi-Fi driver (version 24.50.0) and let me know if the behavior changes after installing it.

In addition, I have not yet received the WLAN report. When you have a chance, please reply to my email with the WLAN report so I can review the wireless connection events and correlate them with the reported signal drops.

I look forward to your update.

Best Regards,

LohithG.

Intel Customer Support Technician