Intel Wireless AC 9260 wireless very weak

[Buddy]

Hello,

I have been pouring recommendations to determine why my Intel Wireless AC 9260 wireless signal is very weak, yet no success. My router is a new D-Link AC2600 that is working very well otherwise. I have not altered my BIOS even though it's one of the recommendations. I do not want to do so without guidance, if that is truly the solution. Regardless, I am using a PC. MB is ASRock Phantom Gaming 4

Please help

[Khun_Doug]

Some additional information will be helpful in determining what might be happening. Are you using 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band? How far are you from the router? What types of materials are used in the walls of your residence? What operating system and what version?

Is there another device that can connect to the wireless router? For example, a laptop or a mobile phone. Using one of those might help determine if the issue is isolated to the adapter in the PC in question, or something that happens to multiple devices.

[Buddy]

Hey Doug,

Thanks for the reply. Router is a newly purchased  D-Link 2640 on both bands and is 5 ft away with no obstructions. Previous router (D-Link DIR 819) was in same location and it couldn't pick up the wifi from it at all. Using Windows 10 Home, v 20H2. When I hotspot my iphone 12 pro it has to be directly on the PC to even see it, and is still weak. Al other devices are picking up all routers/hotspot at appropriate/normal distances and through walls etc. It's isolated to the adapter in the PC

Cheers

Buddy

[Khun_Doug]

If I understand your situation, the on-board wireless is having difficulty communicating with any access point/router. Your first router, then the newer router, and the iPhone acting as a hot spot. In this scenario I clearly think the on-board wireless is defective. I have the Asrock X570 Creator that also has the on-board AX200 wireless, and it works great.

I would suggest trying an inexpensive USB wireless. Disable the on-board wireless and try the motherboard with a USB adapter. If you get good throughput and things work then you clearly have a motherboard issue. I keep an Asus USB-AC68 on hand for just such events.

As an aside: One time at the place I retired from there was an urgent need to get network access in an area that had virtually no network access. I tried setting up a simple wireless router so we could get something for the people that needed it. To my amazement, the laptop could not connect to the router from as close as two feet, never mind 50-100 feet. There was no explanation, and it sparked a rather interesting debate about depending on wireless in office spaces, versus depending on wired Ethernet. Months later it was determined that a nearby access point that was being replaced was defective and was in transmit mode nearly 100% of the time, blanketing the area with wireless garbage, effectively killing wireless for everything. I don't you are having the problem, but your problem reminded me of the incident I dealt with.

[Buddy]

Thank you. I appreciate the help and I'm going to do that. Hopefully it isn't the MB but isolating the issue this way is the most logical path forward.

That work transmit mode issue would be frustrating. I live in country and no near neighbours to worry about that. Still...I have enough devices around here to wonder.... so I flipped my router over to repeater and made it scan just to see what it would pick up. I imagine that would be a decent way to find out what the AP is competing with in the scenario.

[Khun_Doug]

You can always use NetSpot on a laptop, desktop, and even a mobile phone to identify wireless sources. The NetSpot that installs from Windows Store has not identified AX capable devices for me. The downloadable version for Windows does identify AX sources., It's a handy app to keep on hand when you want to see what's broadcasting around you.

[n_scott_pearson]

This still feels to me to be an issue with the antenna hookup. Have you verified that the antenna leads have not come off the adapter?

...S