Intel Wireless Advanced-N 6205 recurring drops

[KZhan14]

I've read through a lot of previous discussions about the random (~every hour or so) disconnects or dropping of wireless signals when using this card. I'm using the PCI-E desktop card in a newly (literally a few days ago) custom build PC. I'm using an Apple Airport Extreme router with a 5GHz connection on 802.11n. I originally had the most up to date drivers (ver. 16.7.0)

The issue: Randomly while surfing the internet or in an online game, the connection will drop. On the Windows 8.1 taskbar, the wireless signal will still be there but there is a yellow triangle warning sign over the signal strength. When I look at the connection list, my wireless connection says "limited" and no pages can load, there is no connection. I have to disconnect from the wireless connection and reconnect. After I do this, the connection starts to work again. It is extremely frustrating because sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. Actually, just now as I was typing this it happened again.

I've tried many different "solutions". Customer technical support (when I called Intel), had me uninstall the ProSet/Wireless program, then uninstall the driver. The card then reverted to an older version driver (ver. 16.5.3). It seemed to be working for a few hours and then the drops and disconnects came back again in the same fashion. Every 30-60 min. or so.

I am confident that this is a card/driver issue. This type of drop doesn't happen on other laptops in the house nor my cell phone. When the connection goes to limited (not working) on the PC, all other devices still work perfectly fine.

I've tried nearly everything I've read online. Changing the 802.11n channel width from Auto to 20 MHz only. Disabling Bluetooth AMP (even though this card doesn't support bluetooth... makes no sense). Changing the Preferred Band to "prefer 5.2GHz band". Reducing Roaming Agressiveness from Medium to Lowest. Changing the Wireless Mode from 802.11a/b/g to 802.11b/g. Unchecking the box in the Power Management Tab to NOT allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

I know of the option to disable 802.11n mode, but that's the whole point I bought this card which was to take advantage of my router's 802.11n connectivity as well as the dual band 5GHz connection.

I understand that the new update to Windows 8.1 is causing some difficulties for Intel to update the drivers. But it is already March 2014. When are you going to release a driver that finally works. I don't know if others are still having this problem, but this is getting ridiculous. You can't sell a product that is advertised to work with 802.11n and dual band, and then it sporadically stops working randomly. Don't try to convince me that this is because of interference or other hardware problems. This PC is the only one connected to the 5GHz band, all other devices are on the 2GHz band. The router connection is even extended with an additional Apple Airport Express. My motherboard is a brand new ASUS ROG board. Every component is brand new and works great. Everything except for this pci wireless adapter that even with the most up to date drivers, continues to drop connections repeatedly and randomly.

Intel, if you're working on a fix, please tell us, and please let us know the timeframe so we can decide whether to return your faulty product or make do for now and wait until your drivers are released.

[BYeun1]

I am not sure if we have the same problem but have you tried manually setting your DNS to your routers DHCP IP? I have recently tried this and it seems to have solved my problem. Though I have to change every time I go from my home WiFi to my school's.

[KZhan14]

No I have not tried that. How would I go about doing this?

Edit: So I went into wireless properties and under Network Connection Details the IPv4 DNS Server was originally at 10.0.1.1

My router is an Apple Airport Extreme (dual-band). I had to check my Airport Utility and under Internet Connection settings and in the DHCP tab, it has a bunch of different address numbers. IP Address, Subnet Mask, Router Address. Then another section titled DNS Server, with Primary, Seconday, Domain name. The Primary number was 24.247.24.53

Back in Wi-Fi properties on my PC, I went into TCP/IPv4 Properties and selected "use the following DNS Server addresses:" and changed the Preferred DNS server: to 24.247.24.53

Selected Validate settings upon exit, pressed OK, then OK on Wi-Fi Properties, and it went through a troubleshoot check, and said there were no problems. I'm assuming this worked, but I have yet to see if the connection will drop or not.

Hopefully I did it correctly?

[BYeun1]

I'll try to tell you how I found the routers DHCP address. I open command and enter 'ipconfig /all' and it will show a long list of your current connections. In your wireless connection it should have something that says DHCP and to the right is the address, only got one address in my case. That's the address I use for my DNS server setting.

If the address you found isn't working, try the method I mentioned! Good luck.

[KZhan14]

Ok, so the address I had put in was the DNS Servers number, not the DHCP Server number. Anyways, I still had a connection drop on the previous address. Now I'm switching back to the automatic setting which was already connected to the DHCP Server. Thanks for trying anyways.

Would be nice if someone from Intel would help with this problem.

[BYeun1]

Did you try the DHCP server address instead of the DNS server? The reason I'm asking is because when you checked your DNS server before and put it in, it was the same thing you had before and now. In other words, nothing changed when you entered DNS server address.

Also, you only need to put in one address when entering it in manually. The alternative is just an extra thing just in-case the primary one fails.

[KZhan14]

Yes, the preferred DNS address is now manually set to 10.0.1.1, which I'm pretty sure it was the same before on automatic. The Default Gateway is the same, and the DHCP Server is also the same address.

EDIT: Well, it was working for a few hours, no disconnects. Then just now, it happened again... Sigh... Not sure what else to try, I think I'll just return the damn thing and find another wifi adapter.

[Jose_H_Intel1 · Accepted solution]

KZ42, I assume you have a dual band router since you chose "Prefer 5.2 GHz band" above. What happens if you force the wireless mode in the adapter properties to 802.11a?

[KZhan14]

So I've got it set to Prefer 5.2 GHz band, and changed the wireless mode to 802.11a only. Everything else I've left the same, still manually set the DNS. It connects like normal, speeds seem to be the same, the only difference is I don't see all the other nearby wireless signals under Networks. I will update on whether it drops or not in the next few hours.

Update: Many thanks Joe Intel, it looks like the wireless card has stabilized. I haven't had any drops in the past ~8 hours or so, so it looks like the problem is fixed. I'll keep monitoring the connection for now.

If you don't mind explaining, I'm curious as to why this solution works? Is there still some sort of incompatibility between the 6205 and Windows 8.1? It seems like the problem is varied and different for each user or computer set up, and different solutions have worked in different cases. Is Intel still working on future drivers for the 6205 to ensure continued compatibility with eventual Windows 8.1 updates? Thanks for your help!

[Jose_H_Intel1]

I am glad to know that it is working better now.

By selecting 802.11a we just forced the adapter to connect at 5 GHz. I believe there are two possible reasons why this has improved your connection:

• The 5 GHz band offers a larger amount of channels and less wireless interference than 2.4 GHz, this is the reason why you do not see the other wireless signals around you.
• It is possible your router is set to use a simultaneous SSID for both bands and the adapter "gets confused" on whether to connect to one band or the other (even if preference was set in the adapter properties).

This is a scenario that happened to me with a combination of the two points above. A considerably distant router with a single SSID for both bands, and a crowded 2.4 GHz environment.

I wonder what your AP setup is regarding the SSID(s), if you initially had two different SSIDs or just a single one (when using 802.11a/b/g). And it would be interesting to see what results you get if you force the adapter to 2.4 GHz (802.11b/g).

We continue providing support to your wireless adapter and trying to improve other users' experience.

[MARC_H_Intel]

I had similar stability issues with Windows 7 and several different 2.4GHz routers (no 5GHz router). Tried many different driver versions including 15.15.0.1, no difference. The only thing that always worked 100% is disabling 802.11n, so I'm just doing that.

[ASouz7]

Hello MarcIII,

Thanks for sharing your solution with us. We are sure that other users will benefit from your idea and suggestion. let us know if you need our assistance in the future.