Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1690i (411NGW) driver conflicting with NordVPN, any technology or protocol.

[Arizona_Joe]

Using an MSI  Raider GE78 HX 13V 215US gaming laptop, the latest Intel 23.160.0.4 Wi-Fi driver appears to conflict with NordVPN using any VPN technology (NordLynx, OpenVPN, etc.) or Protocol (UDP or TCP).

My ISP (Cox Comm.) provides me with 500MB/sec speeds, verified as high as 570MB/sec using Ookla Speedtest with NO VPN activated. Intel E3100G 2.5 GB Ethernet with NordLynx/OpenVPN, or obfuscated servers provides excellent throughput, but when ETH is disconnected, WiFi speeds rarely exceed 6MB/sec.  Deactivating VPN restores 570MB speeds via Wi-Fi controller.

Not using full Killer suite.  Tried to roll back to earlier Killer driver but even after uninstallation of the latest driver, the Intel installation recognizes telltale signs of the latest driver (registry entries?) and refuses to allow installation of prior driver, indicating install failure.

[KentRusselP_Intel]

Hi Arizona_Joe,

Thank you for reaching out to the Intel Community Forum. I appreciate your message and want to assure you that I’m here to assist you with your concern. To better understand the issue and provide accurate support, could you please share the following details:

1. Are you using Wi-Fi driver from Intel website or from MSI website?
2. Have you tried using Windows Device Manager to completely remove the driver before installing latest driver?
3. What specific registry entries or error messages appear when trying to install older drivers?
4. Does the speed issue occur with other VPN providers (temporary test account), or only NordVPN?
5. When connected via Wi-Fi + VPN, what speeds do you get to different server locations (nearby vs. distant)?
6. Have you tested with NordVPN's split tunneling enabled/disabled?
7. In Device Manager > Wi-Fi adapter > Properties > Advanced, what are your current settings for: Channel Width, Roaming Aggressiveness, Transmit Power, and Wireless Mode
8. Have you disabled any power management features for the Wi-Fi adapter?
9. Does this occur on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz/6GHz bands?
10. Have you tested with different routers or hotspots?

Additionally, to help us better understand your system configuration and provide accurate support, we kindly request that you share the Intel® System Support Utility (SSU) logs from your device. These logs contain important details about your hardware and software environment, which are crucial for troubleshooting.

Please follow these steps:

1. Download and run the Intel® SSU application.
2. The tool will generate a text file containing your system information.
3. Refer to this guide for detailed instructions: Help Guide for the Intel® System Support Utility
4. Once completed, please attach the generated file to your response.

If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[KentRusselP_Intel]

Hi Arizona_Joe,

I hope you are doing well. I just wanted to follow up and check if you’ve had a chance to review the information I shared previously. Your feedback is important, and I’d appreciate it if you could share your thoughts at your earliest convenience.

If you have any additional questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Arizona_Joe · Accepted solution]

Hello, KentRusselP:

In the interest of the economy of time, I am discontinuing the use of NordVPN and signed up with another VPN provider. After conferring with others, who are also experiencing ultra-slow connectivity with Wi-Fi far beyond the diminution in throughput normally experienced with Wi-Fi connections, I decided to sign up with Nord's sister company, Surfshark, which also the Wireguard technology. 

Using your latest Wi-Fi driver, I am now experiencing almost non-tunneled speeds, so the problem is not with the Intel driver or adaper settings, but rather with the way Nord implements its Wireguard protocol via Wi-Fi. 

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

Regards,

Joseph Guida MD

[KentRusselP_Intel]

Hi Arizona_Joe,

I hope you’re doing well. Thank you for letting me know that you’re now getting normal (non-tunneled) internet speeds. Since the issue appears to be resolved, I’ll go ahead and close this inquiry. If you need any further assistance or have new questions, please feel free to submit a new request. Kindly note that this thread will no longer be monitored once it’s closed.

Best regards,

Kent Russel P.

Intel Customer Support Technician