Need to set roaming aggressiveness for 8260 to connect?

[THarp]

I have an intel m5 compute stick with the 8260 wireless chip in it. It won't connect to a netgear AC1750 R6400 router at 5GHz but will at 2.4. It connects to a google onhub router, but the connection is unusable. Web pages error out and running windows update takes 4 hours instead of a few minutes.

I ended up returning it to the seller as defective, but he's being a jerk about it. He said it didn't work for him either but after he played with it for 2 hours he set the roaming aggressiveness to '1' and it worked after that, so he's trying to declare it not defective.

I can't find other people with the same problem, and I'd imagine there would be plenty if this was a common problem with the device.

I have just the one router and none of my neighbors are anywhere near close enough for their 5GHz signals to be causing any interference. I also have almost 30 clients, wired and wireless, at both 2.4 and 5GHz and never had a problem like this before.

It looks like roaming aggressiveness just has the device constantly look for a stronger signal and to reconnect if one is available, so I'm guessing its helping out what is probably a bad antenna connection.

I posted this in the compute stick section as well, but I know the 8260 is used in many devices and its a wireless specific issue, so I figured I'd post here as well.

What do the experts think?

[idata]

Hello cfbcfb,

We understand your Compute Stick was having connectivity issues, and changing the Roaming aggressiveness to the lowest setting helped to resolve it. Here are a few items for your consideration about this:- Lowering the Roaming Aggressiveness often helps connectivity, this is actually mentioned in the http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005544.html Recommended Settings for 802.11n Connectivity. Normally you shouldn't bring it to the minimum, however, it may work well if the system is not portable, or if you use a single access point.- Make sure you are using the latest version of your wireless driver. The first option should be the one from your http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/OEMs.html Computer Manufacturer Support, or you can try the version from https://downloadcenter.intel.com/search?keyword=8260 Intel® Download Center.- If you suspect there may be a hardware issue with the antennas in a new product, the place of purchase should be the first point of contact. However, if you have an Intel® Compute Stick, you can always http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html# @4 Contact Intel® Customer Support to engage your nearest support center.Regards,Jonathan B.

[THarp]

In this instance it was the 5GHz that didn't work, the 2.4 worked fine. It was plugged into a touch screen device with embedded android that can take hdmi in and USB out to the device to enable touch screen use. I had an N3050 NUC on it and that worked fine without changes but the NUC was too large to fit behind the screen, hence the compute stick.

The android device inside the screen worked on 5GHz, the NUC did and two different USB wireless sticks (netgear and tp-link) worked when plugged into the compute stick. Neither Windows nor Linux would connect at 5GHz with the compute sticks internal wifi. Both worked with usb wifi adapters.

With a netgear R6400 AC 1750 router, the compute stick wouldn't connect at 5GHz at all. With a TP-Link Google Onhub router (which has more and larger antenna than the netgear) it would connect at 866, but would fail to bring up web pages (acted like it wasn't connected) and windows update checking would complete but would take hours instead of minutes. On 2.4 band, it worked fine. The router is about 10-11 feet from the device with clear line of sight (same room). Neighboring homes are too far for any 5GHz conflicts with other routers.

Latest bios, drivers and windows updates (once I used another network usb stick).

I've already returned it but as mentioned the seller wants to contest that its 'defective' and wants me to pay $125 restocking fee, which isn't ever going to happen. It'd be nice if I had some corroboration from others (especially Intel) that I shouldn't have to fiddle with low level driver settings to make the device connect in such an environment. The setting appears to force more persistent reconnects where there are multiple routers or a device is being moved around where it encounters different routers. M guess is bad connection to the 5GHz internal antenna is the problem.

Long time Intel employee by the way, I used to run a big chunk of the IT department and then did a long stint in Desktop Products Group. So I have plenty of experience with PC's and networking.

[idata]

Hello cfbcfb,

We agree that this should not happen in a new system, therefore, we advise you to http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html# @4 Contact Intel Support for assistance with your Compute Stick.For the Wireless part, there are different reasons for connectivity issues, however, we would need system logs and troubleshooting to confirm or discard the common culprits. Feel free to let us know if you require further assistance about this.Regards,Jonathan B.

[THarp]

Thanks for the confirmations everyone, Ebay decided there was a defect and gave me back 100% of my money!

[idata]

Hello cfbcfb,

We are glad to be of assistance and we will now consider this as resolved.Regards,Jonathan B.