Problem - wireless AC-7260 driver

[llVIU]

tl;dr: looking for all known versions of driver for intel ac-7260, or anything close to it.

I've had this issue for around 4 years, please spare me the "did you try restarting your computer", here's in a nutshell:

-sometimes wi-fi drops 1 minute after connecting, sometimes it drops every 15-90 minutes (usually pc stutters a few seconds then drops)

-when it drops, it's usually "connected, no internet" or such, it doesn't see any other wi-fi, I have to turn off wi-fi, then disable wi-fi adapter, then turn it back on and I can connect (for another minute)

-issue doesn't happen via phone hotspot or ethernet

-formatted pc several times, downloaded several drivers, installed reinstalled 512352735798237592183751230958723957 times.

-tried other methods like ipconfig renew release flush dns register dns, use other dns, google dns, etc etc etc

-changed homes/routers/isps about 10 times, same issue or very similar

-only one time (a month ago) I managed to 100% fix and it's after I formatted pc, 5 hours internet worked fine, then windows did a ghost update, internet started dropping ever 1-15 minutes, then rolled back driver, then internet wi-fi worked 100% fine, this is how I know the issue is your worthless broken drivers for dual band wireless ac-7260.

I can't find the driver version that worked a month ago, I don't even know which version it was, please help me out. Laptop is asus rog G751JT windows 10

[Maria_R_Intel]

Hello llVIU,

Thank you for posting on the Intel* Community.

To better assist you, please provide us with the below information:

• Is the wireless card an integration you made to your system or it came embedded with the laptop?

Intel® System Support Utility (Intel® SSU) 

• Download the Intel SSU https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-
• Open the application and select "Everything" click on "Scan" to see the system and device information. By default, Intel® SSU will take you to the "Summary View". 
• Click on the menu where it says "Summary" to change to "Detailed View". 
• To save your scan, click on "Next", then "Save". 

Best regards,

Maria R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[llVIU]

I bought the laptop with this card inside it, but it's not embedded. You can detach the 2 tiny cables and remove the card from the slot, same way you can remove the RAM. So maybe the previous person changed it, but I doubt that.

Are you suggesting that this intel wireless card AC 7260 NGW was never meant to be compatible with asus G751JT laptops? If not, then where's the list of compatible cards for this laptop? OR, since this is intel, where's the list of compatible laptops? Or maybe I'm asking irrelevant questions.

Nice piece of software you got there, I assume you want me to upload this so you can take a look, I attached it as .txt

[Maria_R_Intel]

Hello llVIU,

Thank you for the information provided.

Only the original equipment manufacturer can ensure compatibility with the wireless card that is installed in the computer or provide a list of possible upgrades, this is because we do not have the motherboard design information or limitations.

There are two different types of drivers, generics provided by Intel and Equipment Manufacturer drivers, that are customized to work with each specific system. The best thing to do is to use the drivers provided by the system manufacturer or through Windows Update to eliminate the potential impact caused by loading non-custom drivers.

I found on the Asus* website the OEM drivers, so I want to recommend you to complete a clean installation using the OEM driver:

1. Try a clean install of the wireless drivers following these steps to the letter: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/network-and-io/wireless.html  

Step 1: Download and save the drivers on your computer: 

• Get the latest system-specific driver from your computer manufacturer support https://www.asus.com/us/supportonly/G751JT/helpdesk_Download/
• Download the latest Wi-Fi Driver from the Intel® Wireless support https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28621/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-and-Drivers-for-Intel-Wireless-7260-Family

Step 2: Uninstall the Wi-Fi driver. 

1. Uninstall your Wi-Fi driver. 
   1. Go to Device Manager. 
   2. Expand the Network Adapters category. 
   3. Right-click your Intel Wireless Adapter and choose to uninstall it. 
   4. Make sure to select the option to Delete the driver software for this device. 
   5. Repeat steps A through D until the option to Delete the driver software for this device is greyed out. 

2. Restart your computer. 

Step 3: Driver installation. 

Locate the drivers you downloaded back in Step 1. Run as administrator, and follow the wizard to completion. To run as administrator, right-click over the file you downloaded and select the option to Run as administrator. You should test first the driver provided by Asus as they have been validated to work with your system, if that does not work then you can do the same procedure with the Intel generic driver.  

Keep in mind that you have this problem for 4 years now and also based on the fact that you have tested several drivers, there is the chance that the issue is related to a hardware or compatibility failure, the best recommendation we can provide if the drivers we provided doesn't work, is to contact Asus* directly they should provide a fully compatible driver and also guide you with the proper troubleshooting to find out if the issue is hardware related.

Best regards,

Maria R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[llVIU]

thanks for the reply, I've tried those steps in that order AND several other ways with several other driver versions, I observed no difference (doesn't mean it didn't do anything). I also tried your steps again for the past several days, at one point internet seemed to be stable... and then it started again. I didn't open any new program or installed anything, but yet again it did the same issue as before. I connect, within 1 minute disconnected, have to restart pc to reconnect.

This time I can give you this error, it says it's from intel so you should be able to give me a reason why the driver is asking for a reset, and maybe why it fails to reset. Instead of connecting back, it just says "secured, no internet", doesn't see any other wi-fi, I can't turn off wi-fi, adapter looks disabled and I can't enable it, I can't disable it, I have to restart pc but I can't do that either because it's stuck on a "restarting" screen so I have to push the power button. As if a certain program is unable to end. A certain WIFI program... which I can't find

I also noticed a few times where I get a disconnect simply because I opened windows media player, OR when I was on phone hotspot (which is usually a lot more stable and doesn't disconnect... USUALLY) I open a web page and several seconds afterwards I get a disconnect.

Sometimes I get a disconnect for a specific reason, sometimes I don't. Right now I didn't get disconnected after a minute. Last night up until now I got d/c about 10-20 times. 

<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-NDIS" Guid="{cdead503-17f5-4a3e-b7ae-df8cc2902eb9}" />
<EventID>10400</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>3</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x2000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2021-03-25T11:31:07.7101949Z" />
<EventRecordID>18780</EventRecordID>
<Correlation ActivityID="{0dc23b78-d28b-4860-8e90-874859e39023}" />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="440" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>DESKTOP-V1VII85</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
- <EventData>
<Data Name="IfGuid">{0dc23b78-d28b-4860-8e90-874859e39023}</Data>
<Data Name="IfIndex">4</Data>
<Data Name="IfLuid">19985273102270464</Data>
<Data Name="AdapterName">Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260</Data>
<Data Name="ResetReason">3</Data>
<Data Name="ResetCount">2</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

what is reset reason 3?

btw a few days ago I fixed the issue for 1-3 days by using "NETSH winsock reset catalog". Yesterday night and this morning, I was shutting down the computer by the power button (since computer wouldn't restart otherwise and stayed in a loop). What seemed to "fix" it (FOR NOW) is that I turned on the computer, did not connect to the internet, restarted, then turned on wi-fi and now it works. As if my pc wanted a normal restart without connecting to the internet.

[Maria_R_Intel]

Hello llVIU,

Thank you for all the information provided.

I checked the case internally to verify if we can provide more troubleshooting for you.

We think that the behavior can be related to a hardware issue based on the fact that you have been experiencing this for around 4 years, meaning that you have tested all the available driver versions provided by Intel and the manufacturer, also you have changed your router and ISP provider.

Our best recommendation is to contact the Laptop Manufacturer directly to perform a full physical inspection and confirm if the issue is related to the hardware of your computer.

Best regards,

Maria R.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Maria_R_Intel]

Hello llVIU,

We have not heard back from you, so we will close this thread. If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards, 

Maria R.  

Intel Customer Support Technician