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Sporadic but recurring connection dropouts on an Intel 6235 wireless adapter

idata
Employee
123,420 Views

Dear all,

I have the same issues of intermittent sudden connection dropouts as reported by others with the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 Wifi adapter and the Intel Proset 15.x drivers!

My system is a brandnew desktop computer with an Intel i7 3770 Quad-Core CPU, an Intel Z77 chipset, an Asrock Z77E-ITX mainboard, 16 GB of RAM, and Windows 7 64-bit.

Previously, I already encountered the issue with this adapter's predecessor, the Intel Centrino 6230 and only managed to resolve it by going back to an older driver version. If my memory is correct, the Intel Proset 14.x version range worked flawlessly, but the 15.x drivers lead to the dropouts (I always use 64-bit drivers).

These can occur randomly after 5 or after 50 minutes. The adapter suddenly disconnects and won't reconnect to the wireless network unless it is reset. The wireless router itself is fine as there are over a dozen devices from all types of brands that connect regularly to it without any problem at all.

The fact that the problem occurs on two different cards (6230 and 6235) leads me to believe that there is a driver problem.

On the 6235, going back to a 14.x driver does not seem to be an option on the table, because the device seems to be only supported by 15.x versions. I already tried going back from the recent 15.2 version to the previous 15.1.1 (after uninstalling through the device manager), but the problem still persists. Now I just went back to 15.1.0 and it's been ok so far, but i'm not very optimistic.

I have tried different changes in the driver settings but with no success. The problem persists!

I'd be thankful for a solution.

Best regards,

Steve

Edited 9/5/2014 by John S. (Intel Customer Support).

The "/message/169514# 169514 Sporadic but recurring connection dropouts on an Intel 6235 wireless adapter" thread will be locked. This thread will remain on the forum for you to reference, but no new posts will be possible on this thread.

The 17.1.0 version of Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers has fixes for connectivity related issues with the Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235 wireless adapter. If you are still experiencing connectivity issues after installing the very latest software and drivers and you require further troubleshooting, please contact Intel Customer Support. If you prefer to ask questions, make comments, and/or receive answers on this support forum (Wireless Networking Support Community), please start a new thread or find an existing thread that matches your specific issue with your specific hardware/software.

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Worldwide

http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support Intel Customer Support

1,128 Replies
Jose_H_Intel1
Employee
1,341 Views

We have previously escalated your case, technically and non-technically.

We appreciate your interest; however, we already have a list of volunteers at this time.

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JB26
New Contributor I
1,351 Views

JOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!

Where is the update for newer driver version other than 15.10.3.2 on Windows 8.1? The POStrino 6235 is the worst it has ever been. We are talking lag in whole seconds not milliseconds now.

F I X T H E I S S U E!

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PDani4
Beginner
1,351 Views

Since there had been recommendations here to go with Killer 1202, let me report here my experiences trying out several wireless cards with my Asus X202E. The original Atheros AR5B225: smooth WiFi and Bluetooth operation, but no 5GHz. Intel 6235 loses connections in areas where I never ever had problems with laptops, although I might have had them with a phone. Killer 1202: much better operation, than Intel under moderate traffic. However, under heavy video traffic Killer 1202 would regularly take down the WiFi connection, both when on 2.4 and 5GHz, knocking down Bluetooth at the same time. Also, installing a Bluetooth device under Killer could knock down WiFi. My suggestion is to forget 5GHz and go with Atheros AR5B225. Killer amounts to replacing one set of problems with another.

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OPaz1
Novice
1,374 Views

You also have a large angry group who is pissed off because we want results and we're out of patience.

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JRiqu
Novice
1,342 Views

Did anybody read what I wrote?

Seriously, DISABLE Centrino Bluetooth on Device Manager. Even if you don't have any Bluetooth devices.

This really "fixed" the problem for me. My Wi-Fi is working stable all day long.

Is not a efficient and permanent solution, but, it will help most of you until Intel release fixed drivers. They promised before end of year.

Cheers.

jaaro
Beginner
1,342 Views

I haven't read all 60 pages of this post so forgive me if this has been mentioned already. I'm running Windows 8.1 and have the Intel wireless 6205 card and was experiencing wireless drops every couple of minutes. I'm using driver version 16.5.3. Once I manually set the DNS on the adapter (I set it to OpenDNS), it stopped dropping the connection.

Hope it helps someone.

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MJohn27
Beginner
1,342 Views

Hi all,

I have a brand new Lenovo T431s, Was having the similar issues with the /message/209913# 209913 Intel 6235 wireless adapter.

I tried updating various drives etc. My issue was occurring in both Windows 7 and Windows 8 and 8.1.

I am a technician by trade and was appalled by the poor wireless performance out of the box. My cellphone, 7 year old notebook had better performance. I literally would have to be within 10ft of the router and even then sometimes the laptop JUST WOULD NOT CONNECT. I was not experiencing drops so much as extremely poor range.

I would recommend you send back the laptop (if possible) for service as the antenna cables may have detached from the wireless card as was the issue with mine. Actually on my laptop, in addition to one of the antennae not being connected, one was plugged into the wrong socket.

The antennae wires and the wireless card connect with very small connectors that become disconnected.

After the service my laptop is getting the range and signal you would expect from a modern laptop.

Do not attempt this fix and send back to your manufacturer for service.

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FMart21
Beginner
1,351 Views

Days pass and still no fix, my old asus laptop with an atheros adapter has 3X better range and obviously no drops.Intel get a clue your drivers arent working, stick to cpus and leave WLAN adapters to some other company with KNOWLEDGE ( first and last laptop with intel powered wlan)

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KSoli
Beginner
1,351 Views

I have an ASUS UX32VD and had the issue with this driver as well. By going back to the microsoft driver 14.8.8.75 it worked fine.

Saturday, I updated my computer with windows 8.1, not knowing that the driver of the wifi card would be updated as well.

I tried everything possible I could. It's not working.

I decided to buy a usb key wifi card. It's cheap (around 20€ or less), and it does not require to remove the wifi card by another one with some tape. and this is working great.

 

I am quite surprised that intel has not yet been able to find the bug in its own driver as the first one from Microsoft worked perfectly. I hope our message will get heard and that a solution will be found...
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CDriv
Beginner
1,351 Views

Yo, I have the same issues with my Asus G75VW. It used to not happen but now it does......Anyone have the windows default driver v14.8.8.75 and wanna send me the files to get it? because my windows 7 doesn't have it anymore for whatever reason and I can't find it ANYWHERE

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TGnie
Beginner
1,351 Views

Same for me. No Win7 driver anymore. If anyone can post the original Win7 driver would appreciate. I'm on dead end using external minidongle WLAN.

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JB26
New Contributor I
1,351 Views

INTEL PLEASE FIX THE ISSUE WITH

POSTRINO 6235 WiFi ADAPTER!!!!!!!

YOU GUYS ARE THE MOST INEPT

 

MANUFACTURING COMPANY EVER!!!

HERE IS YET ANOTHER INSTANCE

 

OF WHERE THE ADAPTER HAS

 

FAILED!!!!

 

 

 

 

CAmbr3
Beginner
1,351 Views

Hi everyone! I just wanted to clarify some info for some of the posters here about Bluetooth & Wifi:

1) Both operate on the 2.4GHz band, and therefore share antenna bandwidth.

2) BT HS uses the normal Bluetooth band, plus addition Wifi bandwidth for the 24Mbps transfer capacity. This is enabled/disabled by the Bluetooth ARM setting in the Advanced Settings of the driver.

3) Using BT and 2.4GHz Wifi at the same time will cause Wifi performance to drop.

This is a common occurrence with embedded solutions, like say tablets and notebooks. I had to support this with customers who had issues with using Stereo BT headphones and streaming over Wifi. The bandwidth allocation would just kill Wifi performance.

Solutions:

1) If you are not using BT devices, disable BT all together. This will allow Wifi full bandwidth capacity on 2.4GHz.

2) If you are not using BT HS devices, disable Bluetooth ARM, so that BT doesn't try to reserve bandwidth for it.

3) Use 5GHz for Wifi if you want to use both at full capacity.

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IKemp
Beginner
1,351 Views

Take a coffee and a deep breath before reading!

TooLong;DidntRread

Go to command prompt and ping your default gateway and let me/us know if you have ping drops every ~65 seconds or so (get a stopwatch or something :-D):

ping -l 2048 -n 500 192.168.1.1

The IP has to be your default gateway! To see what your default gateway is go to command prompt by pressing windows button, type cmd, type ipconfig into command prompt and search for your wifi default gateway. It should be similar to 192.168.1.1. Of cource you could ping http://www.google.com/ www.google.com or something, but I am trying to cut out ISP and other services outside your Wifi and router.

Long read:

Hey. I have read almost all there is to read in this thread and to joe_intel, if you want a random driver tester (yes I am from EU Estonia, but still) feel free to contact me personally.

For notes I will update this post with correct version of drivers currently installed, but as far as updates go, they are previous ones (new drivers could not be used, but about those a little later). /Edit current version 15.8.0.5

About my hardware:

* Laptop - I got Samsung np770z5e laptop, Win 8 and Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD (mind you I did HDD -> SSD data copy (no fresh install)). For notes I like to game and I also do some deving with my friend on this piece of hardware (android app)

* Router - Asus RT-N66U. Really nice piece of hardware with Merlin firmware. I have finetuned everything and I can be sure that Wifi problems on my laptop are not because of that Asus router or Merlin firmware (have done tests with other routers and sympoms are the same).

ISP - Elion 100/20 Mbit, which realistically gives out 95/19.5Mbit (if IPTV is on then it east around 5Mbit from that download number).

*So basically I have previous version of Intel drivers that were recommended to be installed by Samsung update center program.

*I am usually sitting @ 5GHz wifi (300Mbit connection to router giving out my ISP max of 95Mbit) - no one near by is using it, so it is the best for me (there are 3 other 2.4GHz ones in the area... one of witch interfares a little bit with my channel, but no problem on that department). The absolute max I have gotten out is somewhere around 28MB/s over Wifi from another PC sitting on the cable, which is about 225 Mbit/s

*On 2.4GHz I sit at 144 Mbit/s connection to the router

*I am not getting complete drop outs from the router, but I have serious ping drop issues, which I have tracked down a little and in the long term they might be related to the complete drop out...

So here goes!

ping -l 2048 -n 500 192.168.1.1

I can see that every ~65 seconds or so there is a serious ping drop from ~1ms to around 200ms for like 3-5 pings (very rarely I even get a timeout). This is a serious problem for gaming!

I have played around with Device Manager -> Wifi -> Advanced settings and what I have found out (same as some other guy on pages ~50-60) is that after changing Wireless Mode (last selection under advanced tab) to "g" only (this is 3rd selection if I remember correct - default is 5th) makes things a little better. After this change I still get ping drops but they are for one ping only and drop to about 20-30ms. So here is the hypothesis - the more you have to check the longer the drop. I have not tested it (really hard to test it out too) if there is only ONE wifi around - does it make things better. Or if there is something like 10+ different wifis around - does this make it worse or not? I think this might lead to complete drop out from the router as well?

I have done research that it might be related to Windows periodically scanning local networks... I found a software whitch disables the checking for Windows 7, but it did not work for my Windows 8- I still had ping drops (I am not 100% sure if it works for Windows 8 or it just did not resolve the problem - this program has not been updated for quite a while).

As far as the new drivers go, they do not make any difference at all there are still ping drops and as an added bonus there are some other issues:

*Samsung software update center could not update drivers - ended up with error code: "-10"

*New drivers have 6 selections under Device manager -> Wifi -> Advanced -> Wireless Mode. Default is 6th, but changing it to the "g" only ends up with BSOD for Windows 8 with the error message: "driver_corrupted_expool". For once I got some other message "bad_pool_header", but this is the case... I could change to "g" if I turned wifi off (the BSOD comes after trying to connect to wifi router after hitting that "OK"), rebooted Windows and then connected Wifi. But even then there was that small ping drop of ~20-30 ms...

I am not sure if I am the only one around with that corrupted expool, but for notes samsung update center made my PC BSOD, since I forgot myself to the "g" after trying to update drivers. After booting back into windows new drivers were installed with the corrupted expool symptoms. I did rollback drivers, rebooted and tryed to install new drivers once more through Samsung updater, but that ends up with error code "-10". I can update drivers by hitting update button under Device Manager -> Wifi -> Drivers.

It got me thinking of removing all the drivers, rebooting and installing new drivers cleanly, but I doubt the ping drop will be gone... May be - just may be the corrupted explool will be gone, but it is not 100% certain...

Joe_intel, if you need any more info, then you can e-mail me or just write here - I will be checking this thread from time to time and try to 100% clean up drivers.

Message was edited by: Indrek Kempi - minor changes, added TLDR

Message was edited by: Indrek Kempi / Added current wifi driver version 15.8.0.5

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JB26
New Contributor I
1,351 Views

Indrek,

Delete Intel ProSET software, then delete the 6235 driver. Plug your laptop into an ethernet connection and then open up swupdate again and it will reinstall the driver no error 10. It's caused by corrupt Intel software (another bonus of the Centrino 6235 saga)

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IKemp
Beginner
1,351 Views

Funny thing is I am not using PROset to connect my wifi networks.

I have noticed one more thing. While using 15.8.0.5 drivers I do not drop out of wifi if I am already connected. If I am in "g" mode I get like 50-50 chance after coming out from "sleep" (open laptop lid) that I do not have wifi connected and it will not connect... I have to disable and enable wifi to get it working again (sometimes like 5 or more times), but once it works, it works pretty decent with only a little ping drop after ~65 seconds of 50 ms or so. But while in "n" mode I never drop out from my Asus RT-N66U - even after coming out from "sleep" the wifi is there.

 

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IKemp
Beginner
1,351 Views

Yeah... If I am not using it, does not mean it is not installed. Correct - after uninstalling that PROset program Samsung managed to update drivers :-)

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CDriv
Beginner
1,351 Views

I have found another fix to the issues which has worked for me. I haven't tested using different driver versions but I don't want to mess with it anymore since it's fixed for me lol. The driver version may not even matter. I'll start with the details:

Details

When you get the newest driver of the Intel Centrino 6235, as everyone has complained about, your internet goes out but you are still connected to your router. It shows a yellow warning sign that usually says "Limited Access" on the connection you are using. If you try to troubleshoot it, Windows says that the it was not connected to the default gateway or something like that. It then fixes the issue.....of course.....temporarily as you soon disconnect again with the same problem. After literally 3 months of trouble with this adapter, which included blogging on different forums, speaking with Asus, Intel, and Microsoft multiple times, AND buying a new adapter of the same kind, thinking that maybe it was the hardware, it suddenly hit me. Re-reading the posts on forums I posted on and many others and just surfing the net, led me to finding out how to manually have windows get your default gateway (which is what accesses you to the internet). So anyway, here's how you do it.

Instructions

  1. Go to Windows Start Menu and search cmd
  2. Right-click the program and Run as Administrator
  3. In the Command Prompt, type this in: ipconfig
  4. Press Enter
  5. Scroll down until you see this list:

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . :

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . :

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . :

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

6. Where is says Default Gateway, there should be numbers to the right of it....for example: 172.22.46.1

7. Keep this window open and remember those numbers. That is your default gateway.

8. Now, go to the bottom right of your screen (Task Bar) where it shows your connection/bars.

9. Right-click the icon and click Open Network and Sharing Center

10. Click what's inside the red box:

11. Your connection's status window will pop up. Click Properties near the bottom.

12. Another window will pop up. Under the Networking tab, click Internet Protocol Version 4

13. Click Properties

14. n the new window, under the General tab, click Advanced near the bottom right.

15. Under Default Gateways, press Add

16. There will be another window that pops up. It will look like this:

17. In the white box, type in your default gateway from earlier. In my earlier example, I used 172.22.46.1

18. Press Add

That's it! I hope this fixes your issues because it fixed mine

By the way. I have driver version 15.1.0.18 . As I said, hopefully the version doesn't matter. But if it does, this is the one I used. Sorry for this long message! LOL

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IKemp
Beginner
1,351 Views

Hard to believe that fixating default gateway will be resolving problems, but I will try it out in the evening.

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AAlin
Beginner
1,351 Views

I have a Sony Vaio Duo 11, with Intel 6235 wireless adapter, which has had the disconnection issue since the first update. I upgraded to WIndows 8.1 last week, thus getting the 15.10.3.2 (22/08/2013) driver version. The connection seemed pretty stable but yesterday, during a Skype call, I began to lost many packets (the issue was on my side, as I was pinging another server at the same time, and no packets came back).

So, it seems that the issue appears especially under heavy network load. After I switched the wifi off and the on, I resumed my Skype call and had no issues.

I will try to see if I can switch back to the old 14.8.8.75 driver version.

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JRiqu
Novice
1,351 Views

Hi again,

Unfortunately, I spoke too early and, after all, the "disable Bluetooth" trick didn't worked for my Dell XPS 15 L502x. The Wireless signal drops anyway.

So, I decided, on Windows 8.1, to force a downgrade and installed a provided-by-Dell official Intel Wi-Fi and Bluetooth driver, released for Windows 8 on October 26, 2012 (Windows 8 launch date). It's available on Dell webpage.

The driver is the 15.2.0.19, dated July 03, 2012.

After a week, the signal is working fine, without dropouts.

But, the bad thing about this is, apparently (because I cannot discard any other factor for this problem), is that Windows is not remembering my Wi-Fi passwords anymore, so I have to enter manually every network password when I connect to a hotspot.

When I'm home, I just need one time and then works. But, everytime that I go to another place, I have to put it again.

Maybe is another problem, related to the driver downgrade. But the important thing is I can connect without dropouts on my home and that's makes me happy at this point.

Intel: please fix this.

Cheers.

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