Sporadic but recurring connection dropouts on an Intel 6235 wireless adapter

[idata]

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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[idata]

Calm down and be civil. As I stated in my post there is a version that works flawlessly for me and I noted the version in the case someone wants to grab it. I am using Win8 Pro x64.

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/NETWORK-CARD/INTEL/Intel-Centrino-Advanced-N-6235-WLAN-Driver-155648-for-Windows-8.shtml http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/NETWORK-CARD/INTEL/Intel-Centrino-Advanced-N-6235-WLAN-Driver-155648-for-Windows-8.shtml

[AAlbr]

Hi hfm,

I'd be interested to know how you get on with those drivers for things like heavy downloads, interactive sessions etc after you've been running them for a few weeks. I had a look at those drivers you mentioned but they're 32bit only so I'm a little wary of installing them. I ran the 15.6.1.20 drivers for about three weeks with no problems and then they started again although not as badly as with other drivers. Downloads of 200Mb+ would stop; every hour or so surfing would slow down for maybe ten seconds and telnet would would become laggy before returning to normal, occasional disconnect from WiFi, particularly after sleep thus needing a reboot.

[idata]

Ahh apologies, definitely use the driver built for your platform width (32bit/64bit). EDIT: I just found the driver, this 15.5.6.48 driver I'm using came from Samsung though I'm sure it's just the standard intel driver release (Win 8 Pro x64) I'm glad people are seeing success with the default windows driver, I have run this version with no problems even after long periods of time. Streaming videos, moving gigabytes of data from my NAS, etc..

I downloaded LAN Speed Test Lite to test, I took a screenshot, sorry that I forgot to take a screenshot of the before, I wanted to reboot to see if the speed changed and realized I forgot. My test was nearly identical before and after reboot, a couple percent difference. My uptime was about a week and a half and I had a total of around 90 GB of network traffic previous to rebooting. Here's a screenshot. I would imagine that around 160Mbit is about as fast as I'm going to get with WPA2 Personal with AES encryption overhead. I told it to transfer 1024MB (1GB) which should be satisfactory.

[idata]

I have a Samsung series 7 and I have rolled back my driver to version 15.5.6.48.

Now the connection doesn't go off every time I try to stream or play a game, but I still have major strength and stability issues with it. The connection stills go off every once and a while, and I can't play a game online because I lag every minute. So the problem is still not fixed yet and it comes from last year. I know you have a lot of money and apparently you don't give a crap about our problem, but so didn't many companies like Nokia and now look where they are. And just so that you are aware, both my parents are going to buy a new laptop, and I have already warned them not to buy any laptop that has intel products in it.

[idata]

I will say one last time. Everyone who doesn't need WiDi, roll back to Microsoft driver 14.8.8.75. It is the only 100% stable one.

[idata]

@mkdr I registered to say that simply using Microsoft driver 14.8.8.75 does not prevent dropouts. I have tried a number of different combos of the advice in this thread and have continued to experience dropouts. Often after a dropout, it cannot find any wireless networks. If it can find a network, troubleshooting finds something to correct and then I get the blue screen and a reboot. Samsung NP520U4C-A01UB.

Highest power settings

No Intel Services enabled

802.11n Mode disabled

Bluetooth functions disabled

LAN disabled

It played a full youtube video in b/g mode but dropped during the second one.

Currently on g mode only and have been able to play a couple of videos and download something without a dropout.

[idata]

@ kristika post a screenshot that you use the MS driver, otherwise I say it's your AP causing the problem. also, turn on n mode again with auto mode.

[PM5]

If the Windows 8 default driver is usable, the smartass Intel why not make it available for download for Windows 7 users too ? Anyway, the older (useful) drivers why can't available on the Intel site ? Windows7 isn't contain Centrino driver...! :@

I'm surprised people are so patient ...still...

[AAlbr]

Sadly I too have to report that rolling back to 14.8.8.75 was the solution for me in the end. Having said that, this begs the question, 'What was the point in upgrading?' The 15. series drivers were certainly no faster and didn't change my wifi/surfing experience in any way which I could discern (other than to break it).

[KKlov]

Like so many others I have also problems with this. I have two different Intel cards (2230 and 6205) having the same problem. After some troubleshooting I did a clean install of W8 it worked for a little while before it was the same problem all over again. I have tried to do a clean boot with same problems. I have now removed latest Intel driver and rolled back to the driver that came installed with W8. The big problem however is that I cannot use my WiDi connection with the older W8 driver.

Clearly the latest driver is broken. I'm getting tired of this and hope Intel take the problem seriously. I have invested a lot in my PC equipment (WiDi, Intel chipset, graphic card and all other requirements). A big company like Intel should, and could do better!

Please let me know if any more information is needed. As an IT administrator I should be able to provide more information. From my perspective I think there is a conflict between latest WU from MS and latest Intel driver.

[idata]

jorg1 wrote:

Like so many others I have also problems with this. I have two different Intel cards (2230 and 6205) having the same problem. After some troubleshooting I did a clean install of W8 it worked for a little while before it was the same problem all over again. I have tried to do a clean boot with same problems. I have now removed latest Intel driver and rolled back to the driver that came installed with W8. The big problem however is that I cannot use my WiDi connection with the older W8 driver.

That is really interesting (but not surprising). I'm more interested in how you mentioned 6205 has a problem with W8. I totally do not disagree with you there as I used to have a Thinkpad X1 Carbon Touch which also had a 6205 and I ran into "Limited connectivity" wifi dropouts. I have since returned my X1CT so I have not looked into this further.

What it interesting to me is that knowing how popular the Thinkpad X1C and X1CT models are why haven't we heard of more wifi issues being reported? I did a quick check on the Lenovo thinkpad forums and I'm not really seeing anyone complaining about it. Could it be they are using a special version of the network drivers that solves this problem?

[idata]

My X230 had the issue with the 6205. I called Lenovo 2 hour after using it for help. They made it very clear they would not help me unless I paid them $90 to make my new laptop work, that I bought new from their site. It is interesting to see how little corporations care about supporting what they sell now-a-days. I did not bother to post on Lenovo's site after realizing how little they cared about the product they sold.

Buying an ASUS RT-N66U has 100% resolved my issue. No Intel fix would work for more than minutes.

[idata]

That is the lamest, "pass the buck" response that I have ever heard. There is a REAL problem here and is it failing to be addressed by Intel. I bet over half of the people on this forum are engineers or IT professionals. We are not some lame non-techie that doesn't know what they are doing. My routers firmware is up-to-date. That and the drivers for the wireless Intel card were the first 2 things I checked. I have the same problems in multiple locations and with different routers. Read the posts and you will see that the issues are occurring on multiple platforms and with different routers. INTEL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND BE A GOOD COMPANY AND GIVE USEFUL CUSTOMER FEEDBACK!!!!!!!!!!!

[idata]

Dan, if you are replying to my post I agree, it is something Intel is doing. The problem is they are not fixing it, I had to move on. I tried the router after reading of a bios update saying it fixes lost DSN due to over pinging.

I know my old router was not the issue, it worked with anything but my new laptop and Intel WIFI. I paid $170 to fix their issue. But I am still upset with Lenovo, they have an agency duty to support what they sell. I bought the product from Lenovo.

[idata]

Gabe, I was actually replying to what Joe from Intel said and I agree with what you are saying. I have a question for you though. How is the range of the ASUS RT-N66U? I would like to find a router with a better range as I have to use an additional access point right now to cover all of my house. It appears highly rated on Amazon and I have seen comments that it has a great range. Any negatives? Thanks, Dan

[Jose_H_Intel1]

Thank you for posting.

Besides reporting the issue using the https://supportmail.intel.com/scripts-emf/welcome.aspx?id=1783 e-mail form as suggested earlier you may want to update your router's firmware to the latest version. This step usually solves connectivity and compatibility issues. Please verify with the respective access point manufacturer for instructions.

Access Point (AP) firmware updates may resolve wireless network issues

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-006321.htm http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-006321.htm

[idata]

Joe

What have your engineers found out so far? Can we get some updates?? I don't want to be asking you the same question a year from now.

[PM5]

The current router is the Internet service provider's device, about one month ago has been replaced with a new one. I don't think they upgrading nationally for me.

I still think it's not router problem, the other Wifi devices (usb, 2 notebook ) works flawlessly. Anyway, we have other router too (about 2yrs old) and same problem only with the Intel Centrino Wifi.

So, how can I use Windows 8 driver on my Windows 7 system (which I bought)? Where can I download that version (14.8.8.75) ?

I bought an expensive notebook and I just want to use it.

When I bought my notebook on the next day I went to Dell service because of the wrong Wifi... 1week without notebook, no reason and the repair is visible (small dent, scratches). :'(

Who is going to compensate me this ?

[idata]

I know you are a representative for Intel, and not a system engineer, but when so many people have the exact same issue specifically with the drivers provided by Intel, do you find it reasonable that the problem must lie with everyone's routers? My router is not the problem because NO OTHER DEVICES CONNECTED TO IT HAVE THIS ISSUE. Remember when the iPhone 4 had antenna issues when people made calls while touching the antenna due to faulty hardware, and Steve Jobs responded to the issue by telling his loyal customers, "Don't hold it that way?" This is kind of like that, except it's actually worse, because at least Jobs' solution yielded results.

[idata]

Ok I've downgraded to driver 14.8.8.75. I'm going to keep an eye on my laptop over the next few days. I do a lot of streaming constantly so I'll know for sure if this solution works (for me).

[idata]

Downgrading has been good for the couple of days, but I can't stay connected to the vpn of my university. After one minute, vpn kicks me out. Seems to be the same disconnect frequency as with the faulty intel driver. I guess I should be glad normal wifi works, but still, I do have to make use of vpn a lot. I'm writing this on a different laptop next to mine, and here vpn works perfectly.

Anyone has a guess?