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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[MNiko3]

Here is what I did and it seems to be working for me. I have a Dell XPS and I uninstalled the Dell Network connection checker. I think that is what was causing my problem because I don't seem to have anymore problems with my network. For the other non Dell products that are having problems I am not sure if they have similar software but remove that and see if that helps.

[JB26]

This is what I'm sure we are feeling about the Intel Centrino 6235 WiFi card and other Intel Wifi cards that the geniuses at Intel can't seem to get working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0WrFX5jVk Why? BMW M6 owner goes Hulk over defects, smashes own car - YouTube

[oskil]

I can confirm that, on the ASUS Zenbook (UX32A), I am getting no dropouts on Wireless N at both 2.4GHz and 5GHz. I have been running it for over a month, and it has been stable without any dropouts (knock on wood). I also have Wireless adapter settings (in Power Settings) set to "Maximum POWER SAVING", so it is not a power issue anymore either (before I could only get it to work when I was in Maximum Performance).

This is ever since I installed 15.8.0, which is indeed stable! Although, my listed driver under the card says 15.7.0.3 for some reason.

[CColb]

I own a Dell XPS12 and was experiencing major challenges with my WiFi. I spent quite a bit of time trying a number of the standard steps to try and diagnose the problem...and then finally broke down and called Dell support. After a few more hours of trying some "power" settings...the rep finally said that the next step was going to require a total restore to the original system.

I held off and in desperation decided to do some more Google searches to see if my issue was something others were also experiencing and was very happy to run across this forum. Misery loves company they say.

In learning and reading about people's problems with the "latest" Intel drivers (15.X.X.X) and in my attempts to actually fix my problem took the traditional steps of making sure I had the latest and greatest drivers. This unfortunately for me was my greatest mistake.

In a final act of frustration, I deleted the driver entirely. I then restarted and then used Windows 8 to "repair" this driver in which it reinstalled version 14.8.8.75 (Which is signed/provided by Microsoft...and not Intel) and instantly my Wifi issues were resolved. I event went back and activated the N-Group support and my connections have remained perfectly stable...just as I had experienced when I first started using my XPS12.

So for those of you who may be in a similar situation...and before you take on more troublesome steps...I'm passing along my success story and hope it will work for some others that are frustrated and disappointed in their machines.

I do think Intel is failing to properly address this issue and there seems to be for me at least problems with all version 15.X.X.X and higher drivers. Perhaps as some people have hypothesized...it is something with the WiDi support....I'll never know. I am also disappointed in Dell in not properly advising and providing better support on this matter. Certainly an experience to remember the next time one selects their next machines.

Good luck folks.

[JKomm]

A warning for those of you still married to their 14.x drivers and Windows 8:

Windows 8.1 will go public tomorrow.

***Windows 8.1 NO LONGER CONTAINS THIS DRIVER***, and it thus does not seem to have w8.1 certification. The only way for me to get it working again was to rip it out of windows 8 install, change date to last year in inf (since it can't be older than a year?), self signing it with MS tools, turning on test signing mode and then I could install

I ended up with permanent watermarks on my desktop stating it's in test mode (and had to disable secure boot)

In short: I'd STRONGLY advise you to WAIT with the upgrade until it's been confirmed the driver stays in. (for me it didn't with the msdn upgrade) or a working version has been released by microsoft/intel

[RScul]

Well, like most windows 8 users, i have upgraded to windows 8.1 final this week and have been playing with both the microsoft supplied driver 15.10.0.12 and the new 16.5.3 (installed 15.10.3.2) supplied by Intel. After 2 days of playing with both, the dropouts problem seems to be resolved. I will report back on that after a week of usage .

On the negative side , a new problem seems to have emerged : when using a bluetooth mouse at the same time as the 2.4 Ghz wifi, the download speed drops significantly. See the following images :

1: With bluetooth mouse and wifi 2,4 Ghz used at the same time :

Because of the presence of bluetooth, windows seems to limit the performance of the 6235 card to N150 while it should perform as a N300 in 2,4 Ghz. Speedtest exibits a poor download speed of 5.9 mbps on a rated 50 mbps internet access.

2: Disabling the bluetooth mouse and using only wifi 2,4 Ghz:

Here as you can see on speedtest, i can reach the full potential download speed of my FIOS internet access (50 mbps) and windows report that the maximum link access is 300 Mbps as opposed to 150 mbps when using bluetooth and wifi 2,4 at the same time .

Conclusion : With those driver releases, using a bluetooth mouse and wifi 2,4 ghz at the same time severely impacts download speed of the 6235 card. I had not observed this behavior in windows 8.0 and microsoft driver 14.8. Actually the temporary solution is to use the 5,0 Ghz band instead when it is available : doing so allows me to reach the full download speed. Hope this is fixed because if not, it does remove the advantage of using a combined bluetooth/wifi card. I will possibly start a new thread on Bluetooth/Wifi interference.

P.S. The bluetooth mouse that i use is a new Dell WM524

[VMila]

Hello,

I have the solved problem with the driver for Windows 8.1 driver version is (15.9.1.2) date : 22/08/2013 .

Victor

[MJagn]

Użytkownik Joris napisał:

A warning for those of you still married to their 14.x drivers and Windows 8:

Windows 8.1 will go public tomorrow.

***Windows 8.1 NO LONGER CONTAINS THIS DRIVER***, and it thus does not seem to have w8.1 certification. The only way for me to get it working again was to rip it out of windows 8 install, change date to last year in inf (since it can't be older than a year?), self signing it with MS tools, turning on test signing mode and then I could install

I ended up with permanent watermarks on my desktop stating it's in test mode (and had to disable secure boot)

In short: I'd STRONGLY advise you to WAIT with the upgrade until it's been confirmed the driver stays in. (for me it didn't with the msdn upgrade) or a working version has been released by microsoft/intel

shit man, for some reason I hoped win 8.1 can bring something good and I forgot about wifi issues since 14.x drivers finally had started to work like they should (after few minor tweaks iirc). But yeah I did the update and now I'm fucked again. Can u please make some tutorial for people like me? I have no idea how I can bring 14.x back now and from ur post it sure doesnt look like easy job.

[DA5]

For those still troubleshooting this issue, either at home or at Intel, I have new information: I have achieved perfect performance, even after multiple suspends/resumes, with the following configuration.

Router: WNDR3700v1

Firmware: Gargoyle 1.4.7

Wireless Mode: Dual Band

Channel Width: 40MHz (control channel above)

Encryption: WPA2-PSK

Wireless Client Isolation: Disabled

Wireless channel (5GHz): 149

That last bit, the wireless channel? That's the important part. When I use any of the double-digit channels that are available (36,44,52,60), I get connection drops. When I use 149, all is wonderful and right with the world. I haven't tried 157 yet, but I suspect it will do the same.

I hope this information is helpful to someone.

[MMele2]

Hi,

same problem here, but with another boring addition....

I upgraded (from Store) Windows 8 Professional 64 bit to Windows 8.1. I have never regretted it so much!

First, with Win 8 all worked perfectly with my Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235....everywhere.

Now, with Win 8.1 (and I read it's a common problem) I can't surf for more than 5 minutes and I start to get white pages and connection error on my browsers (chrome, ie, firefox). Both on LAN and Wireless. APPARENTLY I can't see disconnection or card deactivation, it seems all OK....but in reality it is impossible to surf in internet for more than 5 minutes. And I'm forced to restart system.

It's bizarre that, when I connect to my work LAN or Wireless (Fastweb ADSL, with a Sitecom Wifi router) it's ALL OK, and I never get problems!

When I connect from home (Fastweb ADSL, with a Technicolor TG784N v3 voip router) I start to have problems....and I cannot understand the reason of this different behaviour!

Last thing...I tried everything suggested (power consumption options, accelerated graphic in internet options, rollback to previous driver, updated drivers from windows update, etc) but no solution...so, I downloaded the latest intel driver: wireless_16.1.5_De64.exe

BUT....they can't work! I mean, they said are win 8.1 driver but win 8.1 can't let me open it, coz I launch the setup and it freezes after 5 seconds....so I can't install it!

Can I have at least an uncompressed version of this drivers, so I can install it from resources?

[tvete]

Here's Proset/Wireless software where it's repacked to a self-extracting package so you can use device manager to point to the location of the drivers and install them. http://www.station-drivers.com/index.php/10-drivers/45-intel-wlan-lan Station-Drivers - Intel (Wlan & Lan)

[RScul]

I confirm that using an external Bluetooth dongle and disabling the internal Bluetooth portion of the 6235 restores the full 2.4 ghz wifi download performance of my Internet access. I then gets a 50 mbps download speed as opposed to a poor 5.0 mbps with centrino bluetooth enabled. Latest bluetooth driver posted yesterday 3.1.1309 does not reslove the issue.

P.S Refer to my previous post for more info.

[MMele2]

Thanks, mate....but those are not the driver, but only the intel proset wifi software....there are no drivers in the file I've downloaded (Version 16.5.0.15 (Win8.1 64bits))...unpaked it, and device manager doesn't find the advanced-n 6235....

maybe it's not the correct link for the unpacked drivers? can someone give me a link to unpacked latest win 8.1 64bit drivers for Advanced-N 6235?

Many thanks

[tvete]

wwwmagnottait wrote:

Thanks, mate....but those are not the driver, but only the intel proset wifi software....there are no drivers in the file I've downloaded (Version 16.5.0.15 (Win8.1 64bits))...unpaked it, and device manager doesn't find the advanced-n 6235....

maybe it's not the correct link for the unpacked drivers? can someone give me a link to unpacked latest win 8.1 64bit drivers for Advanced-N 6235?

Many thanks

I should've given you the instructions on how to get the drivers out of the Proset package.

After extracting the exe file, open the folder then copy and paste "Drv1.cab"

Create a new folder. Then open Drv1.cab. Select all of the files then drag it to the new folder.

Use device manager to browse for the drivers for the Intel WiFi NIC and that should do it.

[MMele2]

Hi

I've done what u suggested

But...

It shows me 4 inf files: netwbx, netwex, netwsxx, netwsx....whatever of those inf I select from device manager, it shows me 2 options:

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 Version 15.10.0.11 (16/06/2013)

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 Version 15.09.0.5 (16/06/2013)

They doesn't seem the latest driver....moreover, if I try to install one of them, I get an error message "cannot find the specified file". So, I can't install them

What should I do now?

It seems a neverending story....

[JRiqu]

Hi,

I have an Dell XPS 15 L502x with a Centrino Advanced-N 6230. I have an Apple Airport Extreme.

Been running Windows 8 for the past year with the default Microsoft driver provided in the OS, aware of this problem (I remember it was dated 2011). Everything worked fine.

Last week, I've upgraded to Windows 8.1, and, of course, the Driver updated to a recent version, and the problem started.

This is important:

1) I have a Microsoft Wireless Presenter Bluetooth Mouse 8000, connected directly to my Intel Centrino Bluetooth Adapter. No problems on Windows 8 (and Windows 8.1, even with the Wi-Fi dropouts).

2) Last night, I've DISABLED the Centrino Bluetooth Adapter on the Device Manager (Right Click -> Disable) and started using the USB Bluetooth Dongle that Microsoft provided with the Mouse in the box (in other words, switched from the internal Intel Centrino Bluetooth to an external USB Bluetooth dongle provided by Microsoft, disabling the first)

3) Even disabled, "just in case", I've upgraded the Intel Bluetooth Drivers to the version 3.1.1309 (released last night). Only upgraded drivers; as I said before, It's still disabled on my Device Manager and I'm still using Microsoft USB Bluetooth dongle. Before I went to sleep I've downloaded a 3,2 ISO and a couple of 600 MB files, without dropouts.

Today, I've started using the PC at 8 AM, it's 1:40 PM and Wi-Fi it's working fine all the morning, without dropouts and Bluetooth interferences.

Maybe it's too early to declare the problem "solved", but, it's a great, great step foward.

Maybe all this problem is related to a conflict between Intel Centrino Wi-Fi and the Intel Centrino Bluetooth, both into the computer. Using or not the last one, disabling it resolves the issue.

I keep you posted.

Cheers.

[CColb]

Based on what I have read since the 8.1 release...I'm holding off on the update.

I would love however to hear from folks when an "all clear" scenario works with 8.1. For me the issue was not speed but dropped connectivity with any Intel-based driver 15.XXX and above. Only the original Windows 8 14.XXXX driver appears to work for me.

I have a Dell XPS12 on an N-Supported router.

Thanks.

BTW - A big "Wag of the Finger" to Intel for failing to correct this issue. Based on it being "driver" related, I beleive the full blame for this issue rests with them. Dell gets off on account that so many other OEM's put this chip in their high-end laptops. I still like the idea of a class-action suit...any developments on that?

[KKlov]

I'm all done with this Intel crap, I have prob spent 20hours+ on this, it's just not worth the time, specially since Intel's opinion is the same as mine.

I will no longer pay for Intel technology that is not very common (ie WiDi). Good luck finding someone else pay for being "beta testers" to product that doesnt work.

[JB26]

And this is why there will never a resolution from Intel on this POS card... Direct from customer service.

Mauriciobut again if the issue persist is the OEM who is legally entitled to provide support of that part that they integrate in your system

[JB26]

Do you guys notice Joe@Intel and the other Intel mod are silently absent now since the latest drivers have failed? They are pathetic.

Here is another instance where I had to power down my computer and restart to get it to connect after it had been connected. You can't tell but it forgets where IP 192.xxx.xxx is genius product Intel!!!

I would suggest everyone make an error report here:

https://supportmail.intel.com/Welcome.aspx Intel Corporation - Welcome to E-mail Support

[JB26]

JBSo escalate meIntel:I am sorry sir however that is not an optionJBIt has been over a year and you guys can't fix this? You are pathetic.Intel:Well sir we are not going to discuss that from this channel.JBcompany do you know that takes over 1 year to fix an issueIntel:Is there anything else that I can help you with?JBWho else do I contactJB?Intel:SureIntel:SureIntel:You can continue your inquiry through forums support

Contact the forums?!?!? HAHAHAHAHA!