Very important connection problem about AX211

[ErmanUzun]

Hello everyone,

I recently bought Asus Zenbook UX3402 model which has AX211 6E wifi card.

Till I bought Asus, I was using Thinkpad 8 years old X1 Carbon model.

I have a fiber connection with 100 mbit and a Wifi 6 (AX support) modem at home. 

This speed normally allows me to download 12-13 mb/sec.

After buying the Asus laptop and updating all the necessary drivers, I realized an issue.

The place where I use the laptop is almost 5 mt away(not far)

I use 5Ghz wifi connection. The wifi local network speed is not accurate. Going up and down time to time. I didn't think that It might be a problem at first. But later, when I use Internet download manager program and start to download big files like 10gb, I realized that the wifi logo/symbol of windows 11 which is located on the right side of the taskbar is decreasing(losing signal)

I didn't believe at first. But when I stop downloading the bar raises up. So strange!

And also I realize, when this happens, the 12-13 mb/sec download speed suddenly drops to 1-2 mb/sec, and after 7-8 seconds later It goes up again. This is a cycle all the time. 

I have also a usb wifi dongle Tp-link which I am using for my old laptop. I connected It to Asus for testing. It's connecting to wifi with 866mb/sec local wifi speed. So fast and never drops. 

In this case, I understand that Tp-link is a dongle and staying outside of the laptop and has big antenna for stronger connections. But the thing is, why the new Asus laptop's connection is unstable and the wifi bar is going down and internet become slower when I start downloading something? This is the first time I am seeing in my life.

When I take the laptop and go almost near to the modem, then there is no problem. But Do I need to sit near the modem all the time? I have just 5 mt between me and the modem.

To my opinion, Lets think that 95% of the whole download time is passing with 12mb/sec and 5% of the time is passing with so much lower speeds, what can be the problem?

I am using my laptop heavily, so I don't have time to give It to the Asus service and wait for 2 weeks. I don't think that is an antenna problem. This might be driver problem or windows problem. 

I know this is very strange, but If It goes like this, I will need to use the tp-link dongle to have stable internet connection.

Thank you for helping and waiting some kind of solution.

PS: I tried so many channels on the modem side. Also, I changed some of the advanced settings of the wifi card but didn't work.

[Steven_Intel]

Hello ErmanUzun,

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.

I am sorry you are having issues with your Intel® Wi-Fi 6E AX211, I will be glad to help.

In order to better assist you, please provide the following information:

• By any chance, could you please provide the make and model of your modem and/or router/AP?
• Have you applied the recommended settings for 802.11ax standard (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057574.html)?

As well, perform a clean installation of the latest drivers v22.200.2 (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19351/windows-10-and-windows-11-wi-fi-drivers-for-intel-wireless-adapters.html). Make sure to follow the clean installation instructions: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022173/wireless.html

Let me know of the outcome.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[ErmanUzun]

Hello Steven,

Thank you for your feedback. 

I tired many ways to fix this problem as a software issue, but It seems this is a hardware problem and decided to sent It back to Asus service centre. Now I am looking for their replies. 

This musn't be a general AX211 problem? Because thousands of laptops and brands use this module and It's new technology. Am I right?

I will give you feedback again whenever I get the new laptop or refund, I don't know yet.

[Steven_Intel]

Many thanks for your reply.

This issue has not been reported on different systems, so there is a possibility of a hardware issue.

Please let us know once you have an update from Asus.

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[ErmanUzun]

Hello Steven,

Today I got my zenbook from Asus service. As I thought, Asus gave a report that there is no fault as a hardware. So they made the device to windows 11 factory reset and gave me. 

I made a fresh installation of windows 11 pro with my original license. I just updated all the necessary things via windows 11 update.

I did nothing more as a update. I didn't install myasus program.

Installed the internet download manager program. Started downloading 10 gb test file from a strong server.

Whenever I started downloading, the wifi bar on the bottom of windows 11, fall down 1 line. Then stopped the download, It again increased.

While my laptop was in service, I googled too much information about this issue. I found one information suits to my situation.

(1) Intel AX211 WIfi Issues on Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 - slow/disconnects : intel (reddit.com)

One guy says this below in the article:

Got the same issue. Sumsung support is incompetent and unable to provide any help with this. Basically, you have to disable the following services: Intel Analytics Service, Intel Connectivity Service, and Intel Dynamic Bandwidth Management Service. How do I know this? I got the exact same problem on Dell PC two weeks ago. Hope this is going to help someone.

I attached the screenshot of intel services. I disabled the top 3 services in the picture.

Are there any other services related to this issue and disable them?

Thank you in advance...

[ErmanUzun]

Hello Steven again,

After my last message, today I installed intel driver support assistance. It installed 4 different wifi bluetooth and connectivity drivers/programmes. It seems, after updating the drivers and programmes, wifi connection is so much better. I added the screenshot, even the downloading started, the signal bar didnt't go lower than 93.

Maybe there are new drivers?

 

[Steven_Intel]

Thank you for the update on this matter.

Usually we recommend installing the driver provided by the OEM (Asus) since it is often customized for the device, but in this case, if the generic driver is working better, that is good news.

The latest driver v22.200.2 was released on 03/23/2023, so there has not being any other update since then.

Are the speeds as you expected them to be now since the last driver installation?

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.

[ErmanUzun]

Yes Steven, so far so good. Really interesting. I can't explain this situation how? But It's working now as expected.

From now on, I will just install the drivers which the Intel support assistant program tells me. This works for me

[DukeOfURL]

Solved:  Client purchased a new Asus Zenbook UX3402 ZA yesterday (Apr 20,2023)

They started installing software and (unfortunately) ran a Windows Update.

After a reboot the Network Device (and other devices) were removed. No internet at all !

The Device Manager did not list any Network Devices...

Downloading the driver from Asus, putting it on a Memory key and transferring it did not work.

It seemed to install, but the driver update did not fix it.

Power / F2 and reboot to get to System Diagnostics.

The diagnostics seemed to work (mostly) and more importantly, listed the device as 'Intel(r) Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz'.

After downloading the Intel driver listed in this note, the WiFi was again operational.

Thanks

[Steven_Intel]

Many thanks for your reply.

I am glad to know everything is working as expected. Hopefully, it will help other community members. 

Since the thread is now solved, we will close it. Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel. 

Thank you for your understanding.  

Best regards,

Steven G.

Intel Customer Support Technician.