Wifi going bad when launching specific games with AX200 160MHz

[Throe]

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a rather annoying issue with my Wifi connection that has been going on for quite some time now. 

My laptop is an AORUS 5 KB with an Intel wireless adapter (SSU retrieved info : Network Adapter(s): Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz 22.70.0.6), which is up-to-date. I'm running Windows 11 Beta, which is pretty stable, but this issue was already present when I was on Windows 10.

Issue is : when launching specific programs (games really), the Wifi goes bad. I have three different cases :

• In League of Legends, interacting in the client itself makes internet go bad, with huge latency spikes (usually around 30ms, goes up to 2500ms). Two subcases : 1) in the client itself, before trying to start a game, clicking on certain "buttons" (like Play or Profile) will lead to a very brief lagspike; 2) in champ select, internet is just bad , alternating on the ping window between normal and high (1000+ms) latency one after the other (one good, one bad). As soon as the game starts and the client is not used anymore, the connection goes back to being perfect. From a naive pov, it feels like the network is somehow overloaded when the client is communicating with the network (if it makes sense ?).
• In Neverwinter, there's one lagspike (same numbers as before) when the game client opens, then nothing until it's trying to communicate with the network to retrieve the list of characters. Then it goes bad and times out 100% of the time with at least 500ms constant. What's peculiar is, when clicking on another window (thus losing the focus on the game), Internet goes back to being good. Focusing on the game again instantly makes the connection go bad.
• Third case, which is less annoying but as peculiar for me, Conan Exiles : connection is perfectly fine until I switch focus to another window, where it goes bad (up to 100% packet loss), making my server unusable, until I switch back to the game where the lagspikes immediately stop.

I tried opening Neverwinter while on my phone's data and it worked as it should, without lagspikes, which makes me think the issue isn't caused by my laptop (wireless adapter excluded). I am thus exploring this option, and attaching the SSU report in case it helps. Thank you.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe,  

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities.   

I would like to let you know that our support is oriented to Windows 10, please try to roll back to Windows 10 to continue with the support. In order to better assist you, please provide the following:  

1. Is this issue recent? If so, when did it start?

2. Have you tried with a different Access Point/router?

3. What is the model name of your router?

4. Have you tried with the latest drivers from GIGABYTE?

5. Have you tried updating your BIOS version?

6. Have you reported this issue with GIGABYTE?

Best regards, 

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Throe]

Hi, thanks for your reply and sorry for the delay.

1. Is this issue recent? If so, when did it start?

It started a few months ago, to be fair I got pretty much used to it so I can't recall exactly when. It also seems to fix itself from time to time, for a week or two, then happens again. I have no idea what happens for it to work again like this.

2. Have you tried with a different Access Point/router?

I did try with my phone data plan and it was working perfectly fine, with no lagspikes.

3. What is the model name of your router?

My router is a Sagemcom Livebox 4.

4. Have you tried with the latest drivers from GIGABYTE?

I have tried with pretty much all drivers I could find, it doesn't fix the problem at all.

5. Have you tried updating your BIOS version?

I just updated my BIOS and got a notification from the Intel support assistant that there was a WiFi driver update (22.70 I believe), which I did but none of these things fixed the problem.

6. Have you reported this issue with GIGABYTE?

I have, but since the issue isn't present on a different network, they don't see what could be the problem.

I also tried my luck with my FAI a few months back and they replaced my box and everything, but the issue remains, which by elimination makes me think it's caused by the wireless card or some parameter adjacent to it.

I hope these will help, thank you very much for your assistance.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

Were you able to check the previous post and get the information requested? Please let me know if you need more assistance.   

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

Before we continue further, I would like to confirm some information:

1. What does "FAI" stands for?

2. Did you replace the Sagemcom Livebox 4 with a new one?

3. Please try with a different Acess Point (not hotspot), to confirm if the issue is linked to your specific router or not.

4. Does the issue appears when you connect your laptop with an ethernet cable?

Regards,    

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[Throe]

Hi,

1. What does "FAI" stands for?

Sorry, I meant ISP - Internet Service Provider.

2. Did you replace the Sagemcom Livebox 4 with a new one?

The issue was present with my previous router, which was replaced to try and fix the problem I'm discussing here. It was replaced with the Sagemcom Livebox 4, and that replacement did not fix the issue.

3. Please try with a different Access Point (not hotspot), to confirm if the issue is linked to your specific router or not.

I forgot, but I actually had this problem in my previous home with a different router from a different ISP. Changing routers isn't helping as far as I can tell.

4. Does the issue appear when you connect your laptop with an ethernet cable?

Unfortunately I don't think I can check this right now. Sorry.

Thanks.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

Thank you for the information provided 

I will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details. 

Best regards, 

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

In order to continue further, I will appreciate it if you can confirm the following:

1. Have you tried the latest driver version?

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19351/windows-10-wi-fi-drivers-for-intel-wireless-adapters.html

2. Is this issue only present on your router (excluding hotspot)? Have you tried with another network/router?

3. Is it possible for you to take a short video where we can see the issue? This will help us to replicate the issue is needed.

Regards,   

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[Throe]

Hi,

1. Have you tried the latest driver version?

I downloaded and installed the latest driver update and the problem is still there.

2. Is this issue only present on your router (excluding hotspot)? Have you tried with another network/router?

This issue was present on a different router, in my previous apartment : it was a different ISP and a different router altogether.

3. Is it possible for you to take a short video where we can see the issue? This will help us to replicate the issue is needed.

The video is attached. For context :

- Notice at the very beginning the lagspike (2818ms) when the software first communicates with the network.

- After that, starting at 00:27, Internet becomes terrible : multiple lagspikes in short sequence (you can see the interface lagging behind my clicks). In another video attempt, after validating everything (I'm alone in the lobby for test purposes), the lagspikes stop, because the client isn't communicating anymore. In public games, with people in the lobby, the lagspikes happen until the client closes and the game starts, presumably because my client communicates with the network to reflect other people's activity.

A final note :

As a mentioned in my first post, I had issues with Neverwinter as well, with constant packet loss when the game tries to retrieve my list of characters. I opened the game yesterday - I believe - and it worked perfectly. I tried just before writing this and the problem is back. As I said sometimes the problem isn't there and everything works, but it doesn't last long and more importantly, I have no idea what makes it work - or what breaks it.

Thank you.

[Throe]

Hi,

After further testing, I have some information that might be relevant.

- While doing exactly the same things as shown in the video above, i tried plotting both the latency pinging to a generic website IP (I used twitter.com), and my router's IP (192.168.1.1). Both show latency spikes simultaneously.

- I can also confirm that other devices connected to my router do not show these latency spikes. The problem seems to be strictly happening between my computer and the router. As I mentioned before, I had this problem on different routers, so I believe this issue is strictly caused by my computer.

Thank you.

[slazernomad]

Hi, I have pretty similar issue with msi ge66 when running warzone.

I have killer ax1650i, tried to remove all killer software, drivers and install clean intel drivers but issue still exists. Router xiaomi mi router 4a , I've checked all settings. When I run game in other screen I try to check internet speed and it's just 1 mbps instead of 100. This happens on 5 hhz  while all other devices works fine. Router reboot helps for some time, but I beileve it's software issue.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

Thank you for the information provided 

I will proceed to check the issue internally and post back soon with more details. 

@slazernomad , feel free to try the steps and recommendations from this thread (you may need to adjust the steps based on your system) or you can create a new thread to get proper support.

Best regards, 

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

In order to continue further, I would like to confirm the following:

1. Was the issue present since the Laptop was bought?

2. Is the issue present in both bands 2.4 and 5GHz?

3. For testing purposes, try with the wireless and graphics (since the issue is gaming-related) drivers from the laptop manufacturer.

4. Update your BIOS to the latest version (FB06).

Regards,    

Deivid A. 

Intel Customer Support Technician 

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

Were you able to check the previous post and get the information requested? Please let me know if you need more assistance.   

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello Throe, 

We have not heard back from you, so we will close this inquiry. If you need further assistance or if you have additional questions, please create a new thread and we will gladly assist you.  

Also, I recommend you to check once more with the laptop manufacturer if the issue continues. since it may need a BIOS or driver update from them.

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician