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wifi 6300 and 6400 not working

idata
Employee
4,788 Views

Hello.

I have a mobile workstation, dell precision. It has an intel card in it with 3 arial connections. its a 5400 on it.

We also have another dell laptop with an intel card in it with 3 arial connections calls 5300

With the creators update all was dandy and worked fine

With fall creators update they no longer work.

The symptoms are identical.

Device manager says all drivers are installed.

When one clicks the wifi icon in the task bar, wifi networks are displayed. I attempt to connect to ours (Or indeed any)

Password is entered and it asks if I want the pc to be seen on network. I click yes.

It thinks, then says could not connect. At this point all wifi networks disappear and it says that no networks were found. The icons for turning wifi on and off, airplane etc are all kind of flaky now and wont work properly. running trouble shooter shows that its trying to start up the wifi card but it gives up, the best it can offer is to insert a sim card. Restarting the laptops allows this whole cycle to start again.

I downloaded the official drivers from intel for the 5400 and same issue.

This is a problem with fall creators, I installed ubuntu on one of the laptops and the wifi works perfectly.

I note that intel is saying it no longer supports various cards, but I would be super disappointed if perfectly functional laptops are now hobbled for no reason?

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Hello garethsnaim,

 

 

We understand you're having issues connecting to your networks ever since upgrading to the Windows® 10 Fall Creators Update (RS3).

 

 

Could you please provide us with a full Intel® System Support Utility report for both of your systems?

 

 

1. Download and run the http://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293 Intel® System Support Utility.

 

2. Select to scan "everything," and run the scan while connected to your wireless network (if possible).

 

3. Save the report and attach it to your reply.

 

 

Note: To enable attachments, make sure to switch to the advanced editor while replying.

 

 

We look forward to hearing back from you.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Hello thank you for responding.

I will do this tomorrow as I have to reinstall windows back to one of them.

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

OK here is the first one for the dell lattitude E5430.

Sorry but I am unable to connect to any wireless.

There was a large update for windows today which is installed on this device, alas still no wifi.

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idata
Employee
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I did a screen recording to show the issue. Its identical on both machines.

Once it says no wifi found the only way to restore it is to either go into network adaptors and disable then re-enable the wifi or restart the machine.

https://garethirwin-mac.tinytake.com/sf/MjE2NDMyN182NzQwMzk2

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Hi here is the report for my mobile dell workstation.

This one I installed ubuntu just to check the wifi which works flawlessly on that platform. Does not work on fall creators. (Did work on creators and anniversary)

I also plugged in a tplink usb wifi adaptor which also works fine in fall creators.

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Hello garethsnaim,

Thank you for these reports. We can see that both systems use the Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300.

Please keep in mind that these adapters have been discontinued and are no longer applicable for support.

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006507/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Customer Support Options for Discontinued Intel® Wireless Products

The Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 only has partial support in Windows® 10. The drivers provided with our PROSet/Wireless Software for this adapter in that particular OS are the same as the Windows 8.1 drivers, and in some cases, the inbox driver (generic version included with your operating system) may work better.

Because of this, we have two recommendations that you could try:

1. Delete all drivers and use the OS Generic (inbox) drivers:

 

1. Under Programs and Features in the Control Panel, uninstall any instance of the "Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software," if available. When prompted, choose to "discard settings."

 

2. Go to the Device Manager > Network Adapters > Right click on your Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN and uninstall it. Make sure to select the option to "Delete the driver software for this device."

 

3. Clear out your temporary files: Press the Windows* Key + R to open the run box. Type Cleanmgr.exe and press OK. Here you will need to make sure Temporary Files are checked, and select OK.

 

4. Reboot your computer.

 

5. Open Device Manager > Network Adapters > Right click on your Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN, select "Update Driver Software..." > Select to "Search automatically for updated driver software," this will install the latest inbox driver available in the Microsoft Update Catalog*.

 

2. If this does not help, then you can install the last published driver for this device:

 

1. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27238 Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300

 

3. Try a full network reset.

 

1. Select the Start button, then select Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Network reset.

 

2. On the Network reset screen, select Reset now > Yes to confirm.

Wait for your PC to restart and see if that fixes the problem

 

 

For optimal performance, it's best to use this adapter on a system with Windows 8.1* or below.

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005602/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.htm Supported Operating Systems for Intel® Wireless Products

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Thanks for the response. Such a shame perfectly decent hardware is dropped, just adding to the big old landfill of the earth I suppose.

As one of the reports I gave you came from a brand new and clean install of windows 10, I can only assume that A. generic drivers were installed and B. a network reset is not going to achieve anything.

Can you suggest a wifi card that will work? Both have half height m.2 slots I think but have three arial connectors, all I can seem to find is wifi cards with two arial connectors.

I would be really upset if they cannot even be replaced, because essentially intels decision to drop what I can only guess would be reasonably straight forward support for these devices risk me having a very expensive (even secondhand) portable workstation that cannot even do wifi.

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

OK so I had a spare 7260? wifi card with only a black and white connector never the less its gone in and I have wifi again, however bluetooth has gone belly up, I assume the grey arial has something to do with the bluetooth.

If anyone can suggest a card replacement that intel does support that would be great.

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Hello garethsnaim,

The https://ark.intel.com/products/59474/Intel-Centrino-Ultimate-N-6300-Dual-Band Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 is a 3x3 adapter manufactured in the PCIe Half Mini Card (HMC) form factor.

Since the 3x3 antenna configuration was not widely adopted by computer manufacturers, it's unlikely that you will find one that will take it's place exactly. Probably you will simply need to leave one connector unplugged. This was the only such adapter ever manufactured by us.

As far as form factor goes, the 7260 family was the last to be made available in HMC. If you're going to purchase one, make sure to check, as it was also made in the newer M.2 Key E form factor which won't fit your system.

- https://ark.intel.com/compare/59474,75439,75440,75174 Product Comparison

Your original adapter did not come with an integrated Bluetooth® module. For your system this was probably added through a separate, non-Intel card. Which makes it a bit odd that you're having Bluetooth® issues, none of the antennas for your 6300 served this purpose. But it may be possible that your computer doesn't like having both modules enabled at once. The problem is, we don't support wireless card upgrades. Only your computer manufacturer can tell you which adapters are supported and which aren't. In some cases, an upgrade can damage your adapter or lead it to fail prematurely.

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005687/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Regulatory Information Regarding Wireless Hardware Installation or Upgrade

 

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022336/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Can I Purchase Wireless Adapters from Intel?

 

- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005846/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking.html Why Doesn't My Laptop Recognize My New Intel® Wireless Adapter?

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Thanks for your prompt response carlos.

I hope as an end user you can understand my position and with three manufacturers in the mix, intel, microsoft and dell I find myself at an empass really:

  • Windows 10 offers the latest software and security updates is fast and much nicer to use than 8 and quicker than 7. Its inevitable that end users will upgrade.
  • Windows 10 forces updates on users, there is not really a way to stop them
  • I have two perfectly functional i5 and i7 laptops here which function as modern fast hardware in all other aspects
  • decisions by large corps means that one of the most important aspects, wireless connectivity is no longer supported and no longer works
  • There is no other option, no other hardware, so far as I can ascertain, I now have to forget wireless connectivity and presumably settle for a dongle stuck out the side.
  • Apparently devices barely 5 years old are considered trash now presumably.

In respect of customer support however, Intel wins, at least you had the decency to respond and for that I thank you!

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idata
Employee
2,601 Views

Hello garethsnaim,

 

 

Thank you for your feedback. I will certainly make sure to pass it along.

 

 

Sometimes it feels like computer years are a lot like dog years. With perfectly good hardware being left behind to age at the same incredible speed that new technologies are born and mature. Believe me, when I'm not wearing an Intel® badge around my neck, I'm a end user just like you, complete with a few boxes of spare parts sitting around my home office (junk, if you ask my wife).

 

 

Part of the 'problem' is that Windows® 10 introduces a new driver model called the https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/network/wifi-universal-driver-model WLAN Device Driver Interface (WDI). Short version? A and B features must be supported, X and Y must be disabled. This means that not all legacy hardware will be able to receive a Windows® 10 driver, which is why your original adapter makes due with it's last published Windows 8.1* driver. Although this may seem like a negative, it's actually done in favor of enhanced security and functionality through the hardware that is fully supported, or was developed specifically for this OS.

 

 

We hope that you're able to find an acceptable solution for this situation. Please don't hesitate to contact us again if there is anything else we can help you with.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Carlos A.
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