Lenovo Yoga 7 AX211 6GHz Disabled

[Ryan024]

Hello,

I have a Lenovo Yoga 7 14IRL8 which has an AX211 and is advertised as supporting WiFi 6E.

6GHz appears to be disabled. I made a thread on Lenovo's forums, they confirmed it should support 6GHz, but so far haven't been able to offer a solution. I am in Canada, so 6GHz is allowed.

I was hoping I might be able to find a solution here. I also have a desktop with and AX210 and it can connect to 6GHz without issue.

Here are some troubleshooting steps I have tried on the laptop:

1. Uninstall the AX211 repeatedly from device manager, until it can no longer be found by scanning hardware changes, then install either the latest Lenovo driver or the latest intel one
2. Reset network settings in windows
3. Update to latest bios as of a few weeks ago
4. Download all windows updates (it runs Windows 11)
5. Reset bios settings
6. Confirmed with WifiInfoView and acrylic that it cant see the 6GHz AP at all, so it isnt a roaming problem
   1. Desktop can see and connect to 6GHz
   2. In WifiInfoView, I dont see any APs on the Yoga with a country code that prohibits 6GHz
7. Install lubuntu 24.04, which has a recent enough kernel to work with 6GHz
   1. 6GHz is still not visible
   2. iw list shows all 6GHz channels as (disabled)
   3. iw reg get shows the same as the desktop except the 6GHz channels are not listed
      1. Desktop can connect to 6GHz on ubuntu 24.04

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could potentially fix this or debug it further?

Thanks

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

Thank you for posting in Intel community Forum.

For me to further check this issue, please help generate the SSU logs of your system.

Kindly download the utility here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/18377/intel-system-support-utility-for-windows.html

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ryan024]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your reply. I DM'd you the SSU log.

I see some messages like this:

Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz : Has encountered an internal error and has failed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz : Has determined that the network adapter is not functioning properly.

However looking in device manager it says its working properly.

Please let me know if there is anything else you would like me to send, or try anything and send it again.

Thanks,

Ryan

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

Thank you for the quick reply.

Base on the SSU that you provide, the wireless driver is not yet updated.

Can you try to install the latest driver and check if there will be changes.

Here is the latest driver:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19351/intel-wireless-wi-fi-drivers-for-windows-10-and-windows-11.html

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ryan024]

Hi Michael,

I sent you another SSU with the latest driver installed from that link. The previous one was with the lastest driver from Lenovo.

(The new driver doesnt solve the issue - it still cant scan or connect to 6GHz)

Below are comparisons of the output of iw list and iw reg get compared between the laptop on an lubuntu 24.04 live usb (left), and my desktop on ubuntu 24.04 (right). Linux does not appear to be able to use 6GHz either.

Thanks for your help so far, and I'm happy to provide anything else I can, either from Windows or Linux

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

Thank you for the quick reply.

Good thing that you mentioned that you also tried the driver from Lenovo which means you already isolated the drivers and still the same. At this point, it is best to continue talking to Lenovo or call them for further assistance about this wireless issue.

Wireless controllers can be altered, modified or enhanced by the OEM manufacturer base on the design of the system. And those enhancements are unknown to us and it may require a modified drivers, software and even BIOS to activate those enhancements.

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ryan024]

Hi Michael,

I contacted Lenovo support as well but no luck so far.

Thanks for looking.

Is there any way you know of to get more information (logs, etc) from the wifi drivers, either on Windows or Linux?

Another option I was considering is swapping it for an AX210 or ideally BE200, to my understanding those are less dependent on the motherboard, but I am not sure if it would change anything re 6ghz. Do you think it would?

Thanks,

Ryan

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

Thank you for the quick reply.

For the logs, you can try this:

dmesg logs, please type # dmesg > dmesg.log

Regarding your question in upgrading the wireless card, it is best to contact the manufacturer of the board first. Here is the reason why:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005687/wireless.html

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ryan024]

Thanks Michael, I’ll try dmsg probably tonight or tomorrow and report back if anything interesting.

Lenovo seemed to suggest I could swap the card (at my own risk), but not sure if that would change anything regarding 6GHz. I was thinking it may, if the chipset is the problem.

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

Thank you for the quick reply.

I understand, that is why it is best to contact the manufacturer to further check the issue.

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

I hope this message finds you well. 

Were you able to check the previous post?

Please let us know if you still need assistance.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ryan024]

Hi Michael,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I've attached the output from dmesg. I see some messages from iwlwifi, nothing that looks like an obvious problem, but I am not very familiar with iwlwifi / kernel logs.

I'd appreciate if you are able to take a look or suggest anything else that may be worth checking.

Thanks,

Ryan

[Mike_Intel]

Hello Ryan024,

Thank you for the quick reply.

As mentioned before, it is recommended to contact Lenovo on this inquiry since they are the best team who can answer your inquiry. Whatever changes or alterations that they made on this controller are unknown to us. If they disabled that feature because it is by design, only their BIOS can access that if it is accessible.

If you have questions, please let us know. Thank you.

Best regards,

Michael L.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Ryan024]

Thanks Michael,

Ill update here if I find a solution from Lenovo or elsewhere

Ryan