unstable intel wireless AC 3160

[Chrysalis]

Hi guys.

I got a new laptop last week and have been using it the last few days, configuring it etc. For the most part its going well except the built in wireless adaptor is unstable.

The 3 problems I have observed are.

1 - the adaptor turns itself off and then stops able to detect 5g networks. Usually this happens right after or during moderate-heavy network activity. e.g. just now it happened whilst syncing dropbox files. I can recover the adaptor by simply turning it off in windows and back on again.
2 - On boot up the same problem sometimes occurs (but not always), unable to connect as unable to see any 5g networks.
3 - sometimes it rapidly connects and disconnects in a loop.

Minor issue as well is performance is poor, I get packet loss on my lan (dont on my wifi dongle and old laptop) and if its been idle a short time and I then ping my laptop the first packet is either a loss or high latency which I assume is related to some low power mode.

Router used is in my sig. Note no other wireless devices in my property have issues which is 3 phones, old laptop, wifi dongle, 3 wireless consoles/stb boxes.

 

[dikkiedirk]

Hi guys.

I got a new laptop last week and have been using it the last few days, configuring it etc. For the most part its going well except the built in wireless adaptor is unstable.

The 3 problems I have observed are.

1 - the adaptor turns itself off and then stops able to detect 5g networks. Usually this happens right after or during moderate-heavy network activity. e.g. just now it happened whilst syncing dropbox files. I can recover the adaptor by simply turning it off in windows and back on again.
2 - On boot up the same problem sometimes occurs (but not always), unable to connect as unable to see any 5g networks.
3 - sometimes it rapidly connects and disconnects in a loop.

Minor issue as well is performance is poor, I get packet loss on my lan (dont on my wifi dongle and old laptop) and if its been idle a short time and I then ping my laptop the first packet is either a loss or high latency which I assume is related to some low power mode.

Router used is in my sig. Note no other wireless devices in my property have issues which is 3 phones, old laptop, wifi dongle, 3 wireless consoles/stb boxes.

Looks like there is something wrong with those AC 3160s. I have also a laptop with this adapter and have all kinds of issues with it. It connects to a RT-AC3200 router but sometimes it looses internet connection and I get lower downloadspeeds than usual. I only have 40/4 from my ISP and a much older laptop with an Intel N-6205 adapter reaches the maximum speed of 40/4 Mb/s. But the newer laptop with the AC 3160 barely reaches 25/3 Mb/s. The older laptop is on Windows 7 while the newer is on Windows 10.

 

[Chrysalis]

Looks like it isnt as simple as blaming the wireless card.

With the dongle in the new laptop, speed is much higher again and it doesnt drop out under load.

However there is still some packetloss on the lan (not there on old laptop) and latency remains jittery (also not there on old laptop). It also has the first ping high problem after a period of idleness, I have turned all powersaving stuff I can. Seems there is some more agressive power saving going on with this newer hardware which affects how stable interrupts are.

 

[john9527]

You may want to give this a try......
http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fix-for-erratic-windows-7-ping.23092/

 

[Chrysalis]

ok an update.

1- John's advice was good, HPET stabilised the jitter. Seems invariant TSC on my laptop is not that good.
2 - I disabled protected management frames which improved 90% or so the stability, but still some issues, which I am still diagnosing.

 

[Chrysalis]

This is now fully resolved, the remainder of disconnections were caused by the network key rotation, which I confirmed by disabling, I have since turned it back on but only at the maximum 2592000 setting.

So 2 causes were protected management frames and key rotation.
I think my phone was possibly also affected slightly as occasionally it would skip 5g connection and goto 2.4g which has stopped happening as well.

HPET for the jitter.

 

[L&LD]

Are you really running 374.43_2?

I suggest you upgrade (quickly too) to something more current and secure instead.

 

[john9527]

Are you really running 374.43_2?

I suggest you upgrade (quickly too) to something more current and secure instead.

That's my fork of 374.....I've been keeping it updated for over two years now for the legacy routers. Think of it as an LTS release

 

[L&LD]

That's my fork of 374.....I've been keeping it updated for over two years now for the legacy routers. Think of it as an LTS release

Oops! Sorry john9527. I really didn't recognize it.

I do know and recommend your fork to many here. Along with your excellent NVRAM Save/Restore utility too.

 

[Chrysalis]