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AC 7260: WiFi alone works fine, but drops drastically when Bluetooth is on

SSand9
Beginner
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Hello Guys,

I have the Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 running in my ASUS TP300LA notebook.

When Bluetooth is disabled, the WiFi connection works absolutely fine. But as soon as I enable Bluetooth (doesn't matter if connected to a Bluetooth device or not), the WiFi throughput drops drastically. The connection speed in the WiFi Status window (network and sharing center -> WiFi connection) is still stated as 48 or 54 MBit/s, but the throughput shrinks to nothing.

I attached a screenshot from Windows 10 Task Manager (Performance Tab) where I enabled Bluetooth for a few seconds.

This problem occurs in six different WLANs where I tested this so far, so I guess I can exclude the router from trouble-shooting.

Driver version is 18.21.0.2, but I also tried several older drivers, including the one provided by ASUS, without noticing a difference.

I should also note that it might got worse with the update from Windows 8.1 to 10, but I didn't use Bluetooth much before the update, so I'm not entirely sure.

Do you guys have any idea how to solve this issue? Or should I buy a random Bluetooth USB adapter, to prevent more grey hair?

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
1,013 Views

simsand,

Since this is a combo, Bluetooth* and Wi-Fi share the same antennas and this may impact directly on the Wi-Fi throughput. The recommendation is to disable Bluetooth* if not necessary so you can have all the antennas dedicated to W-Fi. There is this article online refering about Wi-Fi and Bluetooth* coexistence that may be very informative about this subject: http://www.ecnmag.com/article/2012/03/wi-fi-and-bluetooth-coexistence Wi-Fi and Bluetooth coexistence

*NOTE: This link isbeing offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel of the content, products, or services offered there.

Even though there is a possibility for them to coexist, they will always use the same antennas. If you are going to have an intense use of Bluetooth*-connected peripherals but, also needs to have a high throughput at the same time, you might consider the option you have informed above about getting an independed Bluetooth* adapter.

SSand9
Beginner
1,013 Views

Thanks for your response.

So you are telling me basically: Intel sells a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Combo Device, but the recommendation is to use only one of the features at a time? I don't think that it is okay to name it a combo then.

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
1,013 Views

Simsand,

We apologize for any misunderstanding in our previous response. What we mean is that Bluetooth* and Wi-Fi share the same antennas, you can use both at same time as needed but, because they share the same antennas, Wi-Fi performance may decrease because the antenna will also be busy using Bluetooth*.

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SSand9
Beginner
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Yes I got that, but I think we are not talking about a decrease in performance - enabling Bluetooth makes the WiFi completely unusable.

So I can use only Bluetooth OR WiFi.

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
1,013 Views

simsand,

We recommend that you contact the computer manufacturer if this wireless adapter is the one installed by factory in order to check if they have any available solution for this issue.

As a second option, you can optimize your connection by following:

1 - Disable Power Functions: Control Panel >> Hardware and Sound >> Power Option >> Set the High Performance and apply to default.

2 - Check the Change Plan Settings: >> Change Advanced Power Settings >> Wireless Adapter Settings >> Power Saving Mode and make sure both on Battery and Plugged in are set to Maximum Performance.

3 - On Device Manager >> Network Adapters >> Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 and then select and right click on it, then choose Properties.

4 - On Property, select the Advanced tab and set the U-APSD support to Disabled.

5 - Check the value of transmit Power and make sure it is set to 5. Highest.

6 - Change the current channel used to a less crowded one on the router.

7 - Set the Wireless Mode to 802.11a/b/g/n according to that of the supported mode on your router.

8 - Set the preferred band to Prefer 2.4GHz band.

9 - Set the HT Mode to HT.

10 - Set the Channel Width for 2.4GHz to limited 20MHz

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SSand9
Beginner
1,013 Views

Thank you for the detailed response!

Unfortunately, it didn't help anything. My best guess is that since a lot of people hardly use Bluetooth, Intel didn't bother to build a well working device.

(However, I don't understand why the combination of WiFi and Bluetooth works flawlessly in my phone - apparently it is possible...)

ASUS wants me to send in my laptop for two weeks, which is not possible for me, so I will buy a Bluetooth USB adapter.

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