Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 will not connect. USB WiFi adapter from TP-LINK will.

[AKjªr]

I'm using a Lenovo T460s with Windows 10 Pro to connect to a wireless network which authenticates with certificates. When trying to connect with the internal Intel network card the message from Windows is:

Not able to connect. But in 1 out of 50 tries (always when the computer has been sleeping) it works. Then after reboot, it fails again.

When using my USB network adapter from TP-LINK all works perfectly.

Does anyone know why? It's driving me crazy.

[idata]

Hello tis1980,

As we understand, your computer is not connecting to the wireless network after restarting or rebooting. You can check the following items, as they may help in this condition:

1. Make sure you are using the current driver for the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260. Currently, you can use Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows® 10, version 18.40.4

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26096/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-and-Drivers-for-Windows-10?product=86068 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26096/Intel-PROSet-Wireless-Software-and-Drivers-for-Windows-10?product=86068

2. Go to Device Manager - Network Adapters - Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260, right click on it and select Properties, then go to the Power Management tab and toggle off/on the option "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power". Then check if the behavior improves when you change this setting.

JB

[AKjªr]

Hi JB,

Thank you for your reply.

I'm sorry to say that I have tried both 1. and 2. several times.

I've also updated all drivers from both Lenovo and Microsoft.

I have also tried installing drivers from Intel 15(!) versions back in time. All fail to work.

Also I have restored the machine to factory settings several times and posted my issue on both Aerohive, Lenovo, Microsoft and, now, Intel forums.

[idata]

Hello,

Please try the following actions and let us know if this helps:

- Go to the Power options of you laptop, in the Advanced Settings for your Power Plan, then make sure that the Wireless Adapter is set to work at "Maximum Performance" when plugged in and on battery.

- Disable Fast Startup in Windows® 10. Here is an external link that explains this feature and how to manage it:

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

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-fast-startup-turn-off-windows-10-a.html http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4189-fast-startup-turn-off-windows-10-a.html

- Check the BIOS of your PC and disable "Fastboot", or other technologies that may interfere with the regular boot/resume process.

[AKjªr]

Hi,

I have tried it several times before, but I did it again:

1) I've made sure that power settings for WiFi is set to maximum performance on both battery settings and plugged in

2) I've disabled fast boot under power settings

3) No options in BIOS seems to be available concerning fast boot

Still I get the same error.

[idata]

We would like to get some additional information about the system and the issue:

- Does this happen with other networks?- When this happens, do you use any workaround to recover from this condition? (for example: Disable/Enable the wireless adapter in Device manager)- Download https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility Intel® System Support Utility and use the tool to create and save a report, then you can use the Advanced editor options to attach the resulting file to this thread.- Let us know which type of authentication you are using in the network, and any additional details you can provide.

[AKjªr]

Hi Intel,

1) No, this does not happen on other networks. We have 2 SSIDs on our access points: One for customers and public access (secured with password) and one for internal access (secured with network policy server and certificates). I can connect to the one with passwords, but not to the one secured with certificates. Please remember, that I can connect to both networks with the USB WiFi adapter.

2) I do not have any options to force a connection to the network. I have connected twice to the network, but both times were after the computer being shut down and being closed over the night. The next morning when I opened the computer, the network card automatically connected to the internal WiFi. When I rebooted the computer, the network card will not connect to the network any more and I have no chance of re-connecting again.

3) I use a Windows NPS and certificates to authenticate my users and computers. From the logs, I can see that the NPS authenticates the computer, but the computer never creates the connection (handshake is attempted, but the computer never accepts).

[idata]

Hello tis1980,

We need to investigate further on this condition, for this purpose we would like to get more details of the problem and the environment.Please check your private messages for additional instructions.

[idata]

Hello,

We have identified a situation with Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software on Windows®10 when using certificate based authentication.If you encounter this issue, It is recommended to use the driver only, which can be extracted from the http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000017246.html Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for IT administrators.- To remove the old components, go to Control Panel, Programs and Features and Uninstall "Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software". When prompted, choose the option to "Discard settings"- Go to Control Panel, Device Manager, Network Adapters, right click on the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260 and Uninstall it. Make sure you mark the option to "Delete the driver software for this device".- Reboot the PC or scan for hardware changes, check device manager and if an older wireless driver is detected and installed, repeat the actions to uninstall and delete it as well. Repeat this process until the OS does not allow deleting the driver, or until the controller shows as Unknown Device.- Then install the Intel Wireless driver from device manager, using the one extracted from the Administrator's package.