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Wireless-AC 7265 5GHz not working in windows 8.1

JBerg14
Novice
14,388 Views

Hello

Running Windows 8.1 (x64), tried drivers 17.13.11 and 17.1.0. The problem is, i cannot see any 5GHz networks using windows list of wifi networks or SSID scan tool (inSSIDer). I can see multiple SSID's including my own on the 5GHz band on my other devices. I just got the 7265 card yesterday.

I have tried a bunch of things, including a fresh install of windows and the stuff in the support section on intel website (adapter settings for optimal performance etc). Nothing works!

netsh says my card has "802.11a" and "802.11ac" capability in windows, which seems fine.

It almost seems like there is something turning off the 5GHz radio on the card in windows.

Since the card is new, i thought there might be a hardware issue, i.e. 5GHz radio broken.

However i tried booting from a linux live USB stick, in this environment i can see 5GHz networks, i can connect to my own 5GHz network and i get AC link rates (400-800mbit) and high transfer speeds (100mbit+). This was on ubuntu 14.04LTS. So there should be no hardware failure or hardware incompatibility issue.

Anyone have any tips? Is there any kind of power saving mechanism (or similar) in windows that's capable of turning off only the 5GHz radio? The 2.4GHz radio works fine.

67 Replies
ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
2,947 Views

Hello Buffler,

Where do you have this adapter installed ? Is it a laptop or a desktop? If it is a laptop what is the model and brand, we also would like to know if you replaced the original wireless card for the new one. Please let us know as soon as possible so we can guide you more efficiently towards the resolution.

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NJala
Beginner
2,947 Views

I have exact same issue. today I received my Intel 7265 NGW AC to replace the 7260 N on a Dell Inspiron 11 brand new laptop. with prior N 7260 adapter it could connect 300 mbps but this new one only knows 2.4 GHz and connects at 144 mbps only. I changed all the settings to get better but impossible. searching for an answer saw this post and I am happy at least one more person has same issue. my windows is 8.1 64 bit edition. drivers are the latest CPU is Intel N3530 Quad core 2.16 GHz. RAM 4 GB. SSD 240 Samsung 840 EVO.

Regards,

NJ

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JBerg14
Novice
2,947 Views

Hello NJ, thanks for the information. So we have two different laptops with the same problem. Please update if you solve it somehow.

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mbars
Beginner
2,947 Views

Same problem here, I replaced my old N 7260 with the AC 7260 on my Lenovo Y580 and I can't connect to my 5 GHz network

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mbars
Beginner
2,947 Views

Also, my bluetooth is acting up, after a random period of time my bluetooth mouse is disconnecting and it wont connect again until i restart my windows 8.1. I am using the latest drivers

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JBerg14
Novice
2,947 Views

Hello, thanks for your attention to this matter. It's a Lenovo Y50 laptop, and i replaced the original wifi card for a new one.

It really puzzles me why it works in Linux but not Windows. I would prefer to run Windows.

My windows desktop PC also has an M.2 slot, so I'm gonna try it there and see if it works

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NJala
Beginner
2,947 Views

I have exact same issue. today I received my Intel 7265 NGW AC to replace the 7260 N on a Dell Inspiron 11 brand new laptop. with prior N 7260 adapter it could connect 300 mbps but this new one only knows 2.4 GHz and connects at 144 mbps only. I changed all the settings to get better but impossible. searching for an answer saw this post and I am happy at least one more person has same issue. my windows is 8.1 64 bit edition. drivers are the latest CPU is Intel N3530 Quad core 2.16 GHz. RAM 4 GB. SSD 240 Samsung 840 EVO.

Regards,

NJ

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NJala
Beginner
2,947 Views

I have exact same issue. today I received my Intel 7265 NGW AC to replace the 7260 N on a Dell Inspiron 11 brand new laptop. with prior N 7260 adapter it could connect 300 mbps but this new one only knows 2.4 GHz and connects at 144 mbps only. I changed all the settings to get better but impossible. searching for an answer saw this post and I am happy at least one more person has same issue. my windows is 8.1 64 bit edition. drivers are the latest CPU is Intel N3530 Quad core 2.16 GHz. RAM 4 GB. SSD 240 Samsung 840 EVO.

Regards,

NJ

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JBerg14
Novice
2,947 Views

The same issue occurs when i install the card in the M.2 slot of my desktop computer. This computer is running windows 7 SP1 x64, Intel z87 chipset. Still works fine in Linux.

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idata
Employee
2,947 Views

Hello, i have notebook Lenovo Flex 2 14 with new card intel ac-7265 and i cannot see any 5ghz network...my router is Asus AC56U...Windows 8.1

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
2,947 Views

Hello buffler, scoop, mihnea and NJ,

We can see that you all changed the adapters, correct? Have you all tried to contact your computer manufacturers also known as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to see what they can tell you whether this integration is supported by their systems? The issue you are experiencing may be caused by the integration. (the replacement of the original adapter) as it has been modified to fit your system. Please keep in mind that wireless hardware installation and use is subject to regulatory approval, and the adapter you installed may not be supported by your system. In this particular case, only your system manufacturer is entitled to provide the list of validated and certified adapters that are compatible with your system. So for more information you may need to check with them directly.

Furthermore, Intel Wireless Adapters for laptops are meant to be professionally installed by OEM on certified systems only. Please it is very important that you take a closer look in the links below as they contain important information.

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-031167.htm http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-031167.htm

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-011644.htm http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-011644.htm

In this case, we will be more than glad to provide you with the latest Intel drivers, these drivers are generic and in some cases, the OEM changes specifications on the adapters and due to this, our drivers may not resolve the issue. In the links above, you will find more detailed information regarding as to why your adapters may not function as expected. Unfortunately, Intel does not support integrations but we will be more than glad to assist you as much as we can and for this, please contact your Intel Support Center found in our webpage according to your country and location.

Let us know if this information helped you.

mbars
Beginner
2,947 Views

As long as the wireless card works with linux, it's not a problem with how or who installed the card or if the laptop is compatible with the card. If in linux the wireless card works fine, and in windows it has problem, then it's a problem with the windows drivers, not a hardware incompatibility.

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
2,947 Views

Mihnea,

When a manufacturer gets wireless cards from Intel, they adapt this card to work well with their system and that implies in changes such as voltage, certain features being disabled or added. Also please be aware that drivers compatibility is highly related to the O.S. this means that the driver may be compatible with the laptop and Linux* but not necessary with the laptop and Windows*. And just as you mentioned, this is not a hardware issue, it is a driver issue. Please contact your computer manufacturer to see if the have specific drivers for this adapter in order to work with Windows*.

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JBerg14
Novice
2,947 Views

Well I saw your post and briefly reviewed your links, however there are many logical fallacies - i.e. If there are regulatory issues preventing Intel from creating a working driver, why do they not apply to Linux? Why are wireless radios with user replaceable antennas sold everywhere if they are illegal? Why am I able to use the higher 5GHz channels, which are illegal to use in my country, on my N-7260 card if following regulation is so important?

Note that I don't doubt that you are correct, I just don't believe the stated motives. The thing is, radio regulations apply to radios and the electromagnetic radiation emitted by those radios. So if radio regulations are the problem, why does the iwlwifi driver work? The same regulations apply to iwlwifi.

Intel surely knows how to make the card work, they just choose not to make them work when combined with the products of Intels trusted business partners.

Thanks for the information though, I think everyone understands why it doesn't work now

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JReag
Beginner
2,947 Views

I just wanted to chime in as well on this issue. I received the dual band 7265 card this week and replaced my dual band 3160 card in my Alienware Alpha this week much to my surprise the 5ghz channel no longer shows up even though the 7265 is a upgrade option from Alienware. It would be nice if intel could get on the ball and actually figure out their drivers.

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TSu5
Beginner
2,947 Views

I also replaced my 3160 with AC 7265 card on Alienware Alpha. And exactly happens the same thing that happened on you: no 5GHz Network shown.

Perhaps is Dell's OEM Windows OS blocked it, I mean it did blocked me from installing the latest nVidia driver by changing the video adapter's name and the driver couldn't identify the model.

@ aleki_intel Any ideas???

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
2,947 Views

Hello SCARITTAGLE,

Please allow me sometime to investigate this for you. I will get back to you soon.

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IPres
Beginner
2,947 Views

Same problem after upgrading a Dell 7347 running Windows 8.1 (64bit). 2.4Ghz working fine but no 5GHz band. Have tried installing/uninstalling/re-installing drivers from Dell and direct from Intel.

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
2,947 Views

Hello 7347user, SCARITTAGLE and Dudusmaximus

We do understand your frustration, but in this particular case that the wireless adapter was replaced, we highly recommend that you contact your computer manufacturers first to see if they have any drivers that can help resolve the issue. Intel does not support integration (which is the replacement of the original wireless card for another one). Only your computer manufacturer is entitled to provide a list of tested, approved and validated adapters that are compatible with their system with no issues. We also would like to inform you that wireless hardware installation and use is subject to regulatory approval and the adapter installed may not support your local regulations.

Furthermore, Intel(R) Wireless Adapters for laptops are meant to be professionally installed by an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) technicians on certified systems only as features may be added or removed, voltage changes... etc.

We suggest that you access these links for more information:

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-031167.htm http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-031167.htm

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-011644.htm http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-011644.htm

On our best effort to assist you with this issue, please access these links:

http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/category/wireless/db-ac7265/trblsht Troubleshooting for the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-034658.htm Intel® Wi-Fi Products — Quick Checks That Might Improve or Fix Connection Issues

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/sb/CS-030709.htm Wireless Networking — What are the Recommended Settings for 802.11n Connectivity?

We have found in another thread where some customers found a possible workaround for the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260. Please take a look at post # 14 and see if the information there can help you. Here is the link:

We do hope this piece of information helped you.

 

 

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ASouz7
Honored Contributor II
2,630 Views

Hello 7347user,

Can you try to completely uninstall the software and drivers in case previous version is causing the issue?

If you could, it would be a lot of help if a screenshot of the HW ID section where the PCI SUBSYS ID is located is taken and posted here so we can have a better view of what is going there would be great.

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