Ax86U with intel AX200 clients issue

[thiggins]

I also suggest you first see if 80 MHz works. Gotta crawl before you walk.

 

[criminala]

After disabling mumimo and beamforming on the router , already 4 days without any client crashes .. while both connected on AX 160mhz speeds .

Will keep monitoring , but looking good .

 

[J.I]

Guessing that current drivers are not going to work with 160MHz, so try sticking them on 80MHz channel 48.

160MHz seems to be the bane of many, like it's still immature.

I have AX86U and AX200 and I have 160Mhz working... The only channel that pulls 160Mhz is 36. If i select any other channel i get 80Mhz :-(

 

[John Fitzgerald]

I have AX86U and AX200 and I have 160Mhz working... The only channel that pulls 160Mhz is 36. If i select any other channel i get 80Mhz :-(

Have you seen this:

160 MHz Wi-Fi Channels: Friend or Foe? - SmallNetBuilder

SmallNetBuilder provides networking and IT news, reviews, help and information for professional and prosumer home, SOHO and small business users.

www.smallnetbuilder.com

 

[criminala]

The evenviewer errors in the logs have still NOT come back . I just checked both clients .
So mumimo and beamforming caused both of these ax200 clients to freak out .

On 1 client (with AX200) however , I occasionally notice a slowdown of the wifi network traffic which then becomes very erratic for some time .
During that time in the log on the router I see a lot of these things :

Feb 21 12:08:03 kernel: CONSOLE: 728997.431 wl1: wlc_ampdu_dotxstatus_aqm_complete: tx phy error (0x9200)
Feb 21 12:08:03 kernel: CONSOLE: 728997.431 wl1.0: wlc_send_bar: for 78:2b:46:4a:8d:f5 seq 0x73a tid 3
Feb 21 12:08:03 kernel: CONSOLE: 728997.435 wl1: wlc_ampdu_dotxstatus_aqm_complete: tx phy error (0x9200)

TY Phy error ? What could this mean . And would this imply an error of the router or the client ?

Eventually after x amount of minutes without me doing anything it stabilises again .

 

[John Fitzgerald]

That would be unfortunate . I will keep trying to get this 160mhz and ax200 intel cards to become stable .
Its just that .. not sure if the issue is on the router or on the clients right now .

I just disabled mumimo and beamforming on the router . just to try .


Other suggestions are always welcome

What Channel are you on?
What is your Service? (cable, fiber, ...ect) Service Provider?

 

[Arrow]

A. Update to Intel driver version 22.30.0.11 using Windows update. I've listed a lot of points here, but this is the real fix.

B. Use 20/40/80/160 channel bandwidth with use 160 Mhz checked

C. Specify a control channel, that appears uncrowded in your location.
FWIW, control channel 64 works with 160 Mhz, and I do get 160 Mhz on channel 64.

D. Set Authentication Method to WPA2/WPA3

E. Disable Universal Beamforming

F. Keep airtime fairness off

By the way, I keep Smart Connect disabled and use separate network names.

Intel driver version 22.30.0.11 will allow you to have 802.11ax/ac Beamforming and Multi-User MIMO enabled on 5Ghz without an AX200 intel wi-fi device dropping randomly.

 

[RAH-66]

use only 160Mhz in router and manual set channel 36-48

 

[criminala]

Thanks for helping guys !

I had my control channel on auto , so the channel gets chosen/changed by the router from time to time . Last channel it picked was 52 . I am completely alone in that range so interference should not be my issue .
I have now manually set it to 64 .

Indeed there is a 22.30.0.11 driver available as an optional update on windows update ! nice catch . So I installed that update now on 1 pc , will do the laptop later as it did not seem to be able to find the optional update just yet .

Authentication method was on wpa2 personal , so I left it there (with protected management frames on disabled) . Dont need wpa3 just yet .

Airtime fairness disable (was already disabled)
multi-user mimo enable (had that disabled for testing as it seemed to cause errors in the windows eventlog with 22.20.0.6 driver)
OFDMA/802.11ax mu-mimo : DL OFDMA only
802.11ax/ac beamforming enable
universal beamforming disable


Will test like this for a few days and see

 

[Arrow]

Indeed there is a 22.30.0.11 driver available as an optional update on windows update ! nice catch . So I installed that update now on 1 pc , will do the laptop later as it did not seem to be able to find the optional update just yet .

I don't know whether these downloads are safe, and I have nothing to do with these sites, but maybe you'll find them useful:

https://www.station-drivers.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=353&func=fileinfo&id=4798

[DRIVERS] Intel Ethernet/WiFi/Bluetooth

Hi everyone, - Intel Ethernet Drivers (Drivers Only) : Drivers - I225/I226 - Windows 11 : 2.1.4.3 WHQL [20/02/2024] Drivers - I225/I226 - Windows 10 : 1.1.4.43 WHQL [15/02/2024] Drivers - I217/I218/I219 - Windows 10/11 : 12.19.2.62 WHQL [18/07/2024] Drivers - I210/I211 - Windows 11 : 14.1.5.0...

rog.asus.com

I would not test without having both AX Wi-Fi drivers updated.

By the way, I keep Smart Connect disabled and use separate network names.

 

[Arrow]

Dont need wpa3 just yet .

All of the AX PCs are connected using WPA3. At first, I couldn't get to them to connect using that authentication method. I had to switch Authentication method in the router to WPA-3 Personal, then forget Networks I was connected to in Windows, and then reconnect. Afterwards, I switched Authentication method in the router back to WPA2/WPA3-Personal since some 5Ghz clients on my LAN couldn't connect otherwise. WPA3-Personal is showing in Windows Wi-Fi properties now.


My OFDMA/802.11ax mu-mimo is set to DL/UL OFDMA + MU-MIMO, so that setting shouldn't affect dropouts with Intel driver version 22.30.0.11. If you want to be safe, then keep it set to default.

 

[Aughen]

I have having this exact same issue with a new HP elite book, same router, same network card, same error on both.. only device having issue. any help would be great!

 

[Arrow]

I have having this exact same issue with a new HP elite book, same router, same network card, same error on both.. only device having issue. any help would be great!

"A. Update to Intel driver version 22.30.0.11 using Windows update. I've listed a lot of points here, but this is the real fix."

Ax86U with intel AX200 clients issue

I also suggest you first see if 80 MHz works. Gotta crawl before you walk.

www.snbforums.com

 

[criminala]

@Aughen interesting as 1 of my clients is also a HP elitebook with ax200 .
I have yet to install the 20.30.0.11 driver on it though .. . Maybe you can install the new driver through windows update and see if it helps ?

 

[criminala]

20.30.0 intel driver available from official sources from today https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/189347/Intel-Wi-Fi-6-AX200-Gig-

 

[criminala]

Both clients have now the latest intel drive 20.30.0.11 running . Will see how it goes from here .

 

[criminala]

I have not experienced the windows errors in the event viewer anymore after installing the new driver . Connection seems stable at 160mhz ax speeds too .

The only thing which catches my eye is in the log on the AX86U :
kernel: CONSOLE: 1407346.174 wl1: wlc_ampdu_dotxstatus_aqm_complete: tx phy error (0x9200)

These seem to occur from time to time . And when it occurs it really floods the log .

Not sure if it affects anything or if I should investigate these "ty phy error" more , as my connection seems stable right now .

As @Arrow stated , the most important was the intel driver update to v22.30 .
But I will show the most important current settings I use too , which might be useful for other people using wifi AX with intel ax200 clients :
Running Merlin 386.1_2 currently

WIFI general :
Smart connect OFF
Wireless mode auto
802.11ax/Wifi 6 enable
wi-fi agile multiband disable
target wake time enable
20/40/60/80 + 160mhz enable
control channel 64
extension channel auto
authentication method WPA2-personal

PRO WIFI :
tx bursting disable
enable WMM enable
enable WMM no-ack disable
Enable WMM apsd enable
optimize AMPDU disable
modulation up to mcs 11 nitroQAM/1024QAM
airtime fairness disable
multi-user mimo enable
OFDMA/802.11ax MU-MIMO DL OFDMA only
8021.11 ax/ac beamforming enable
universal beamforming disable

 

[criminala]

After days of proper behaviour , today whilst copying over 1 TB to an iscsi target , my wifi adapter fails again .

Event viewer logs show the errors like before , and also 1 new error .
5010 : Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz : The network adapter has returned an invalid value to the driver.
5005 : Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz : Has encountered an internal error and has failed.
5002 : Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz : Has determined that the network adapter is not functioning properly.


Every time i attempt the copy operation , the wifi connection fails .
Windows gets super slow , only after some time i can connect to wifi again .

UPDATE : The client also errors out with the same windows error messages when I connect it to the 2.4Ghz band , and start the copy operation .
UPDATE 2 : disabled beamforming and mu-mimo completely on the router side . Also disabled any WOL functionality in the driver on the client side . Still no improvement .
UPDATE 3 : tried copying the same folder to a regular SMB share , and while it took longer before crashing , eventually it crashed too with the same errors .
UPDATE 4 : checked with infrared heatthermometer , to see if the wifi ax200 card could be overheating during heavy load , but it is not . Cool to the touch .
UPDATE 5 : Set 5ghz on the client connection to 20Mhz fixed , instead of auto . Card still crashes upon heavy network load with the same errors shown in this post .
UPDATE 6 : removed the package "remote differential compression api support" from windows features . no improvement in stability .
UPDATE 7 : disabled ipv6 and disabled wi-fi direct virtual adapter (device manager) . no improvement .
UPDATE 8 : clean reinstall of 22.30.0.11 drivers . Also unticked "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" in device manager .
UPDATE 9 : set wireless mode on the client to AC instead of AX .


Any other suggestions to try ?

 

[criminala]

For the people still interested in this saga :

-I ordered another AX200 PCIe adapter . Same issue .
-Deleted all drivers and used the default windows one : microsoft 21.10.2.2 from May 2019 . This has been my best driver since it recovers when the wifi errors out . Takes a few seconds and it is back up without having to manually intervene . Also errors out way less than the intel latest drivers (especially 22.30.0.11) .
-Tried 80Mhz with slower speeds . no help .
-mimo power save mode on client set to no SMPS . no change
-Set u-aspd support on the client to disabled , global BG scan blocking to always . no help .
-Set channel 132 on the router . nope
-set channel auto on the router and locked wifi speed to N/AC/AX . nope


Thinking now of shifting to a powerplug ...

ax200 is ok for light usage . but heavy copy operations , it just can not handle it . I see many reports like this all over the net (reddit , intel forums etc)

 

[Arrow]

I'm not sure if it helps, but 22.40.0.7 is available from Windows Update.

It's also available here: https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthre...ntel-Ethernet-WiFi-Bluetooth/page8#post829565.