Issues with WiFi randomly loosing connection on Dell Latitude in Windows 10 Pro

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scsi_guru

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  • #1
    My wife is using a Dell Latitude 5590 lapto; running Windows 10 Pro. Her WiFi randomly looses the connection to the mesh network and won't reconnect. I tried all possible methods to get it to reconnect. I did the first thing most troubleshooters would do and that was to reboot the laptop (no go), reboot the mesh network, uninstalled the driver and reinstalled, updated to the latest driver, installed all the updates on Dell's support site (including Intel chipset and BIOS), changed the power management settings so the laptop never goes into a sleep mode, checked every WiFi adapter setting, and reinstalled Windows 10 Pro (she was on Windows 11 but wanted to go back to Windows 10).

    The laptop is still loosing it's connection randomly and eventually it will get the WiFi connection back but we never know for how long. The disconnects are random. It's very frustrating since I've tried everything and it still does it. I can't use an ethernet connection since there is no way to get a cable to the laptop. Of course this defeats the purpose of a laptop with not being mobile.

    Anyway, I'm looking to see if anyone else has seen this issue? I'm thinking about disabling the on board WiFi and getting a USB WiFi adapter to use and see if the issue still occurs. Would this be a way to workaround this issue? Thanks for any suggestions.
     
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    Lord Evermore

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  • #2
    Which Wi-Fi adapter does it actually have? I don't know about that model specifically but Dell usually offers their laptops with at least a few different wireless adapters. Is this a new issue? Did you always have the same mesh network? Check all the "advanced" options for the network adapter in Device Manager and you might be able to adjust preferences for something. Is your mesh overpowered? Signal from multiple APs on the same SSID being strong in one area can cause problems.

    You might be able to enable logging on the laptop for the wireless, or just check the Windows event viewer and see what it shows. This could be a driver issue or it could be hardware. Could even be a loose antenna wire on the adapter, or there could be some interference that is affecting the laptop but other devices are able to work around it better. Having a spare USB wireless adapter isn't a bad idea anyway so go ahead and test with that.
     
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    scsi_guru

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  • #3
    Lord Evermore said:
    Which Wi-Fi adapter does it actually have? I don't know about that model specifically but Dell usually offers their laptops with at least a few different wireless adapters. Is this a new issue? Did you always have the same mesh network? Check all the "advanced" options for the network adapter in Device Manager and you might be able to adjust preferences for something. Is your mesh overpowered? Signal from multiple APs on the same SSID being strong in one area can cause problems.

    You might be able to enable logging on the laptop for the wireless, or just check the Windows event viewer and see what it shows. This could be a driver issue or it could be hardware. Could even be a loose antenna wire on the adapter, or there could be some interference that is affecting the laptop but other devices are able to work around it better. Having a spare USB wireless adapter isn't a bad idea anyway so go ahead and test with that.
    Click to expand...
    The laptop has an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265. This issue started to develop around the last week or so and is new. I'm running a TP-Link Deco AXE5400 mesh network with two points which I installed late last year. Never had any issues at all with this setup. I did check all the advanced options for the network adapter as well as the BIOS and everything looks good. I don't think the mesh system is overpowered since the signal from both points is same.

    One think I have noticed is that this issue ONLY happens when the laptop goes into "sleep" mode on battery power. When the laptop is used and comes out of sleep then the Wi-Fi is gone and rebooting, etc. doesn't work. It eventually comes back and connects. Like I mentioned I set the power management to never shut down the laptop with it being on AC or battery, but I know that is not a way to address this issue. I checked all the wireless adapter settings as well as the BIOS and there are no other tweaks I can use.

    I just may pick up an inexpensive USB wireless adapter and see if that makes any difference. I'll see if I can find one that has good reviews and doesn't experience these same problems.
     
    Paladin

    Paladin

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  • #4
    Yeah, a cheap and basic USB adapter is a good option to troubleshoot. If anything, it might just be a worn/loose connector for the antenna leads for the card. IF those are shot, it will drop the signal and not get it back until it randomly happens to get bumped back into place or gets close enough to the access point to work without a functional antenna.

    Basically I would try the USB adapter first. If that works and it is ok to keep things that way, just use it. If not, then move to backing up all user data to an external drive and do a fresh windows install with drivers from the Dell support site. That might get things going again too. If it still doesn't work, you can try to open it up and check the connectors or even replace the wifi card inside the computer. It's delicate but not difficult to do on most laptops. The Lattitude models are usually meant to be easily repairable so it should not be too bad.
     
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    Lord Evermore

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  • #5
    scsi_guru said:
    Like I mentioned I set the power management to never shut down the laptop with it being on AC or battery
    Click to expand...
    It wasn't clear in the original post that it only happened when it sleeps, or that when you changed power management that it resolved the issue. Have you tested manually putting it to sleep, both on battery and on AC power? This may be some firmware bug with the Wi-Fi adapter, something that persists even when it gets rebooted, since power may not be completely removed from the devices during even when it's shut down or rebooted. And Windows itself, on a "shutdown" doesn't actually completely restart the OS's base components and perhaps not even all drivers. It does a kind of hybrid hibernation in order to allow for a fast startup. Only the actual Restart option completely reloads the OS. You say you rebooted but some people are using "shut down" as the way they do that. But if it is a weird firmware issue, and fully disconnecting power were the way it resolves, then you'd have to disassemble the system to disconnect the battery so that would be an extreme problem. When it resolves itself, it may be the system restarting the adapter's controller on its own. Windows event viewer may have something useful to point to it.

    Maybe you can check whether there were firmware upgrades done recently, via Windows Update, and perhaps uninstall or downgrade it. (Some "firmware" upgrades are no longer actually firmware and actually load with the OS.)

    I'd also say get drivers directly from Intel (and other manufacturers), rather than Dell. Laptop/PC OEMs are often behind on the versions due to the additional testing and validation that they have to do for specific models, and they even stop updating them entirely while the manufacturer keeps doing it, even though what the manufacturer releases will work perfectly fine. Dell's driver for the 8265 was released a year before the last one from Intel.

    Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 Downloads, Drivers and Software | Intel

    Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 - Download supporting resources inclusive drivers, software, bios, and firmware updates.
    www.intel.com www.intel.com

    Unfortunately they don't seem to provide release notes, but it's possible this was a known issue.

    It also wouldn't hurt to pop the bottom cover and just check the connections of the antenna wires. I'd certainly do that before the hassle of wiping and reinstalling Windows as @Paladin suggest, and really I'd do it before I did anything else since that connection is the very root of everything. I'd even reseat the card itself in the slot, and you could consider replacing the card. It might even be cheaper than a quality USB adapter, and you could get a newer model which should work fine. (Though I'd get a cheap USB adapter just to have on hand for future troubleshooting.) I doubt that reinstalling Windows is going to do anything beyond all the other stuff.
     
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    scsi_guru

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  • #6
    Lord Evermore said:
    It wasn't clear in the original post that it only happened when it sleeps, or that when you changed power management that it resolved the issue. Have you tested manually putting it to sleep, both on battery and on AC power? This may be some firmware bug with the Wi-Fi adapter, something that persists even when it gets rebooted, since power may not be completely removed from the devices during even when it's shut down or rebooted. And Windows itself, on a "shutdown" doesn't actually completely restart the OS's base components and perhaps not even all drivers. It does a kind of hybrid hibernation in order to allow for a fast startup. Only the actual Restart option completely reloads the OS. You say you rebooted but some people are using "shut down" as the way they do that. But if it is a weird firmware issue, and fully disconnecting power were the way it resolves, then you'd have to disassemble the system to disconnect the battery so that would be an extreme problem. When it resolves itself, it may be the system restarting the adapter's controller on its own. Windows event viewer may have something useful to point to it.

    Maybe you can check whether there were firmware upgrades done recently, via Windows Update, and perhaps uninstall or downgrade it. (Some "firmware" upgrades are no longer actually firmware and actually load with the OS.)

    I'd also say get drivers directly from Intel (and other manufacturers), rather than Dell. Laptop/PC OEMs are often behind on the versions due to the additional testing and validation that they have to do for specific models, and they even stop updating them entirely while the manufacturer keeps doing it, even though what the manufacturer releases will work perfectly fine. Dell's driver for the 8265 was released a year before the last one from Intel.

    Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 Downloads, Drivers and Software | Intel

    Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 - Download supporting resources inclusive drivers, software, bios, and firmware updates.
    www.intel.com www.intel.com

    Unfortunately they don't seem to provide release notes, but it's possible this was a known issue.

    It also wouldn't hurt to pop the bottom cover and just check the connections of the antenna wires. I'd certainly do that before the hassle of wiping and reinstalling Windows as @Paladin suggest, and really I'd do it before I did anything else since that connection is the very root of everything. I'd even reseat the card itself in the slot, and you could consider replacing the card. It might even be cheaper than a quality USB adapter, and you could get a newer model which should work fine. (Though I'd get a cheap USB adapter just to have on hand for future troubleshooting.) I doubt that reinstalling Windows is going to do anything beyond all the other stuff.
    Click to expand...
    Helpful info...thank you! I did check the Windows event viewer and nothing jumps out. I did a clean install of Windows 10 and it still does the same thing. I went to Intel's driver support page and downloaded/installed the latest driver. Intel shows the driver updated a/o 2023. The driver that Windows 10 installed is dated 2022, yet the system says that is the most current driver for that card...hmmm.

    I did purchase a USB wireless adapter just to see if that could help resolve the issue. Like you mentioned it will be good to just have around for future troubleshooting. If I get a chance down the road I'll pop over the cover and take a look at the card. Right now I'm just hoping the USB wireless adapter will give me an idea if the onboard adapter might be the issue.
     
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    Lord Evermore

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  • #7
    scsi_guru said:
    The driver that Windows 10 installed is dated 2022, yet the system says that is the most current driver for that card
    Click to expand...
    Windows will only check for the drivers that are available in Windows Update, which have gone through the WHQL process and all that validation. Manufacturers don't submit every version of their drivers for inclusion in Windows Update, especially for models that have been discontinued, even if they still release new versions that fix minor or even severe issues. (They probably have to pay for MS to accept them and go through the validation testing.)
     
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    scsi_guru

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  • #8
    I installed the new USB WIFI adapter, disabled the onboard adapter, and set power management on the laptop go into sleep mode on battery. Seems like now that the wifi reconnects when coming out of sleep mode. Doesn't have the same issue as the onboard adapter. We'll see how this goes for a bit. At some point down the road I may pop open the case and see if there are any issues. But for now this looks like it was some type of issue with the built-in adapter.
     
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    Lord Evermore

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  • #9
    scsi_guru said:
    I installed the new USB WIFI adapter, disabled the onboard adapter, and set power management on the laptop go into sleep mode on battery. Seems like now that the wifi reconnects when coming out of sleep mode. Doesn't have the same issue as the onboard adapter. We'll see how this goes for a bit. At some point down the road I may pop open the case and see if there are any issues. But for now this looks like it was some type of issue with the built-in adapter.
    Click to expand...
    But still not at all necessarily a physical issue. If opening the case is a big problem, just installing the latest Intel driver and enabling the onboard is 2 minutes' work.
     
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