A Fix for WiFi and/or Lync drop-outs in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (Preview)

Running Windows 8.1 on a Laptop or tablet and your WiFi sucks? Can’t maintain a stable Lync or Skype connection and OneDrive syncing doesn’t work very well? Then I might just have the workaround that you won’t find anywhere else.

Regular readers (and there have been over 222K of you so far – thanks!) will be aware of this article that I wrote in Dec 2013 for those having issues getting their new Christmas present connected to a WiFi network. This is a replacement article – because Intel has now issued a driver that appears to fix all of those issues.

For those readers who are NOT having WiFi connectivity issues currently, it is probably best to leave things as they are – don’t fix things that are not broken etc – but for those who are troubled by random disconnects or applications that drop the connection – and I am referring to you Microsoft Lync – read on:

There are two parts to this – because there are two separate issues that can combine to deliver the same symptoms, so you need to attend to one or the other or both:

PC running Windows 8.1 (or later – including Windows 10)

Check to see if the WiFi chipset in your PC (most probably a laptop, Notebook or tablet) is made by Intel:

1. Control Panel -> Device Manager -> Network Adapters
2. Right Click the WiFi network -> Properties -> Driver tab
   

IF your WiFi device is a 6 or 7 series – see article tags for full list – (in the illustration above, a 6 series 6235) and you haven’t updated the drivers, then you should.

This is because, Windows 8 shipped with Intel driver 14.8.8.75 for the 6 and 7 series Intel WiFi chipsets and it was good and worked just fine. Unfortunately, when Windows 8.1 Released to Manufacturing (RTM’d) it contained Intel WiFi driver 15.10.0.12 as the default (broken) driver and it wasn’t possible to downgrade back to the previously stable driver 14.8.8.75.

Intel then released various updated WiFi drivers for Windows 8.1, the most stable (of a bad bunch) being 15.10.5.1 – but it still didn’t cut the mustard – evidenced by over 1131 posts on the subject at Intel’s Community site .

HOWEVER, Intel now seems to finally have nailed the problems in an updated driver set 17.0.1

Note 1: Intel has a rather strange driver versioning scheme in which a driver set has a version number (in this case 17.0.1) but that set contains individually versioned drivers for the different chipsets that it installs on. So in the illustration above, driver set 17.0.1 actually installed Intel driver 15.14.0.2 on my Intel WiFi chipset N6235.

Note 2: Download and install Wireless_17.1.0_De132.exe if you have a 32bit version of Windows and Wireless_17.1.0_De164.exe if you have a 64bit version (Control Panel -> System will tell you which version you have) as the two other downloads presented at that link contain the full Intel ProSet software package – which is probably only needed if you are into Miracast and hey, let’s walk before we can run …..

Note 3: Once you have installed the 17.0.1 driver set, hit the Advanced tab:

1. Control Panel -> Device Manager -> Network Adapters
    
   
2. Right Click the WiFi network -> Properties -> Advanced tab
   

And set the following:

AD-Hoc QOS Mode: WMM enabled

Roaming aggressiveness: Lowest

Mixed Mode protection: CTS-to-self enabled

Then, in the Power Management tab, turn off “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save Power”

 

Applications dropping out (particularly Lync) when connected to a WiFi network

There is a technology/protocol called UPnP that is supported by most home Broadband/ADSL/WiFi routers (look it up if you want more info).

Most routers run a variant of Linux – and in particular, a router optimised module called Busybox.

There seems to be a bug in a number of versions of Busybox, which cause it to crash/hang/reboot if overwhelmed with UPnP port requests.

This crash/hang/reboot is imperceptible to users of that routers WiFi network EXCEPT for those apps which require continuous real-time network connectivity, like Lync and Skype etc – for which the internet connection appears to have dropped until Busybox in the router can recover itself.

This issue has been more prevalent with Windows 8.1 onwards – because it seems that something in the UPnP calls it makes to the router is causing this issue. This means that ANY Windows 8.1 PC connected to your network could be causing the problem if you have a router running a version of Busybox that is susceptible.

We know that routers which are affected are (at least):

Plusnet, BE, Zen, Andrews and Arnold, O2,TalkTalk and other UK ISP’s Technicolor TG582N

 

Virgin Media (UK) Superhub

 

Orange/EE Broadband Brightbox (AKA the Arcadyan AR7516)

 

If you turn off UPnP on other routers and find that it improves stability, please tell me, and I can add them to the list here:

Windows 8.1 WiFi works fine without having to turn UPnP off with:

Netgear DG834G V4 with  V5.01.16 – DGTeam Rev. 1018 firmware

Applications over WiFi like Lync and Skype work fine when UPnP is turned off  with:

Technicolor TG582N – Connect with a web browser (by default, to 192.168.1.1 – but your configuration may vary) and disable by clicking “Game & Application Sharing” in the toolbox menu and under “Universal Plug and Play” there should be a checkbox to enable/disable UPnP.

Virgin Media (UK) Superhub – Don’t know how to disable it, as I haven’t got one – but it should be listed in the web interface somewhere.

Orange/EE Broadband Brightbox – From the web interface, select “Advanced setup” and UPnP is a menu item on the left hand side.

© Woody – November 2014

[This article is original work – over which I own and retain copyright. However, it is based on multiple documentary sources placed in the public domain and I acknowledge and thank all the folk who have contributed to that (and in particular, Damian who beta tested the updates for me).

You are welcome to use and otherwise republish this article as you will – but I just request that you continue to attribute me as the original author.

Thanks.]

A fix for connectivity issues with Intel Centrino WiFi and Windows 8/Windows 8.1 (trouble with the new laptop you got for Christmas?)

Updated 31st December 2013 based on personal testing, direct feedback as a result of this article and the conversation on the Intel Wireless Networking Community (67 pages about this problem so far …) here.

Purchasers of Laptops with Intel WiFi adapters seem to have been having a hard time of it lately and have been reporting one of more of the following issues:

On upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, their WiFi no longer works or has become unreliable.

and/or

Even on Windows 8 (yet to upgrade to Windows 8.1) their WiFi connection is unreliable – or doesn’t work at all – see the protests at the Intel Support Community web site.

and/or

With Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, folk experience various application hangs or failures – like the new (to Windows 8) IE11 hangs or appears to mis-render pages and Lync and Outlook appear to hang or lose connectivity.

If you are experiencing any or all of these symptoms, do this:

a) It is generally held that the most stable Intel Centrino WiFi driver for Windows 8 is version 14.8.8.75. This is the base driver that comes in the box with Windows 8, so if you are still on Windows 8 (as opposed to 8.1) roll back your Intel WiFi driver to 14.8.8.75.

b) If that doesn’t work, or you are already on Windows 8.1:

1. Control Panel –> Programs and Features and REMOVE any Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software but DO NOT  remove anything that says it is Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software for BLUETOOTH® technology

AND

2. UPDATE your Intel WiFi driver to 15.10.5.1 for Windows 8 or 15.10.5.1 for Windows 8.1.

IMPORTANT: ONLY install the updated drivers and NOT the full Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software – so only download and install the file that is:

Wireless_16.7.0_De164.exe for 64bit Windows 8.1
Wireless_16.7.0_De132.exe for 32bit Windows 8.1

Wireless_16.7.0_De64.exe for 64bit Windows 8
Wireless_16.7.0_De32.exe for 32bit Windows 8

[The “D” in the driver name, stands for “Drivers only” – and no, I haven’t the faintest idea why Intel should publish a driver update with a version of 16.7.0 which installs a driver version 15.10.5.1 …]

AND

3. Once the driver version 15.10.5.1 is installed and the PC has been re-booted, Control Panel –> Device Manager –>  Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6235 –> Properties –> Power Management and REMOVE the tick from the “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” checkbox:

c) If you still experience problems once you have upgraded your WiFi drivers, then try the Intel WiDi Update Tool.

WiDi is Intel’s implementation of Miracast – which allows mobile PC screens to be projected wirelessly, via WiFi, to a suitably Miracast enabled display. Miracast requires the correct combination of Screen drivers, WiFi drivers and supporting software, so this is a good tool to run to ensure that you have all the correct drivers loaded for your particular laptop.

So, none of that worked?

OK, roll your sleeves up for this – but it’s not for the feint hearted:

Testing with friends and colleagues has now conclusively proved that some Broadband Routers with WiFi can hang and lose connectivity with Windows 8/8.1 devices if they have UPnP switched on (which is the default for most routers). To the laptop user, this router hang will appear as a local WiFi problem – i.e. the laptop user will think they have a problem with their Laptop Intel WiFi – when it is actually the router that you are connected to that has the problem.

Switching OFF UPnP on affected routers has a very high probability of fixing your WiFi network dropout/hang issue and to date, I haven’t found any adverse effects (Xbox gaming e.t.c. still seems to work fine with UPnP switched off).

Unfortunately, you will have to work out how to switch off UPnP for your particular router by reading its manual I am afraid, but I can tell you that testing so far indicates that the following routers hang with Windows 8/8.1 if UPnP is left turned on:

Plusnet, BE, Zen, Andrews and Arnold, O2,TalkTalk and other UK ISP’s Technicolor TG582N

Virgin Media (UK) Superhub

Orange/EE Broadband Brightbox (AKA the Arcadyan AR7516)

No, I have no idea what it is about Windows 8/8.1 which is causing a problem with UPnP in some routers – but I will update this article.

If you turn off UPnP on other routers and find that it improves stability, please tell me, and I can add them to the list here:

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 WiFi works fine without having to turn UPnP off with:

Netgear DG834G V4 with  V5.01.16 – DGTeam Rev. 1018 firmware

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 WiFi works fine when UPnP is turned off  with:

Technicolor TG582N – disable by clicking “Game & Application Sharing” in the toolbox menu and under “Universal Plug and Play” there should be a checkbox to enable/disable UPnP.

Virgin Media (UK) Superhub

Orange/EE Broadband Brightbox

–

Asus Zenbook UX31A (or any Intel HD4000/HDMI graphics) Black Screen in Windows 8 workaround (should work for Windows 7)

This is Part 1 of a two part article – only separated to make it easier for those with this particular problem to search for this.

This is a very niche article, I grant you, but of you are reading it, chances are, you have this problem and while my experience is specifically with the Asus Zenbook UX31A, searching the internet reveals that it seems to be a common and generic problem with Intel HD4000 graphics.

The Problem:

Randomly (it’s not reliably reproducible) you boot your PC or return from sleep or hibernation and you are presented with just a black screen. Hitting the power button for a hard reboot doesn’t help, you just get booted back up into a black screen.

The Explanation:

I am indebted to Seth Eliot for pointing out, that when you have a black screen, this is normally because the PC is outputting a display on the (micro) HDMI port – even though you don’t have a screen connected to the HDMI port. Worse than that, the HD4000 graphics seem to have made your non-existent HDMI monitor the default display.

The Workaround:

Press the Windows Key and “P” together, followed by tapping the Up Arrow twice. This should select the projection screen dialogue (try it on your PC BEFORE you have this problem to simulate the action) and two presses should select “PC Screen only” and bring Windows back to your PC screen.

And if that doesn’t work?

Well, you could try turning it off and then back on again …….

Note: This is NOT a fix for the BLUE screen login problem – where you have the blue Windows login screen but no user/password box to allow you to login. I haven’t the faintest idea how to fix that!