802.11ac Connectivity Issues with Intel 9560 WLAN cards and 2802i APs

[aconsolati516]

This is probably a very isolated issue, but I've got a couple brand-new ThinkPad T490s laptops with Intel 9560 WLAN cards in them. For whatever the reason, they have issues connecting to some of my 2802i/e APs using 802.11ac. I have to switch the cards to use 802.11n in order for them to utilize 5Ghz at all. 

The weird part is that they'll connect to some of my 2802i APs using AC just fine, and not others, and I can't figure out why. Each of my APs are part of the same AP Group, and use the same RF Profiles. None of the other devices that we own with AC WLAN cards have any issues connecting using AC. The drivers for the Intel cards are up-to-date, and the APs are running 8.5.140. The laptops are running Win10 1903. Nothing in my logs seems to give me any indication of what could be going on.

I'm assuming that this is most likely a driver issue with the Intel cards, but before I give up on trying to make this work, I was curious if anyone else has run into this, or something similar. Is there anything in my controller config that could possibly cause this to occur that I should be looking at?

[Juan Ibañez]

Hi @aconsolati516.

Do you have any logs or debug of the client or clients?, propably i means that is a wireless driver problem, on reddit are two or three post with people with same problem, and the solution is install all drivers version until that one run.

_https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/ab03sj/wifi_stopped_working_suddenly_intel_wireless_ac/

_https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/8t5ju6/comment/e5yerd7/

_https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/9jeyer/intel_wirelessac_9560_cant_connect_to_80211n/

Best Re.gards

[Leo Laohoo]

Try resetting the wireless NIC to default (read THIS).

[JamesCollins7310]

We found that disabling 802.11ac on the Thinkpad laptops running 9560 resolved the issue... so this looks like a 802.11ac negotiation issue between laptops w/ 9560 chip and Cisco AP... these laptops don't have same issue with 802.11ac w/ other APs, only seen with our Cisco 2802 APs.
We forced 802.11n via the following in Windows 10 in order to resolve:

Device Manager, expand Network Adapters, find the AC9560 wifi adapter, right click to get to properties, Advanced Tab, Looks for the "802.11n/ac Wireless Mode" entry in table, set “value” to 802.11n.

[patoberli]

Make sure you run a fairly decent WLC/AP software version. There were several updates that improved compatibility. Also make sure to run a recent Intel driver.

[JamesCollins7310]

We were seeing the issues with Windows 10 laptops which had the most recently available Windows 10 updates installed, AC9560 driver showed version of 21.20.1.1 with date of 5/30/2019.

Our Cisco AP was likewise running a very recent firmware version of 8.9.110.0.

It's also noteworthy that these clients DO NOT experience any issues when associated with their home WiFi APs or APs in a number of hotels they have visited which utilize Aruba devices... this problem looks to me to be specific to Cisco, possibly specific to the model 2802 AP.

[Leo Laohoo]

Disable 802.11ac on the laptop and see if it improve things.