Symptoms

• Your system has an Intel 7260 Wireless N or Intel 7260 Wireless AC adapter.
• The system intermittently disconnects from the wireless network.
• After a disconnection, no wireless networks are visible.
• You either have to reboot the system, delete the wireless network profile, or even delete and reinstall the Wireless Adapter to reconnect to the wireless network.

Potential Cause

These issues can be caused by the crashing of the Windows Wireless LAN Service, potentially because of an Intel PROSet extension issue. Use the instructions below to confirm if this is the cause of your problems, and then the potential resolutions.

Confirm Your Issue is Caused by the Service Crash

Check the Windows Application Logs using Event Viewer, for signs of the "WLANExt.exe" application crashing, or "faulting". This will be shown as an "Application Error". Compare the date and time of these crashes to see if they match the losses of wireless connectivity.

This application crash can cause the Windows "WLAN AutoConfig" service to fail. Without this service, Wireless network connectivity may not be possible. The default Windows settings will recover the first two crashes of this service. After the third crash, access to Wireless networks may not be possible.

Note that reports in the Windows System log that the "WLAN Extensibility Module has stopped" may not be indicative of this problem, as this module may not be in use.

Cause

It is likely that the Intel PROSet Wireless additions are causing the problem. This appears to be able to happen even if the Intel PROSet Connection features are not in use. These features are visible from the Wireless connections properties in Windows 7.

This problem has been seen on version 17.0.5.8 of the wireless driver with PROSet.

Resolutions and Work-Arounds

Driver and PROSet Upgrade

• Download the updated driver in advance, or use a wired network connection.
• Uninstall the Intel Wireless drivers with PROSet.

• Install the updated driver.

Alternatively - Install the Driver without PROSet

• Confirm that you are not using the Intel Connection Settings, as above. These are not used by default.
• Download the updated Administrative install driver, or use a wired network connection.
  • The Administrative Install Driver is available with and without PROSet. Ensure you download the package that does not include PROSet. The PROSet package is larger than the basic driver package.
• Uninstall the Intel Wireless drivers with PROSet.
• Install the updated driver using Device Manager or the basic installer included in the ZIP file.

The version 19.20 driver without PROSet can also be download here:

• Windows 10 x64
• Windows 10 x86
• Windows 8.1 x64
• Windows 8.1 x86
• Windows 7 x64
• Windows 7 x86

Issues Not Covered by this Article

• Wireless is working but with a weak wireless signal strength
• Inability to roam from access point to access point.
• Slow wireless performance.

Applies to:

• Intel 7260 Wireless N Network Adapters
• Intel 7260 Wireless AC Network Adapters

Problem

Consider the following scenario:

• You are using a corporate wireless network (not a home wireless network).
• Your corporate wireless network uses Radius authentication or similar.
• You likely use a managed wireless infrastructure.
• When you resume your laptop from sleep, your laptop wireless connection reports that it is disconnected, and you have to reboot to make the connection work again.

Cause

This issue may be caused by a timing or compatibility issue between some wireless network adapters with their corresponding drivers, and some wireless access points.

Resolution

There are two potential resolutions for this problem. One or both may need to be applied.

Resolution 1 - Ensure you are using an Up to Date Wireless Driver

This problem has been seen on Intel AC 7260 Wireless cards using driver 17.10.xx and older.

To resolve this issue, upgrade to driver 17.13.11 or newer for the Intel 7260 range:

• Windows 7 Driver 17.13.11
• Windows 8 Driver 17.13.11
• Intel AC 7260 Download Page

Resolution 2 - Disable the Fast Reconnect Feature 

Instructions for Windows 7:

• Open the Network and Sharing Center.
• Click on Manage Wireless Networks.
• Go to the Properties of the corporate wireless network.
• Go to the Security tab and then click on Settings.

• Under the Select Authentication Method options, untick the option to Enable Fast Reconnect.

• Click on OK to accept the change.
• Retest for the problem.

Additional Information

• If using a Stone NT310-H laptop under Windows 7, you must use the correct version of the Hotkey software. The correct version is 7.00.38. The older NT310 hotkey program version 7.00.32 has been known to cause wireless issues, especially when resuming from sleep, on the NT310-H.
• You may also need to disable the power management features on the wireless card.

Applies to:

• Notebooks and Tablets running Windows in a corporate Wireless network with RADIUS.

This article describes some methods to deal with wireless system performance or stability issues of a laptop system when used in a Microsoft Domain.

Problems and Solutions

• Error message - "There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request"
  • Ensure that you are in an area with good wireless signal coverage
  • Ensure that the Wireless network profile is set to be available to all users.
  • Disable Wireless LAN Adapter power management.
  • If you have disabled wireless LAN Adapter power management and are using the Stone N120 netbook, use the Hotkey as a Service Improvement.
• Group Policies are not reliably applied
  • Ensure that you are in an area with good wireless signal coverage
  • The wireless network might not be fast enough to meet the benchmark for slow link detection. Lower the threshold or turn off slow link detection by setting the value to 0.
  • Disable Wireless LAN Adapter power management
  • Disable the wireless card and then test for the same problems using a wired connection (bear in mind that unless you disable the wireless system, even if you plug in a wired connection Windows might not automatically use it)
  • Check the Group Policy event log under Event Viewer > Application and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Group Policy > Operational.
  • Try the NETLOGON 5719 fix which assists Windows with group policy processing.
• The system works fine in some places but not in the classroom
  • Are you using the same type of wireless network in both locations? For example, not all wireless LAN adapters support 5GHz networks. If you have a 5GHz network in the classroom, but an older 2.4GHz access point elsewhere, some LAN adapters will not see the 5GHz network in the classroom
  • How many users do you have on a single access point? As a guide, 15 users per access point is recommended, although you should consult your access points manual to check as they do vary.
  • What is the distance between the machine and the access point, and how many obstructions are there in the way? For example, a single wall will greatly reduce the useful range of a wireless network, especially a 5GHz network.
  • Try turning off Bluetooth on your devices, if not required. Bluetooth works on the same frequency band as 2.4GHz wireless networks.
• The wireless system performance is poor
  • If the performance is poor, for example videos being played from the network keep freezing, again consider the number of users you have per access point, and the number of obstructions
  • Ensure that wireless LAN drivers are up to date
  • Again, consider turning off Bluetooth on your devices
  • If using the N109 Atom based netbook with an Intel 6235 adapter, try the alternative driver.
  • Ensure you are using the right encryption modes. WPA2 and AES is strongly recommended. WPA/TKIP will limit network throughput whilst a mixture of WPA and AES or WPA2 and TKIP likely won't work well at all.
• ​When I login wirelessly, the login takes a long time
  • Are you deploying large applications wirelessly?
  • How big are the user's profiles? Large profiles can increase login times. Where possible, large portions of the profile should be redirected (instead of actually being part of the profile)
  • Try disabling off-line files and folders, as this can create an additional overhead.
• The wireless connection keeps disappearing
  • Ensure that you are using up to date wireless LAN drivers.
  • If using the Stone Hotkey utility, ensure that this is the latest version available from the Stone Driver Finder for your operating system. For example, on the Stone N120 netbook, an out of date Hotkey program can cause problems with the wireless connection. Alternatively, using a Hotkey program designed for Windows 8 (version 8.x) with Windows 7 will also cause problems.

Please contact Stone support if you need assistance with any of the times above which are not documented in this article.

Disable Wireless LAN Adapter power management

Use this solution to prevent users not being able to log into the domain.

Manual Method

• Logon as an Administrator
• Open Device Manager
• Find the wireless LAN network adapter

• Double click on the adapter to go into its properties
• Go to the Power Management Tab and untick the box "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power".

Deployment Method

Use this method to configure lots of machines across your network at the same time.

• Download the LANPWR.ZIP file attached to this article.
• Extract the LANPWR.VBS file from the ZIP.
• Deploy the LANPWR.VBS file as a Computer startup script using Group Policy.
• (You can also run the script as an Administrator to configure a single machine, but be aware that the change only takes effect after a reboot).

Ensuring that the Wireless Network Profile is Available to All Users

This ensures that the wireless connection is available to Windows before anyone logs on. This setting is worth checking if domain networking works fine over a cable but not over wireless, even though the wireless appears to be working fine if you login as an Administrator.

To check this setting, you need to open up the properties of the wireless network.

• Either go open the Network and Sharing Center, and click on Manage Wireless Networks.
• Or go to Control Panel, Network and Internet, and then Manage Wireless networks.
• Right hand click on the wireless network which is to be used for domain logins.

• On the Connection tab, ensure that Network Availability says "All users".
• If it does not, this might have happened if you created the wireless connection manually and did not specify that the connection should be saved for all users. You will need to delete the old connection and re-create the connection, ensuring that you select "Save this network for all users of this computer".

Netlogon 5719 Fix

Group Policy

• Modify the Local Computer Policy, or centrally administered Group Policy:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Logon > Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon: Enable

Registry

• Apply the registry settings here, in order. Each incremental setting may cause slightly more distruption, logon pauses even on a wired connection, or an inability to logon when no networks are available - please test thoroughly in your enviroment before deploying.

For more information see here.

Applies to:

• Laptop products running Windows 7