I have a new Asus notebook with a Dual Wireless-n 7260 wifi network adapter. The notebook has Windows 8.1 64 bit installed, and the bios and drivers are up to date. It is wirelessly connected to my home router. I have a wireless-n connection with 40-mhz channel width with WPA2/AES security settings. The router is 2+ years old, and has the latest firmware installed.
My notebook and my router both initially report a connection speed of 300mbps (which is normal for 802.11n with 40mhz channel width) at the beginning. Then, after a couple of hours, the connection speed drops to 11mbps. No settings have changed on my computer or router. The router works fine for other devices, and has worked fine for over a year. It is not an interference issue, since there are other wireless-n devices on the network which are not affected. The speed never reverts back to 300mbps. I never actually lose a connection. Even at 11mbps, I can browse the internet and my network, just at a slower speed. It seems to be this wifi adapter that is at fault, or most likely, the drivers which are at fault.
If I change the channel width to 20mhz, the connection is stable for at least an entire day. Unfortunately, the lower bandwidth affects other devices on the network and is not a permanent fix.
I have tried every version of the driver that I can find.
- the driver initially bundled with Windows (whatever version it is) -- Connection drops down to 11mbps after a while
- 16.0.5.3 -- Same, plus the signal strength indicator in the task bar makes it look like I am losing connection, but it isn't actually lost.
- 16.1.5.2 -- Same
- 16.5.3.6 -- Same
- 16.6.0.8 -- Same
In all versions of the drivers, I have followed Intel's recommended settings, as listed here Wireless Networking — What are the recommended settings for 802.11n connectivity?. There is no difference to the end result.
I am convinced that there is a bug in the drivers that only affects 40-mhz channel width connections. Please advise on what my next steps should be to fix this issue.