With Window 10 auto-connect to orbi, no wifi seen after reboot at other locations

Question

(Problem and a Circumvention , to save someone else a month of trial & error)

ISSUE:

On Windows 10 (@ Feature level 1909 w Cumulative updates up to 2020-03) on a laptop (lenovo Thinkpad E570, Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265)), I have no problems connecting at home or any other issues with Orbi at home, but when laptop Win 10 is set to auto-connect to home orbi network and I go elsewhere, Windows 10 acts as if the WiFi adapter is dead -- none of multiple known WiFi networks at that location are seen by the laptop. A Linux partition on the same laptop, also configured for auto connect to Orbi, has no problem seeing and connecting to those other networks, so it's not an actual hardware problem, just some issue with the way Windows manages the WiFi adapter.

CIRCUMVENTION:

When at home and successfully connected to my home Orbi network, change the Windows 10 WiFi settings to NOT auto-connect to my home Orbi network. Now when at other locations and Windows 10 is booted, other WiFi networks are visible and can be selected. Makes for extra step of manually connecting to the home orbi network when at home.

CONCLUSION:

It's as if Windows 10 has a bug with Orbi-type WiFi routers, as if it tries to find them first (which makes sense from a performance perspective), sets the network adapter to only find that kind of WiFi protocol, but when it fails to find such a WiFi, fails to reset the adapter to be able to see other types of WiFi networks. There is no simple way to turn off auto-connect to the home Orbi network when not within its range; although there may be some command line tools that could do this.

Other non-Orbi WiFi networks can be set for auto-connect without causing this problem on Windows 10.

tomschmidt · Answer

I agree that this has to be an issue with your laptop. I have multiple Windows laptops and have no issues connecting to WiFi on my homes Orbi and other WiFi hotspots.&nbsp;I suggest uninstalling the WiFi drivers on your Windows 10 and then reinstalling them.&nbsp; If you continue to have issues, then I suggest going to a Windows 10 or Lenovo web forum for support.

CrimpOn · Answer

Thanks for the insight.&nbsp; There may be another "wrinkle" in this setup, with the dual boot.&nbsp; I doubt very many Lenovo customers set up their ThinkPad's that way.&nbsp; The Lenovo was actually "booted" at the remote location, not hibernating or sleeping?

j-ewing-ar · Answer

Definitely was a normal shutdown and power off of the laptop, not hibernation or sleeping.state.

With dual-boot I never know for sure whether I might want Win 10 or Linux next time. I tend to use Linux more and at least in the past Linux handling of hibernation/sleeping state was problematic, so I have long been in the habit of doing a normal shutdown and powerdown before putting the laptop away.

The problem occurred on 3 different days while I was trying out various solutions, thinking it was fixed and finding out not, before finally hitting on a combination that has so far worked every time since.

FURRYe38 · Answer

Make sure your laptops wifi drivers are up to date.&nbsp;I have no problems with my Windows 10 work laptop connecting to Orbi with Auto-reconnect enabled. However the LT isn't dual boot.

j-ewing-ar · Answer

I think more likely specifically an issue with the Windows 10 drivers for the Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 WiFi Network Adapter on my laptop.&nbsp; Suspect your laptops may use different WiFi network adapter (identifiable via Device Manager).&nbsp;&nbsp; First thought was need for a WiFi driver update.&nbsp; There was one (Intel 20.70.16.4 1/1/2020), installed it, no difference.One of the suggesstions I found online for getting out of the situation was to deinstall the WiFi network adapter (didn't mention any thing about re-install, figured device detection would trigger that).&nbsp; Tried deinstall.&nbsp; Deinstall never completed.&nbsp; After 30 minutes, tried to shutdown Win10.&nbsp; That hung.&nbsp;&nbsp; Brute force hardware power off.&nbsp; Next reboot, Win 10 came back up, WiFi didn't auto-connect to home (Omni) network and now saw all the other networks.&nbsp;&nbsp; Figured it was fixed, but after using home Omni network, next time booted at a non-home location, same problelm -- no networks seen.&nbsp;&nbsp; Apparently the only useful thing the hung uninstall did was to disable auto-connect to the home network.Still occasionally getting device driver updates from Lenovo.&nbsp; Maybe that will eventually fix the issue.&nbsp;&nbsp; Perhaps a network adapter de-install would work differently with the later drivers in place and shake something loose, but I'm reluctant to disturb things now that I know how to get WiFi to work consistently.&nbsp;

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With Window 10 auto-connect to orbi, no wifi seen after reboot at other locations

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