A7000 traffic stops for 30 seconds every 2-3 minutes

[doctordon]

This started following a Windows Update about two weeks ago. No other hardware was changed.

ThinkPad X1 Tablet (Win 10 Pro 22H2) > USB3 Port Replicator > USB3 cable > A7000 > Router

This configuration has worked flawlessly since I bought the A7000.

Following anywhere from 2-20 minutes of normal operation, traffic on the Adapter just stops. Browsers hang, media ceases to play. Browers might show DNS Not Resolved or a DISCONNECTED error message. If I do nothing, it all goes back to normal after 20-45 seconds. This happens whether I'm accessing the internet or something on my home network. MS Word might go into "not responding" when trying to open or save a file on the NAS. Again, 30 seconds later, all is well. I can play media stored on NAS. It'll run anywhere from 2-20 minutes before stopping. I have to restart the player to get back where I was. 

I have power-cycled the A7000, reinstalled standalone drivers from scratch, changed DNS servers and combed through Event Viewer logs looking for something related to the issue. FWIW, I can switch to the X1's internal WiFi adapter and it performs without this issue, though it doesn't receive the same signal level as the AC1900 USB 3.0 WiFi Adapter (A7000) 

Thanks for any help. 

[michaelkenward]

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@doctordon wrote:

This started following a Windows Update about two weeks ago. No other hardware was changed.

If Windows caused the problem, maybe the fix is in there somewhere.

Tried the usual things with Windows? Check that the USB device isn't set to turn itself off to save power.

Told Windows to forget the WiFi connection and create it afresh?

[doctordon]

There isn't a power tab for the A7000's properties and I figure, by completely reinstalling it, that effectively clears the "forget" bar, Nevertheless, I did that and, within 5 minutes, got a 20-second stall. I'll continue to use it to see if the same regularity of stalling occurs. Thanks for responding!

Doc

[michaelkenward]

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@doctordon wrote:

There isn't a power tab for the A7000's properties

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Where are you looking?

Wifi adapter properties

[doctordon]

Device Manager > Network Adapters

[doctordon]

After applying your suggestions, I can sadly report that the issue remains at approximately the same intervals. The browsers usually throw a "CONNECTION_RESET" error before suddenly loading pages properly. I will also get the "no internet" globe in the taskbar during this time. 

Using the tablet's built-in WiFi card does not exhibit this issue. Nothing in Event Viewer coincides with the times of the issue.

EDIT: During the most-recent "pause" I couldn't even log on to my router's setup page, usually the easiest thing to do. I did eventually get in. Here's an example of what the router logs during these pauses. BC:A5:11:24:C5:F0 is the tablet the A7000 is connected to. This is one of the shorter pauses:

Feb 26 10:27:49 syslog: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth2: Disassoc BC:A5:11:24:C5:F0, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Feb 26 10:33:47 syslog: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth2: Auth BC:A5:11:24:C5:F0, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Feb 26 10:33:47 syslog: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth2: Assoc BC:A5:11:24:C5:F0, status: Successful (0), rssi:0

Doc

[doctordon]

Today, I must have booted up while the A7000 was in its 30-second pause. Connect attempt to my 5 Ghz network timed out, throwing the computer back to its own WiFi card. After a minute or so, I was able to switch back to the A7000, which logged in, normally, though still with the periodic pauses.

It appears my next test may have to be on another network. There have been no updates to the router, but clearly something's happening between the two.

Doc

[doctordon]

Michael

Just another update. Once again, I reinstalled the A7000's drivers and ticked the box to not let WIndows mess with them during updates. Reboot, command line flush.. the works. Still getting the traffic stops, though they seem to have become more frequent. Now, it's about every 5 minutes, I go through a 30-second traffic stop. Getting a new browser error, now:

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

This also happens when trying to reach the router's setup page. If I have SpeedTest running, it just halts and displays a message it's unable to connect to the server. 

None of this occurs with the ThinkPad's own WiFi chip. Since the ThinkPad sits in an enclosure, speeds are slower, which was the reason I got the A7000.

I really don't know where to look to find the issue. Still plan to try things out on another laptop and/or on another network. 

Thanks for any ideas.

Doc

[doctordon]

Might have solved it. I plugged the A7000 into another laptop (the one I originally bought it for) also running the same version of Win 10 x64. While I did experience some page load delays, it wasn't anywhere close to the frequency or duration I experienced on the X1 Tablet. Digging into the advanced settings for the A7000, I noticed QoS was enabled. I don't have QoS enabled on the router, so I set QoS to "auto." Somewhere along the line, a Windows update apparently changed the setting. I've also disabled Windows' ability to do that moving forward. 

So far, so good. We'll see how it goes, next WU. 

Doc