Wi-Fi Issue - Can't Establish Connection Unless Moving to 3 Metres from AP

scotty on 18/10/2025 - 11:50

Hi OzBargain community. I am having this Wi-Fi issue on my main computer for the past 6-7 months and could not find a solution. First of all, here's the MS Paint illustration.

Laptop is in Room 1 near the northern wall, and the Wi-Fi access point is in Room 2, with a solid wall in between. After Windows 11 boots or wakes up from sleep, it is having difficulties connecting to the access point — signal level is full as shown in Windows, but just unable to establish connection, and then eventually times out. However if I move the laptop towards the Wi-Fi access point, once in the corridor, Wi-Fi is then established. The connection stays on even when I move the laptop back to its original location. I can then work on the laptop without any Wi-Fi issue, until the next time it needs to wake up from sleep.

What might have caused the issue? Any remedy?

  • Laptop: ThinkPad X1 Extreme i5-8300H, with Intel Wireless-AC 9560
  • Access Point: TP-Link Deco X68 running in AP mode

None of the other computers in the household have the same issue. Moreover, I dual-boot this laptop to Debian Linux, and it also has no issue with connecting to Wi-Fi either. So I suspect it's the Intel Wireless driver for Windows, but I've tried to reinstall it a few times but the problem persists.

Computing Mesh Network TP-Link Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Router

Comments

  • Far Cough on 18/10/2025 - 12:00

    Have you turned off band steering?
    Have you reset the network setting on laptop?

    Possible delete the wifi driver and reinstall.
    I had issues with my intel wifi drivers where they didn’t find 2.4ghz networks only 5ghz, fully uninstalled the drivers, reset and reinstalled and there was no issue.

    It could be that the windows is selecting 2.4 or 5ghz by itself while Linux selects 2.4ghz only

  • coxjon on 18/10/2025 - 12:48

    I can’t help but when I had wifi issues and my family technician was overseas I carefully explained everything to copilot and it was very helpful, especially as it remembers all the devices I have the from the first time I was troubleshooting

  • Downvoter on 18/10/2025 - 12:50

    They have the internet on computers now?

    Downvoter on 18/10/2025 - 12:50 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
    • btech on 19/10/2025 - 09:54
      +1

      Underrated Simpsons reference

    • capslock janitor on 18/10/2025 - 15:54

      Priority Action Expected Outcome
      1 Disable device sleep power saving Fix for 70% of cases
      2 Disable Fast Startup / Modern Standby Fix for 15% more
      3 Update or Rollback Intel driver Fix for 10%
      4 Disable Fast Roaming (802.11r) Fix for edge Deco timing issues
      5 Add AutoConnectDelay registry tweak Final polish for stubborn cases

      • n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm on 18/10/2025 - 20:03

        2 Disable Fast Startup / Modern Standby Fix for 15% more

        I wouldn't do this, or at least try it last. disabling fast startup makes startup very slow. having fast startup saves the windows into memory and resumes which is why it turns on (get to the lock screen) like 20 times quicker.

  • scotty on 18/10/2025 - 14:16
    +3

    Yeah I'll give some suggestions a try this weekend. Here's my thanks to GPT in advance :)

  • Shoocat on 18/10/2025 - 15:04

    Suggest contacting TP-Link support for help, as they are generally pretty good with troubleshooting, and will sometimes send you custom firmware to resolve an issue.

    Having said that, I've found their products to be very hit and miss in terms of reliability. I don't think I'll be buying another product from them in future.

  • CodeXD on 18/10/2025 - 15:37

    I think the easy solution is to buy a cheap wifi card or usb wifi for your laptop.

    You can also try opening it up and making sure the wifi card's antenna is connected properly.

    There is a reddit post here (for linux) to disable power management

  • n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm on 18/10/2025 - 20:07

    I had a USB WiFi thingy once, one of the cheap bad old ones which had like no updates at all to fix issues. TP link I think. tbf very old model.

    not your exact scenario. but it would drop off randomly. after going through every setting in WiFi properties one by one, turning on and off.

    I realised it was the 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz setting. at a certain distance from the router if the WiFi signal got even slightly weak, it would auto switch from 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz. and during this switch, something went wrong with the USB WiFi device and it lost internet. this is all I remember anyway it was simply fixed by choosing either 5Ghz only, or 2.4Ghz only. so it wouldn't do this auto switch.

  • clovee on 18/10/2025 - 20:13

    Not sure if it helps, or just adding the confusion: toggle the randomise mac address?
    https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/1f30ke2/mac_ad…

    randomised address might lower the chance of our device from getting hacked in public networked (if the address kept changing each connection or for some time, malicious people won't be able to get to it). but it depletes the ip address pool of dhcp server (at home), as it thinks a different devices is connecting each time.

    if you have the setting off, maybe try setting it on, so that the router treats it as new session? or if the setting is on, setting it off, so that it continues the previous session? (when operating system isn't smart enough to re-handshake after waking up from sleep/hibernate and still holds on to older session)

    anyway, interested on how it goes.
    still wondering how is in the room different to being on the corridor ('physical' wi-fi connection)
    i suspect it might be the band steering thing.
    i've been in places where i see 4G or full WiFi signal but no throughput

  • scotty on 19/10/2025 - 18:04

    Thanks to all the suggestions. I have investigated on band steering, and found that if I force Win11 / i9560 to use 2.4GHz, it would connect straight away at my laptop's default location (Device Manager -> Intel Wireless AC-9560 -> Advanced Tab -> Preferred Band = 2.4Ghz). However the bandwidth is bad (inconsistent 30-70Mbps) and the ping is terrible. So now I am reverting to 5GHz and back to lifting up my laptop & walking 3 metres towards corridor to establish the wifi connection.

    • spackbace on 20/10/2025 - 12:40

      Maybe roll the driver back then on the laptop side?

    • clovee on 23/10/2025 - 03:05

      yeah, 5GHz is quick, but shorter range as tradeoff

      have you tried adjusting the access point antenna to see if there's any difference?
      perhaps change your sitting orientation so that you're facing the door?

  • neil on 22/10/2025 - 10:04

    Just saw this on Twitter. The person's HDMI cable shielding was causing interference with their wi-fi.

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