Acer Swift 5 SF514-54GT WiFi problem with Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201

My new laptop is having some serious WiFi connection problems! Depending on what WiFi router it's connected to, it either:

Stops working very quickly (like in the post from SwissBob on 19.12.2019) and stops recognising the networks
It works for a while with the latest drivers (21.50.1.1 released on 19.12.2019 on the Acer web site) and then, depending on the router you're connected to, it either kills the router connection (I had this on a D-Link wifi AP) or the adaptor itself disconnects and won't connect on 5Ghz band (I had this happen on an Asus RT-AC1200)

When I'm connected to the D-Link AP (which is in the apartments where I'm living), the only way to get WiFi working is to connect using my Samsung S8, run a WiFi hotspot, and connect my Swift 5 to that! On my friend's Asus RT-AC1200, the only way for me to connect is via the 2.4GHz band that it's broadcasting (on a separate SSID).

I also read that there are big problems with the new Microsoft Surface laptops running the same Intel AX201. It sounds like the drivers or chipset are really buggy / very poor compatibility!!

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billsey

Is there any way you can pin it down to an antenna issue? Moving it around in relation to the AP might help there. If not it's likely as you suggest, a driver issue and we're at Intel's mercy. Less likely would be a hardware issue with the card failing after warming up or something... I would be very surprised if it were an incompatibility with the AP.

Flexor

billsey said:

Is there any way you can pin it down to an antenna issue? Moving it around in relation to the AP might help there. If not it's likely as you suggest, a driver issue and we're at Intel's mercy. Less likely would be a hardware issue with the card failing after warming up or something... I would be very surprised if it were an incompatibility with the AP.

No, it doesn't seem to make any difference with the location. Also, when I first booted the laptop I was at my friends place (with the Asus router) and I had exactly the same issues as reported in the post of SwissBob (https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/765190#Comment_765190)

The most recent driver updates have improved things, but this is really completely unacceptable in a brand new laptop with the latest tech.

Flexor

billsey said:

Is there any way you can pin it down to an antenna issue? Moving it around in relation to the AP might help there. If not it's likely as you suggest, a driver issue and we're at Intel's mercy. Less likely would be a hardware issue with the card failing after warming up or something... I would be very surprised if it were an incompatibility with the AP.

No, it doesn't seem to make any difference with the location. Also, when I first booted the laptop I was at my friends place (with the Asus router) and I had exactly the same issues as reported in the post of SwissBob (https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/765190#Comment_765190)

The most recent driver updates have improved things, but this is really completely unacceptable in a brand new laptop with the latest tech.

billsey

So that's still pointing at a driver issue and that is a new card design from Intel. It looks like the Acer driver is actually a little newer than the drive on Intel's site so they are likely actively working on it. Are you connecting to WiFi 6 routers, 802.11ac, or something older? I don't know which technology is used by the S8 but I'd guess 11ac from looking at specs. The ASUS is certainly 11ac, I don't know which D-Link you have...

Flexor

billsey said:

So that's still pointing at a driver issue and that is a new card design from Intel. It looks like the Acer driver is actually a little newer than the drive on Intel's site so they are likely actively working on it. Are you connecting to WiFi 6 routers, 802.11ac, or something older? I don't know which technology is used by the S8 but I'd guess 11ac from looking at specs. The ASUS is certainly 11ac, I don't know which D-Link you have...

It's connecting to my S8 on 802.11n @ 2.4GHz. On the ASUS I didn't check, and the D-Link is 802.11n @ 2.4GHz

Pim

Exactly the same config, exactly the same issue. New from box. Updated to various different 'latest' drivers > not solved yet. @Acer @Acer-Tommy, any inputs?

Kostas79

I am experiencing the same problem. Brand new Swift 5 and WiFi connection is spotty as hell. Any ideas?

Boii90

Kostas79 said:

I am experiencing the same problem. Brand new Swift 5 and WiFi connection is spotty as hell. Any ideas?

Go to the Device Manager -> Network Adapter -> Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 -> Properties/Settings -> Mimo Energy Efficiency -> No SMPS.

Flexor

Boii90 said:

Kostas79 said:

I am experiencing the same problem. Brand new Swift 5 and WiFi connection is spotty as hell. Any ideas?

Go to the Device Manager -> Network Adapter -> Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 -> Properties/Settings -> Mimo Energy Efficiency -> No SMPS.

I tried this, but I'm still getting issues with it killing the WiFi connection. It didn't have the exact setting that you said - it has 'MIMO Power Safe Mode', which I changed to No SMPS. It does seem to drop out less after making this change, but I suspect that it's still overloading the router.

Any other suggestions/tweaks?

I'm using the latest drivers from Intel, 21.70.0.6 (newer drivers than the ones on the Acer site)

abhigyantrips

Flexor said:

My new laptop is having some serious WiFi connection problems! Depending on what WiFi router it's connected to, it either:
Stops working very quickly (like in the post from SwissBob on 19.12.2019) and stops recognising the networks
It works for a while with the latest drivers (21.50.1.1 released on 19.12.2019 on the Acer web site) and then, depending on the router you're connected to, it either kills the router connection (I had this on a D-Link wifi AP) or the adaptor itself disconnects and won't connect on 5Ghz band (I had this happen on an Asus RT-AC1200)
When I'm connected to the D-Link AP (which is in the apartments where I'm living), the only way to get WiFi working is to connect using my Samsung S8, run a WiFi hotspot, and connect my Swift 5 to that! On my friend's Asus RT-AC1200, the only way for me to connect is via the 2.4GHz band that it's broadcasting (on a separate SSID).

I also read that there are big problems with the new Microsoft Surface laptops running the same Intel AX201. It sounds like the drivers or chipset are really buggy / very poor compatibility!!

PROBLEM FOUND AND SOLVED!

I got an Acer Swift 5 S514-54T from a retailer, and found that the laptop was showing me the globe icon for internet. On troubleshooting, it said that "The wireless adapter is having driver-related or hardware-related issues."
I got this checked by an IT guy in my office, and he found out that the Norton Security anti-virus, which comes pre-installed with the laptop software, is BLOCKING THE ADAPTER! We had it uninstalled (since it was a 30-day day trial anyway) and installed an anti-virus software of our choice.

You can also disable the firewall, which can solve this problem. More on that here:
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v65845544

Hope this helps everyone reading this thread!
Regards,
Abhigyan Trips

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