Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 driver update - Windows 21H1 - HP ENVY Desktop - 750-116

[GeorgeVI]

Around the time Windows 10 automatically updated to 21H1, the Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 stopped working reliably. All available wireless networks will disappear. Sometimes about once a day. Sometimes 10-20 times a day. Rebooting solves the problem. The card could have started having problems before or after the update so the two may not be related. Also swapped out AT&T DSL for Xfinity (with xFi Pods) around this same time which may or may not be related. There are no hard-wired devices in the house. Everything is wireless. All devices maintain a stable wireless connection. Only this desktop has problems.

Found drivers for this hardware here:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-750-100-desktop-pc-series/8499646/model/862...

Installed these two (which didn't solve the problem):
Realtek RTL8723BE and RTL8188EE 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Drivers
Type: Driver-Network
Version: 2023.79.419.2019 Rev.A
Operating systems: Windows 10 (64-bit)
Release date: Jun 13, 2019
File name: sp96873.exe(64.0 MB)

Broadcom Bluetooth Driver
Type: Driver-Network
Version: 12.0.1.850 Rev.A
Operating systems: Windows 10 (64-bit)
Release date: Jan 17, 2016
File name: sp74543.exe(20.9 MB)

Tried to update the BIOS (currently on A0.14) which also failed saying it's not compatible with this system:
HP Consumer Desktop PC BIOS Update (ROM Family SSID 2B2C)
Type: BIOS
Version: A0.17 Rev.A
Operating systems: Windows 10 (64-bit)
Release date: May 14, 2018
File name: sp87681.exe(14.7 MB)

Installed these two wireless/Bluetooth drivers from Intel's site (which didn't solve the problem):
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/75439/intel-dual-band-wirelessac-7260/downloads...

Next tried installing a different wireless card (which didn't solve the problem):
fenvi AX210 AX210NGW WiFi 6E PCI-E Wifi Card BT5.2 802.11ax Desktop Adapter MU-MIMO 2.4GHz 5GHz 6GHz Extended to 5400Mbps OFDMA Miracast vPro for gaming(Only wifi 6E router antennas support 6Ghz Band)
$59.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QCZ6FBG/

which shows up in Device Manager as: Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6E AX210 160MHz #2

The hour after installing the card we got 200-300 Mbps but haven't seen this since.

Also tried bridging the two wireless cards temporarily which didn't solve the problem.

Next found errors in Event Viewer > Event Viewer (Local) > Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > WLAN-AutoConfig > Operational
that said "WLAN AutoConfig service failed to connect to a wireless network." (Event ID: 8002) and seemed to correlate with the times the wireless went down.
Went into Services and found the WLAN AutoConfig service and restarted it. The wireless networks showed back up and could be connected to. Wrote a quick little desktop script to restart this each time as needed as a workaround until a proper driver update can be installed.

On a hunch disabled the internal wireless card and left the external wireless card enabled. Wireless connections have been stable for a few days so far. It hasn't disappeared nor has the WLAN AutoConfig service need restarted.

Still looking for a proper BIOS & wireless driver update, installed HP Image Assistant 5.1.2. When clicking the Analyze button this message is returned:
---------------------------
Retrieving Image Configuration from HP
---------------------------
HP Image Assistant does not support Windows 10 version 21H1 for this product. Would you like to download the list of supported products and operating systems?
---------------------------
Yes No
---------------------------

The above message would suggest HP is still working on Windows 21H1 driver updates.

Next ran HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows 1.7.0.0 and choose the System Extensive Test.  The Wireless IRQ Test fails when the hardware is disabled in Device Manager and passes when the hardware is enabled in Device Manager.  The Wireless ROM Test passes in both cases.

Has anybody encountered these problems or know how to solve them?  Looking for free (fiat money) solutions if possible.

After these things are solved, I'd like to work on speed.  It goes up and down and it'd be nice to get a steady 200-300 Mbps over the wireless.  I'm paying for 800 Mbps to the house.

[itsmyname]

@GeorgeVI -- The above message would suggest HP is still working on Windows 21H1 driver updates.

It is some "checking" built-in to the current software, because the current device-driver has not been tested with that version of Windows. So, yes, wait until HP updates their software.

Have you changed your cable-modem?  It could be the problem.

If you connect a computer via an Ethernet cable directly to the modem, do you get the 800 Mbps that you are supposed to get?

[GeorgeVI]

It is a new cable modem and it was tested with a cable at over 800 mbps.