Intel Wireless AC 7260 - Possible Fix - Need Guinea Pigs

[NeoBeum]

The Automatic Install for the Intel ProSet Wireless Setup - forgets to install the Bluetooth Highspeed stuff for the AC 7260 -
I'm still in the middle of testing - and moving up to 18.33 with these installed:

BTHS (Bluetooth Highspeed)
CAM (Cloud Access Manager)
WiFi Display Link Driver (WiFi Display)

Using Intel Bluetooth Driver 19.60.

The installation process is different to the standard installation -

Uninstall all WiFi drivers and Bluetooth drivers - so they appear as unknowns.

Purge drivers in the Windows Driver Store with PNPUTIL, in Command Prompt.

C:\Windows\System32>  PNPUTIL -E

That will dump the list of drivers installed...

Published name :            oem26.inf
Driver package provider :   Intel
Class :                     Network adapters
Driver date and version :   07/29/2015 18.12.1.2
Signer name :               Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

Published name :            oem25.inf
Driver package provider :   Intel
Class :                     Network adapters
Driver date and version :   04/30/2015 15.18.0.1
Signer name :               Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

Published name :            oem18.inf
Driver package provider :   Intel
Class :                     Network adapters
Driver date and version :   04/30/2015 15.11.0.9
Signer name :               Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

Published name :            oem20.inf
Driver package provider :   Intel
Class :                     Network adapters
Driver date and version :   04/30/2015 15.17.0.1
Signer name :               Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher

if you need to get rid of existing Wireless drivers... find the relevant oem## and use the right ##

PNPUTIL /F /Delete-Driver oem26.inf

That will delete the drivers:
Published name : oem26.inf
Driver package provider : Intel
Class : Network adapters
Driver date and version : 07/29/2015 18.12.1.2
Signer name : Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher



Installation Process from a Clean Driver Store with No Wireless Drivers

Go to Device Manager, You should immediately see devices that need installation. One is the Bluetooth Card, the other is the Wireless Card.
You need to install the Bluetooth Driver First.
If you have the AC7260 - In device manager go to

[V]iew >> De[v]ices by connection
(Press ALT then V and V again for quick shortcut using keyboard)


Look for the Bluetooth device in:

USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller >> Intel USB 3.0 Root Hub >> Intel Wireless Bluetooth


Install the 19.60 Bluetooth Drivers: BT_19.60.0_64_Win10.exe
https://www.intel.com.au/content/www...000005489.html
(The other option is to grab the expanded admin install I attached to this post and go to the Utilities folder, and use DPInst.exe)


Now to install the Wireless AC
Use the ASUS Download package for 18.12 & Extract the contents.
Don't use Setup.exe, and instead, navigate to the directory:

WLAN_Intel_Win10_64_VER181212\Install\data

Here, Manually install :

1. Driver.msi
2. BTHS.msi
3. WiFi.msi
   (optional)
4. CAM.msi

Next we need to set the configuration - for the Wireless Card - head on over to Network Adapters in control panel
If you hate windows 10 Shell Settings, press WindowsKey+R and run this command

cmd /c "mkdir C:\'Panel'.{ed7ba470-8e54-465e-825c-99712043e01c}"

That will drop an unnamed shortcut which you can later rename, and this short cut looks like the Control Panel shortcut. Except... better inside...
Go to the Network and Sharing Centre Section, Group by Type, and View Network Connections.

Go to the Wireless Connection Icon, go to P[r]operties, and [C]onfigure:

These are some settings to change or check

802.1n Channel 2.4GHz ---- (Auto (unless your router is transmitting 20MHz band))
802.1n Channel 5.2GHz ---- (Auto (unless your router is transmitting 20MHz band))
Ad Hoc CHannel 802.1 b/g ---- 1
Ad HoC QoS Mode ---- WMM Disabled (Enable if you use Cloud Access)
ARP offload for WoWLAN --- Disabled
Bluetooth AMP ---- Disabled (Unless you constantly use Bluetooth for tethering or large transfers or WiFiDi - this is Bluetooth Highspeed PHY)
Fat Channel Intolerant ---- Disabled
GTK rekeying for WoWLAN ---- Disabled (Unless you use magic packet or wake on lan features)
HT Mode ---- VHT Mode
Mixed Mode Protection ---- RTS/CTS Enabled
NS Offload for WoWLAN ---- Disabled (Unless you use magic packet or wake on lan features)
Packet Coalescing ---- Disabled (Unless you use magic packet or wake on lan features)
Preferred Band ---- Your choice
Roaming Aggressiveness ---- Medium (Tweak as required)
Sleep on WoWLAN Disconnect ---- Disabled (Unless you use magic packet or wake on lan features)
Throughput Booster ---- Disabled (Unless you have Fibrelink or using 5.2GHZ Band AC)
Transmit Power ---- Highest
U-APSD Support ---- Disabled
Wake on Magic Packet ---- Disabled (Unless you use magic packet or wake on lan features)
Wake on Pattern Match ---- Disabled (Unless you use magic packet or wake on lan features)
Wireless Mode ---- 802.11 a/b/g

Make sure that the System cannot power down the device for power saving in the 'Power Management Tab'.


Go to the Super Control Panel you made and 'Edit Power Plan' >> [C]hange advance power settings
Make sure that 'Maximum Performance' is used in Wireless Adapter Settings and
'USB Settings' suspend is Disabled if frequently using Bluetooth





Recap if everything done right in Control Panel >> Programs and Features:

[JustinThyme]

Im not sure Im following you here. What are you trying to fix.
Mine works fine with only two steps.

Download and install the proset software and driver from Intel and install.
Download and install the BT from Intel and install.....done.

This method works fine for me on G74SX, G751JL, G751JY and G752VY. First 3 have the AC 7260 and the latter has the 8260.

[NeoBeum]

There's a crash with WLANExt.exe - but during my testing over the weekend I didn't realise that one of the bluetooth controllers got through windows update - which meant everything I thought is backwards - instead of missing intel programs - it's the intel programs fighting with the windows 10 shell ui that are causing the crashes - if one of the proset packages are installed and if windows updates finds a new driver set that doesn't match the proset installed - and the device tries to configure WLAN when the connection drops out or sleeps - is probably the cause of the problems

[Clintlgm]

Yea that why I have WU driver updates blocked on all my units.
Thanks for posting all this, sure hope I never have to use it.

[JustinThyme]

I'm with Clint, I never allow windows to update drivers for anything. Windows updates, Office updates, security updates Yes. Any hardware that has a vendor page where you can get updates, not no but HE double hocky sticks NO! I dont ven get them from the ASUS site. AC7260 is an intel device so thats where I go to look for drivers when needed.

[Gps3dx]

@Justin wrote:
"AC7260 is an intel device so thats where I go to look for drivers when needed" - I agree, but the latest isn't always the stable/free of problems ( especially on win10).

The instability of 7260AC in combination with win10, is well known throughout the web - asus G serie laptops are not alone.
issues inc random windows freezes, random connection hang-ups, waking from sleep and more.

on my win10 1703, After having latest ProSet from intel with issues, I've reverted back to intel's v18.20.0.9 (23/8/2015) - IMHO I think it's the most stable version so far.
( some ppl on the web think that v17.15.0.5 also makes a good revert choice - tested it, but it have many issues as well )