m15 R4, Killer AX1650 driver broken

Question

TL;DR I have an Alienware m15 R4 and my Killer WiFi AX1650 WiFi card will frequently become inoperable and undiscoverable to both Device Manager and Dell Support Assist, forcing me to perform a networking reset and reboot as a very temporary fix. This occurred almost immediately after my WiFi card's driver updated to v22.100.0.3, which contains bugs that Intel has already addressed and patched as of 1/31/2022 (even though I can't use them on my machine). Dell still has not provided a corresponding driver or helpful solution to patch this, however, and I don't know how to fix this myself since I can't roll back... The morning of February 17th, 2022, Dell/Windows distributed a driver update v22.100.0.3 to my Killer AX1650 WiFi card, which was automatically installed on my system. Immediately after applying this update, however, the WiFi card will randomly malfunction every 3 hours or so, and even more frequently causes spotty connection which disconnects me from WiFi. Looking into the system logs in Event Viewer, there have been many errors ever since the driver update occurred indicating that it is 'not functioning properly' due to an unspecified 'internal error' (resp. system Event IDs: 5002, 5005) whenever the WiFi card fails. Here is the first of many times it occurred: (strangely, one time it also gave an error that 'the version number is incorrect for this driver', and Device Manager still thinks the last successful driver update was on 10/18/2021...) I cannot solve this by rolling back the driver update to the previous known-working versions because the option is greyed-out in Device Manager. This problem is very unhelpfully addressed in this Dell Knowledge Base article, and it only suggests updating the BIOS (the latest update v1.8.0 as of 3/4/2022 was installed maybe an hour or so after the faulty WiFi driver was, and intentionally I can't rollback that either...) And so, looking into the Intel/Killer drivers for a potential patch, it appears that the subsequent driver update v22.110.1.1 (included in package v3.1122.183, dated 1/31/2022) is intended as a fix for the exact problem I observed: 'Wi-Fi connectivity loss (Event Viewer system event log ID 5002/5005/5007)'. However, I discovered that these direct-from-manufacturer drivers are entirely incompatible with Dell's, and so I cannot use them without replacing most networking drivers on my system. Dell's last update to these drivers was published over a month and a half ago (v2.100), and yet it has been over a month since Intel's driver patch that fixes this issue (v2.110) has been released. Since it makes my computer's Internet connection very spotty and unreliable, and the only current (temporary) solution is to have Windows Troubleshooter perform a Networking Reset and restart my computer-- also forcing me to re-configure my known networks-- every time it malfunctions, I'm getting impatient waiting for Dell's corresponding patch to the drivers.Is there anything else I can do while I continue waiting for Dell to (hopefully) authorize their version v22.110.1.1 of the patched driver updates? I can't deal with unreliable internet connection for much longer. Thanks!

crimsom · Accepted Answer

Hi @jdwhite88 welcome to this free user to user Alienware laptop discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.

Thank you for investing your time and sharing a very detailed opening post. Wi-Fi Killer AX1650 has a driver that does not always work and occasionally is not acknowledged by the Alienware m15 R4 system.

Usually the fix is to visit driver, and disable turn off device when not being used. However, the driver will not roll back to an earlier version and the usual fix is to delete this driver, then Restart (not shut down) to save changes. During boot, the Alienware m15 R4 requires internet connection so that windows will automatically find and install new driver. Please ensure that Alienware m15 R4 has working ethernet connection to the internet.

Please share if this fix works. Thank you.

[This user does not work for Dell and volunteers their free time. Please remember to say thank you by clicking on Kudos as this user's only reward.]

jdwhite88 · Answer

Thank you, your solution worked perfectly and my computer hasn't had encountered any Internet issues whatsoever since re-installing!

For others' reference (I'm sure others are having the same issue since it's been acknowledged more from Dell in the past couple of weeks) here's what I did in more detail:

downloaded the old known-good drivers from Dell (v22.70.0.6) and performed a System Restore as a backup just in case the automatic re-install failed,
checked that I had a working Ethernet connection to still access the Internet,
opened Device Manager and uninstalled the Killer Wireless AX1650 driver,
with Ethernet cable was still plugged in, restarted my computer
Windows automatically re-installed the driver from the Internet (v22.70.0.6, prior to the broken driver update) on startup

I guess all I have left to do now is wait for Dell to verify v22.110.1.1 (v22.70 is still a bit buggy, but still reliable once connected). Again, thank you very much!

crimsom · Answer

Hi @JTurbo welcome to this free user to user Alienware laptop discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.

Your Dell G15 5515 Ryzen Edition enquiry should be posted in the Dell G Forum. G Laptops (Inspirons) are not Alienware Laptops - Dell Community

Have opened the link you provided. Solved: XPS 15-7590, Killer Wireless 1650, WiFi issues - Dell Community and the G15-5515 issue is not the same as on this thread.

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