The Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz adapter is a wireless driver adapter that’s been bugging many users lately. If your device relies on this Wi-Fi adapter to go online, sometimes you won’t be able to hook up to Wi-Fi.
Even if users manage to fix the problem, this annoying error often comes back a few days later. What’s even more frustrating is when this issue occurs when you’re streaming video content or uploading files to your storage account. This problem is prevalent for Surface devices. Surface Laptops seem to be more affected by this issue than other Surface devices.
In this guide, we’ll explore how you can fix the following error message affecting this wireless adapter: “The Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz adapter is experiencing driver- or hardware-related problems“.
Fix Intel WI-FI 6 AX201 Adapter Driver on Windows 10
⇒ Quick Fixes:
- Restart your computer and router. Or unplug the power cord from your router for two minutes.
- Update your OS. Be sure you’re running the latest Windows 10 OS version on your computer. Go to Settings → Update & Security → Windows update and check for updates.
- Switch to a cable connection if you’re in a hurry and you don’t have the time to troubleshoot the problem right now.
Update Your Driver
Running an outdated or corrupted wireless adapter driver may prevent you from connecting to your Wi-Fi network.
- Launch the Device Manager and click on Network adapters.
- Then expand the list and right-click on your Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160MHz adapter.
- Select Update Driver. Then restart your computer and check if the error is gone.
- If you’re still getting the same error, reinstall your driver—Right-click on your Intel Wi-Fi adapter and select Uninstall device.
- Restart your computer again to automatically download the latest driver version.
If you’re using a Surface tablet or laptop, you can manually download the newest drivers from Microsoft:
- Surface Laptop 3 with Intel Processor Drivers and Firmware.
- Surface Laptop 3 with AMD Processor Drivers and Firmware.
For more information, visit Microsoft’s Support page Download drivers and firmware for Surface.
Download the Intel Driver & Support Assistant
Alternatively, you can use the Intel Driver & Support Assistant to keep your system up-to-date automatically. This tool keeps your Intel hardware updated. You can download it from Intel.
Run the Network Troubleshooter and Reset the Connection
Running the Network troubleshooter may help you to solve this problem. This built-in tool automatically detects and repairs network issues.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Select Network and Internet.
- Then scroll down to Network Troubleshooter.
- Run the troubleshooter and check the results.
If the problem persists, go back to Network and Internet, but this time, select Network Reset. Restart your computer and check if you can connect to Wi-Fi.
Change Wireless Mode Settings
This problem may have something to do with the device using dual-band. Changing the wireless settings may fix it. Follow the instructions below and check the results.
- Launch the Device Manager and go to Network adapters.
- Then right-click on your wireless card and select Properties.
- Select the Advanced tab and change the wireless mode settings from 802.11a/b/g to 1. 5Ghz 802.11a. Check if the issue persists.
Additionally, you can also play with the wireless settings and switch to different property and value settings. Some users fixed this issue by switching all settings to 5Ghz.
After you do that, click on Power Management. Then disable the option that allows Windows 10 to turn off the wireless adapter to save power.
Conclusion
To sum up, if your computer is equipped with an Intel wireless adapter and you can’t go online, install the latest driver updates and tweak your channel settings. If you’re experiencing this problem on a Surface Device, manually download the latest updates from Microsoft.
We hope this guide helped you to solve this problem. Do share your feedback in the comments below.
Xtal says
December 2, 2022 and Hard Reset worked….Thank you Internet People.
Tarryn Sampson says
This worked! Thank you!
Chong Hong says
Tried almost everything but problem recurred. Finally discovered my HP laptop got very hot during heavy internet traffic. Bought a wooden stand to elevate the laptop making sure there the ventilation openings were not obstructed. In addition use a stand fan to blow away the heat. Problem solved!
Alan Willis says
I tried everything and the only thing that works for me is setting the 802.11a/b/g Wireless Mode to “1. 5GHz 802.11a”. Which is only a problem when I need to access a 2.4GHz network.
Heidi says
I purchased the Windows Surface Pro in February and every single month, towards the end of the month, I turn my laptop on to no wi-fi and no networks at all. I do all of the steps listed above and most of the time it works rather quickly. (THANK YOU!!) However, a couple of times I have tried every single step, different combinations of the steps together, and re-started several times and it is not a quick fix. Eventually I get it but it takes days of trying the steps back and forth.
Do we know if there will be an update to this driver anytime soon? or a windows update to fix this issue?
Jordan says
Thank you for the help and god bless
Wendi says
Hard reset worked for me as well.
Thank you!!!
Ahmad-sprite says
hard reset worked for me too!! thank you very much! UX325EA
i try all the way but nothing worked for me
Peter says
Yep, hard shutdown worked for me too.
Specifically the two-button shutdown (hold power and up-volume for 15 seconds).
MichaelY says
Dell G15 5510 user here.
Went through the ususal cycle. Full updates. Update to latest driver. All no luck
What fixed it for me was the hard reset.
1. Power adapter OUT
2. Long press on power key until shutdown
3. Wait around 2 minutes
4. Power up
Note: did NOT pull the battery out (its an internal fixed battery)
Thanks internet.
seza says
thank you guys. hard reset is the way to go. finally fixed the zenbook flip ux563 wi=fi.
Sue Fox says
Surface Pro 7 – changed the channel and all is well!
Thuvee Ela says
THANK YOU DINESH for his comment on March 14, 2022 at 2:37 pm
My intel wifi 6 stopped working.
I tried all popular options to fix the issue.
Nothing worked – I then hard reset my razer blade pc and had to install all my programs again (took hours).
Finally it worked and then a week later it stopped working again.
I figured out what worked for my 2021 Razer Blade 15 Base model PC.
I updated the BIOS Fimrware using the razer blade updater tool you can find on their site.
Next I tried what dinesh said about modifying the network options.
Once I switched to 802GHZ with a/C it worked perfect again!
Thank you.
KO says
Yes! Thanks to all the comments. Hard reset worked. May need to do it a few times but it did. If you also messed around with the previous settings, bring them back to what they were. Then, do the hard reset.
Dinesh says
i was facing this problem from last 2 years but nothing worked so instantly , microsoft surface team had made me format my laptop many times they even dont have the idea how to fix this. But today from this post i have finally find a instant solution which even resetting system was not able to fix
Change Wireless Mode Settings
This problem may have something to do with the device using dual-band. Changing the wireless settings may fix it. Follow the instructions below and check the results.
Launch the Device Manager and go to Network adapters.
Then right-click on your wireless card and select Properties.
Select the Advanced tab and change the wireless mode settings from 802.11a/b/g to 1. 5Ghz 802.11a.
Thanks for this post , solved the problem in 10 seconds
Zara Kamruddin says
The (power) hard reset worked!!! Wow, I thought I was going to be out $$$ replacing something with an expired warranty.
Tricia says
BOOOO – I was hoping the hard reset worked for me but it didn’t fix my problem. I have a Dell Inspiron 7300 and have been on the phone with Dell all day and they couldn’t fix the problem. I tried all above and even a hard reset and it is still giving me an error message. When you say “hard reset”, is it simply holding down the power button and then waiting a bit and turning it back on? PLEASE HELP! I either have to go to geek squad or buy a new laptop at this point. I just had to take a vacation day at work because I am remote and can’t do a damn thing.
Paige says
So my surface laptop went down after a windows 10 update. I spent hours searching for a solution. uninstalled and reinstalled the driver. Took into Geek Squad, spoke with a Microsoft technician who could not help, but informed me that my warranty had just expired but that I could purchased another surface laptop for approximately $600.00. Then I discovered this post and the hard reset immediately fixed the problem. I was in a complete panic because I’m in week three of my new class. Hard reset is the answer!!
Maren Lemmo says
That is crazy. I tried everything listed here. Hard reset. Boom, works. THANK YOU INTERNET PEOPLE!
raytron says
I have a pretty new Razer Blade 13 and overnight this issue just popped up. Spent 2 hours manically trying to see why this is the only device on my network that has an issue, and why the network adapter was just in a permanent error state even after deleting it and drivers from my computer and re-isntalling via the intel appliication. Holding down the power button until the computer was definitely off, then restarting it automatically fixed the problem So I can still confirm that still, sadly, in 2022 that this is the only fix.
Suz says
Nothing in the article worked but tried the hard reset (unplug and hold down on/off button for 30 seconds) and wifi is back – thank you!
Jcb says
Omg, after 4 hours of trying all the troubleshooting fixes and attempting to redownload software and drivers via hotspot off my phone, I almost smashed my surface 7 pro. Read these comments, thank you!!! Unplug the power cord and do the hard reset, it worked!
Satish says
Wow! Seriously! Nothing worked, but, the hard reset option. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers a zillion times and did network reset as well.
Thanks to the hard reset trick!!
Brianna says
THANK YOU!!! I don’t know how I even found this link but NOTHING has worked until I found these comments about holding down the power button! Can’t thank you all enough, Microsoft and every other help thread did nothing and was causing so much frustration. I can’t tell you how much relief this gave me!
Mamdouh Othman says
Thanks so much for your kind and brillent solution.. HARD RESET is the One <3
I was going crazy for that issue which happened last week and I tried all the solutions without any success, and the problem was resolved but I did not know why?!..
Today I face the same issue, tried the same solutions and no succes at all, then I came to this page by coincidence and found the Hint of Hard reset, then it worked (Y) :D
I relaize that the first time I had done a hard reset but I was not aware that this will resolve the issue. That is why it worked the first time :)
Thanks again for your HARD RESET HINT.. BOOM!
N.B: I have a HP probook 450 G7 laptop (Company laptop)
Luisa says
Sure enough, hard reset is the way to go. I needed to change a setting on my pc first, as the power button was currently only sending my computer to sleep. But once done, it worked. I tried everything in the article and nothing. Hard reset, boom. Anyone found out if they have to keep doing this or if it’s probably gone now?
I have an asus 325EA
Anna Buehl says
Hard reset…. genius! I spent so much time trying to manually update drivers… ugh! Hard rest and boom it was fixed!
Thank You!!
Garrett says
RAZER 15 Advanced 2021
Uninstall, scan for changes, update BIOS, update WIN11, revert WIN10, manual dl driver, RAZER tech support…all for naught….on the edge of reset.
Hard Reset…BOOM!!
Thank you.
Oliver Banks says
Hard Reset – Thank you so much. Lifesaver.
Surface laptop 3 Windows 11
Bill says
Just echoing what Matt and many others have said:
(1) The hard reset is your solution. Hold down the power button until the computer shuts off. Restart. Boom — fixed.
(2) It is infuriating and ridiculous that this fix is not mentioned anywhere in Microsoft’s “support” for my Surface laptop. I generally loathe the smugness of Apple users and their “it just works” boast, but this is what they’re talking about. Microsoft has been this way from day one. It will never change.
Anna says
It’s absolutely amazing but the hard reset was the only thing that worked for my Surface Laptop 3 as well! It’s like magic and I can’t believe Microsoft doesn’t provide a “normal” solution that works. Thank you so much, all of you who suggested the hard reset. I wouldn’t think of that trick myself.
Kalam says
God Comment section
Thank you all for suggesting the hard reset BOOM
I have been trying fix this problem for 3 hours. And my brain hurts
Thank you all
John says
Yes, the hard reset solves it (Asus ROG Strix G15)! I had to enter the router password again, but then it was Ok.
Jane says
Another ‘YES’ vote for HARD RESET! So glad I read the comment section. Ignore all other instructions!!
Matt says
Hard Reset. Full Stop. There is your solution.
I have the Surface Laptop 3, which I’ve had for over a year during which time I have not had a single issue while running on Windows 10. Today (Nov. 11 2021), I was prompted to update to Windows 11, which I did.
Following the update, the computer restarted and I immediately ran into issues with the wireless network adapter that prevented the computer from connecting to the internet via WiFi – it was almost as if there was no WiFi functionality at all…..3.5 hours later following:
– Countless troubleshooting steps that solved absolutely nothing,
– Uninstalling, updating, and downloading multiple driver and firmware updates from both Microsoft and Intel. Still no solution.
– Removed Windows 11, reverted back to Windows 10. Issue still remained.
Now I am at the point where frisbeeing my laptop off my balcony seemed like a reasonable solution, and then I stumbled across this thread and saw the comments about doing a hard reset Boom, problem solved everything is back to how it was before.
Now my only question is why is doing a hard reset not mentioned in a single one of Microsoft or Intel’s troubleshooting steps? Are they trying to give everyone aneurisms? So much frustration, so much wasted time, and all along the solution was only 30-seconds and a button away…. What a joke!
tatu gabriel says
Hard reset work for my Asus Zenbook ux325e
Marky says
Omg! I just came across this page. I own a Asus Rog G17. I had some wifi disconnections within the last 2 to 3 months but with the windows network reset it mostly fixed itself. But today ni chance. Under Hardware manager it also showed under the wifi adapter error code 10 or code 43. I’ve tried everything in the book. Reinstalling the driver. Activating and deactivating. Downloading manually the driver etc. I even now rolled back my OS. I am also on Windows 11 already. Just a couple of minutes ago i found this page via my phone. Desperately i was imagining already to pack everything up and claiming it with Asus. And now i tried that simple “hard reset”,like some people already commented on here. I didnt even believed this would work. I really thought my intel wifi ax 201 160mhz adapter is fried. Nope! The hard reset worked like charm. After hours of teIng and shi*t… I hope the next peraon see this… Thank you for the tip!
Jasmine L Stuart says
I am so grateful, I followed every step so I don’t know what exactly fixed it. Thank you so much for your guidance! My head hurts, and I have work to submit.
Reuben says
Holy cow…. how I wish I had found this fix 2.5 hours ago. HARD RESET POWER and bang….. I;m back online. Tried tweaking settings, re-installing drivers. NOTHING.
How I wish I had read comments before.
Oh how stupid I feel now after over 2 hours of faf!
Seriously…. try a hard reset. Hold down the power for 30secs.
You’ll thank me later
Mark says
I am using rog g15 series.
I followed the instruction of unplugging the power plug and hard reset the laptop.
It worked.
Thank you.
Laimonas says
Only hard restart helped. Something mush have changed in some settings or values after hard restart so it would be interesting to know what it was and maybe there is a way to solve this without a hard restart.
Shaheer Muhammad says
Like a previous comment. Im just gonna repost as it honestly made me cry out of joy after HOURS of annoyance
So What worked for me on a Dell Inspiron laptop, with this specific WiFi adapter, was a hard reset (after HOURS of tinkering with settings, reinstalling drivers, rolling back updates, etc.).
Turn Laptop on. Unplug power. Hold down power button for 30 seconds/until power turns off. Turn the power back on.
Like a miracle, it’s working again. Hope this lasts, and hope this helps somebody else.
Nag says
hi people, mine is also HP Laptop lost the wifi functionality after the update.
1. tried the troubleshoot — no use
2. Then used the below link along with all the updates from windows
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html
3. Uninstalled and used the above link to auto install the drivers
4 Changed the settings in advanced options to 1. 5 GHz only
5 Unplug power and “force shutdown” the computer by holding it for few secs
6. Start the comp —- bang bang my wifi is back as of now
7. Struggled all this for 3hrs as my comp has no ethernet port. used mobile USB connection as data tethering.
hope this helps for others
Eric Bliss says
I have the issue on a hp soectre–it appeared right after installing a bios update. I swear companies just want to create problems we have to pay to solve. It’s criminal. No fixes here have worked.
Dave says
Unfortunately, I am still unable to get WiFi to start after trying these possible fixes. I have attempted all the other well known fixes: uninstalling and reinstalling driver, resetting network, updating all software, etc. I have a 2021 HP ENVY 15 x360 notebook and I see comments from other HP users who were also unable to resolve the issue. My laptop is still under warranty but HP told me I have to pay for a premium package for service or repair to non hardware issue. Trying to avoid that. Any and all information about to resolve this issue would be greatly appreciated.
Chris says
What worked for me on a Dell Inspiron laptop, with this specific WiFi adapter, was a hard reset (after HOURS of tinkering with settings, reinstalling drivers, rolling back updates, etc.).
Turn Laptop on. Unplug power. Hold down power button for 30 seconds/until power turns off. Turn the power back on.
Like a miracle, it’s working again. Hope this lasts, and hope this helps somebody else.
Sandra says
After trying everything I found online
I came across this page
I changed the channel and fixed it!
Thank you so much
Helping hand says
The uninstalling and restarting worked for mee
Leo says
I just recently bought a new laptop with an Intel Wifi 6E AX210 card. Connecting to my home’s 2.4Ghz network is fine with no issues, however connecting to the 5Ghz wifi the screen flickers. The flickering becomes worse when downloading/updating softwares.
Specifications:
Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model (2021)
Intel Wifi 6E AX210
Windows 10 Home
11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H
Nvidia RTX 3070 Laptop
16 GB RAM
Issue Details – for 5Ghz wifi issues:
Screen flickers when connected to 5Ghz wifi.
Everything is fine when connected to 2.4Ghz wifi.
Solutions tried, to no avail:
Tried updating the drivers to the latest ones.
Gab C says
This was AMAZINGLY helpful!
Thank you for saving the day!!!!’
God bless you!
Bill V says
I have this issue. Lenovo ThinkPad P17 Gen 1 i9. I did this (more than once) to fix it. But again, it seems to be only temporary….
Forget the network;
Go To saved networks “Networks > WiFi > Manage Known Networks”
Clear the network involved.
re-add the network manually.
Try connecting again.
If not try this all with ‘Random MAC’.
This seems to reset the ‘Memory’ of how to connect to this network and allows me to connect once again.
Again, it’s not perfect. It sucks because the problem re-appears under certain circumstances.
On this machine if I go into the BIOS and disable or forget connecting to the network WiFi then do the above I am able to reconnect.
Yes, the BIOS can connect to a WiFi network. New to me and I am an old-hat. (since 1984 give or take)
So it appears to be BIOS settings as well as Windows settings causing this.
Still working to completely isolate the issue but at least I can bring the connection back in a few miunutes of work.
Pam says
I have a Surface Laptop 3 and without having internet how do I do an update. The Surface doesn’t have a place to plug in for wired connection. I tried to hotspot it but it won’t let me. What do I do to fix this issue
Dana says
I did all of these steps several times, plus a complete factory restore, and no luck. Somehow it looks like something got deleted with my CC Cleaner, and no matter what I do or download or reinstall, it just won’t work. Thanks anyways, though. Keep up the good work.
Joshua McCarty says
Shelley. I have an HP Spectre too and Im having the same issue. It just started. Funny how a week after my warranty expires, this happens.
shelley otero says
This did not help. Using HP Spectre x360. The system does not have the “Power Management” options listed in “Change Wireless Mode Settings”. Made these changes directly in the system Power Management section but no changes, still the adapter cannot start (Code 10).
Pat says
Whew!!thanks so much!!!
Richard Lockridge says
Yes! Unfortunately, I did not find your information until after resetting my laptop per HP support recommendations. Oh well! Live & Learn! Thanks again!