Why certain intel WLAN cards are not able to connect to a 802.11ax SSID?

cecil_dsilvia — Wed, 31 May 2023 19:00:00 GMT

Certain 802.11ac WLAN cards will not be above to connect / view the SSID being broadcasted from a 802.11ax AP. This is due to a known issue on the card driver.
Affected WIFI cards:

Intel® Wireless-AC 9560
Intel® Wireless-AC 9462
Intel® Wireless-AC 9461
Intel® Wireless-AC 9260
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168
Intel® Wireless 7265 Family (Rev.D)
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
Intel® Wireless 7265 Family (Rev.C)
Intel® Wireless 7260 Family
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160

The work around to test if this is the issue you are facing is to disable 802.11ax on the WLAN interfaces of the AP. The Following commands can be used to disable 802.11ax on the AP.

# set mode wifi0 11ng
# set mode wifi1 11ac

If the client is able to connect after executing the above commands then, please upgrade the client driver to the following versions:

Driver versions for Windows 10	Supported Adapters
20.70.0.5 and newer	Intel® Wireless-AC 9560 Intel® Wireless-AC 9462 Intel® Wireless-AC 9461 Intel® Wireless-AC 9260 Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 8260
19.51.14.1 and newer	Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168 Intel® Wireless 7265 Family (Rev.D) Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165
18.33.13.4 and newer1	Intel® Wireless 7265 Family (Rev.C) Intel® Wireless 7260 Family Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160

Turn the radios back to 802.11ax mode by using the following commands after the driver upgrade.

# set mode wifi0 11ahe
# set mode wifi1 11ghe

Reference: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000054799/wireless.html

topic Why certain intel WLAN cards are not able to connect to a 802.11ax SSID? in Access Points - Indoor and Outdoor

Why certain intel WLAN cards are not able to connect to a 802.11ax SSID?