Friday, January 20th 2023
PSA: Intel I226-V 2.5GbE on Raptor Lake Motherboards Has a Connection Drop Issue: No Fix Available
The Intel Ethernet i226-V onboard 2.5 GbE controller appears to have a design flaw that causes the Ethernet connection to drop at random times for a few seconds. The I226-V is the latest version of Intel's cost-effective 2.5 Gbps Ethernet networking chips meant for PC motherboards with chipsets that have integrated MACs (i.e. Intel chipsets). It succeeds the I225-V, which was Intel's first consumer 2.5 GbE PHY. The I225-V was plagued by various issues that caused it to be unstable at 2.5 Gbps (but could be worked around by forcing 1 GbE mode). Many premium Intel 700-series chipset Socket LGA1700 motherboards integrate the new I226-V, which is the I225's successor, as their default onboard 2.5 GbE controller. Some enthusiast-segment motherboards have a second Ethernet controller that's either of a different brand (such as Realtek or Marvell), or a different kind of wired Ethernet (such as 10 GbE).
Since mid-December, users of Intel 700-series chipset motherboards (which debut the I226-V), have been reporting random connections drops to Intel's Support Community, Microsoft, ASUS and Reddit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. These drops are momentary, last a few seconds, and you'll mostly not notice it; however for applications that need an uninterrupted connection (such as online gaming, video conferencing, VPN, Remote Desktop etc.), such a link drop will be noticeable. You can check if you are affected by opening Windows Event Viewer, navigate to "Windows Logs," "System" and search for "e2fnexpress," in particular Event 27 "Intel Ethernet Controller I226-V, Network link is disconnected." and Event 32 "Intel Ethernet Controller I226-V. Network link has been established at 1 Gbps full duplex." We've experienced the issue in our labs. We tried updating to the latest 27.8 drivers from Intel, and used the latest motherboard BIOS, at 1 Gbps speed, but the issue couldn't be fixed reliably. In the end, we just switched over to the motherboard's second network interface, which is not an Intel NIC, and the issue went away. Another option could be to buy a cheap PCI-Express network card or use the board's integrated Wi-Fi. Still, such issues aren't acceptable, especially not from a world-leading manufacturer like Intel, who once was reputed for the quality of its networking equipment. Intel and its motherboard partners need to get on top of this issue.
Update Mar 1st: Intel has issued a Windows workaround and patch for these issues. Let us know if this fixes it for you.
Update Mar 4th: User @lovingbenji reports that on his system this new driver version does not fix the disconnect issue.
Since mid-December, users of Intel 700-series chipset motherboards (which debut the I226-V), have been reporting random connections drops to Intel's Support Community, Microsoft, ASUS and Reddit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. These drops are momentary, last a few seconds, and you'll mostly not notice it; however for applications that need an uninterrupted connection (such as online gaming, video conferencing, VPN, Remote Desktop etc.), such a link drop will be noticeable. You can check if you are affected by opening Windows Event Viewer, navigate to "Windows Logs," "System" and search for "e2fnexpress," in particular Event 27 "Intel Ethernet Controller I226-V, Network link is disconnected." and Event 32 "Intel Ethernet Controller I226-V. Network link has been established at 1 Gbps full duplex." We've experienced the issue in our labs. We tried updating to the latest 27.8 drivers from Intel, and used the latest motherboard BIOS, at 1 Gbps speed, but the issue couldn't be fixed reliably. In the end, we just switched over to the motherboard's second network interface, which is not an Intel NIC, and the issue went away. Another option could be to buy a cheap PCI-Express network card or use the board's integrated Wi-Fi. Still, such issues aren't acceptable, especially not from a world-leading manufacturer like Intel, who once was reputed for the quality of its networking equipment. Intel and its motherboard partners need to get on top of this issue.
Update Mar 4th: User @lovingbenji reports that on his system this new driver version does not fix the disconnect issue.
207 Comments on PSA: Intel I226-V 2.5GbE on Raptor Lake Motherboards Has a Connection Drop Issue: No Fix Available
My Asus Prime x570 Pro has onboard Intel nic on it.
TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI) also onboard intel nic.
Intel Celeron J6413 Powered 6x i226 2.5GbE Fanless Firewall Review (servethehome.com)
New Fanless 4x 2.5GbE Intel N5105 i226-V Firewall Tested (servethehome.com)
But I think Intel and their money grabbing has been biting them hand over fist for the last 3+ years and now they are scrambling to try and release things that compete/keep up with competitors and now we are seeing Intel not as the indisputable chip giant they thought themselves during the early Core years.
I intend to upgrade to 2.5gbe and not look higher until there is a significant need.
Got anything named gigabyte in there :laugh:
Yeah all my builds are Intel and not one has nic issues
Might be ddr4 and or 5 high memory frequencies causing the new nic to drop off.
i225 has plenty of them already. Not good. I have an i225 that has just... disappeared. Poof, its nowhere to be seen in software.
on a x570s aero G rev1.1 with newer amd wifi, but used an old lan chip.
pathetic. I guessed its be rev3. Guess I was wrong
file:///E:/5700X/Downloads/621661-Intel%C2%AE%20Ethernet%20Controller%20I225-Public%20External%20Specification%20Update-v1.2.pdf
wow 2 years old
take your POS back intel!! Way to gimp my mobo.
Guess I will have to go back to your 1000CT card from 20 years ago.
www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19779/intel-killer-performance-suite.html
The system isn't built yet. All I've done is install the CPU, I'm going to hold off before putting it in the case and setting up the cooler since it might have to go back.
Comes after a kernel issue in windows. always the same. some kernel critical and then puff the same as picture on the news.
i have check others and comes also on others platforms as well I sit and dig the events and is present
Gigabyte X570Si, they still used rev 1.0?