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
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/11/pell-mell/306312/
Then there's the real estate and zero-effort patent aspects as well, but I won't get started on that.
They don't like competition??
About anything else, no comment.
For Intel(R) I210: Intel loaded at the driver a huge pack of special features and tools at 2013, then decides to end software support of some features, and because of that, all modern drivers they are crippled.
And so I am using the best (year 2013) driver, and not the freshest.
A quick swoop around the web can reveal much more horror stories. Heck, I'm yet to see an intel adapter (in the prosumer class) that has no error event reported, at least in Windows.
I've just ordered Z790 Hero, and I think I have to cancel my order.
No way I'm going to shell out £650 only to troubleshoot this.
I have the network stack disabled in UEFI/BIOS so this might also explain why the system identifies a kind of reverse connection loss on the first boot.
I work in shifts and do not have a perfectly trackable record but looking back the past few days, I can tell that these are exactly the times when I booted up the system. One night, in fact yesterday, when I worked the night shift, I left my computer running over night to download and install the HUGE DCS World flight sim (a 368GB install for me). There was no such error at all. Zero disconnects.
Obviously my memory (brain.exe) and trackable schedule only reaches back so far so I can not be 100% sure if every single one of these events was related to booting up the system but for now it sure looks like it. Hopefully much ado about nothing...
No wonder why Intel NICs are so cheap, they're a piece of shit that Intel should be forced to recall or at least provide a free add-on card that can slot into a PCIe slot to all of their unfortunate users.
My God how far Intel has fallen.
I also have I225-V3 card, but can't get it to work with AMD X570 chipset due to AGESA bugs. It's working with cheap Intel board, but didn't test much to say if there are any drop outs.
It's not the worst chipset I had, though. nForce 4 probably was, which was also paired with AMD CPU.
Also, for anyone interested:
mikrotik.com/product/ccr2004_1g_2xs_pcie
Once upon a time.... second best INTEL networking competitor was 3COM, and its not here anymore.
What other options we have? Realtek ? They will never lead the market, they accepted it, them to be last best choice. :DI226 Launch Date Q2'22, = six months after release = too soon to judge.
Use Conditions: PC/Client/Tablet
My crystal ball this telling me: issue with memory buffers handling, a better driver this setting up, better default values, it will fix it.
Turn Wifi on/off in Bios as far as i can remember.
I had that bug like twice and simply playing with it (turning on/off, deinstalling anything wifi) did bring it back.
For 226:
Since there is no "installation confirmed" button, many intall the driver twice in a row which will let it disappear in the hardware manager(even after a reboot).
Simply install the driver antoher (third) time.
intel/comments/zpgy7j/_/j59hy3a
Can anyone with the issue confirm this ?
That would be enough for me to justify buying z790 board now.