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
Look for Intel to fall even farther now that they've cut their R&D budgets. Intel, an American icon; so sad.
Therefore I feel willing, a new topic to be started and me in person as expert to help the community, due trial and error and in depth testing, we might find best settings for I226-V too.
But I need two partners, some one with at least half of my expertise, so these two helpers alone, to test the new settings.
INTEL usually does not make huge mistakes, but many technical solutions they are shared exclusively with us IT certified people.
Home PC computer users they cannot troubleshoot in-depth networking issues.
So, do we have among us two strong brains with partial IT background ? (10 years experience minimum)
Are you still using windows? :)
Any way, any one looking to get at the bottom of the problem, he better visit dedicated networking website, TPU this is for graphic cards.
Just happened again few minutes ago, when I updated Wacom drivers and after restart there was no LAN detected, had to disable/enable again for it to pick it up :/
And the funny thing is, everyone shooting INTEL and not Realtek.
I've disabled the on-board Realtek chip and ordered another Asus XG-C100C 10GbE NIC (this model gave problems in 2019, but a driver update in 2020 cured it). Instead of the RTL8125, I'm using an old Intel I350 dual-port 1.0GbE PCIe server card and it's rock solid during file transfers.
Perhaps the default driver settings for the Realtek RTL8125 are not compatible with my 8-port Netgear Prosafe XS508-M, but this 10GbE switch works fine with a USB3.0 2.5GbE NIC on another desktop PC.
I thought I could save money buying a motherboard with a built-in 2.5GbE NIC, negating the need to buy a more expensive 10GbE NIC, but I was wrong. In future, I'll avoid 2.5GbE NICs and stick with 1.0 and 10GbE.
Now here is my verdict that you are not going to like, your 8-port Netgear Prosafe XS508-M this is technology of 12-2019 .. all seven 10-Gig/Multi-Gig Copper Ports, they are using a buggy firmware, that is not possible to be upgraded at such switches.
The ones aiming to use 2.5GbE NIC they should investigate to get latest revision (if exists) from the brand of their choice, and or recently released in the market of Ethernet Unmanaged Switches.
I did start a special topic so potential buyers of 2.5G Ethernet Unmanaged Switches, them to gain further understanding of how important it is the product release date at such hardware, but it did not attract much of interest.
At the current date TRENDnet has the freshest hardware (freshest firmware) and I am still looking for the second winner.
www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/year-2023-8-port-2-5gbe-unmanaged-switch-looking-for-the-best.303950/
The smart choice this will make the difference.
The XS-508M is stable with three Asus XG-C100C 10GbE NICs, numerous 1.0GbE machines and several USB3.0 2.5GbE Ethernet dongles. It's just the RTL8125 on my new mobo it doesn't like. As mentioned before, I'm replacing the troublesome 2.5GbE RTL8125 with another 10GbE XG-C100C plug in card. That way I can transfer video files at full speed on the LAN, without being limited to 2.5GbE transfer rates.
The single FSP+ fibre output on my XS-508M (upstairs) is connected to a small Mikrotik CRS306-1G-4S-1N switch (downstairs) which feeds the Mellanox cards in three servers, which only see occasional use.
I've worked in very large server rooms and appreciate enterprise gear would be less troublesome, but professional gear can be more power hungry and very noisy, just like the fans in my old HP ML350p Gen8 servers. I monitor the Serve-The-Home web site occasionally for reviews on suitable gear for my ad-hoc home network.
I'd welcome recommendations for refurbished Cisco (or other second hand gear) supporting 10GbE Ethernet plus FSP+ fibre, but I don't really need a sophisticated managed switch or anything with very loud cooling fans.
In order of me staying on topic, I will simply mention information found at INTEL Readme.TXT
Installing Drivers and Intel PROSet
===================================
You must have administrator rights to install or use base drivers or Intel
PROSet. Intel recommends the following procedure for installing drivers:
1) Cancel any Found New Hardware Wizard screens that open.
2) Start the autorun located in your download directory.
3) Click "Install Drivers and Software" and follow the instructions in the
install wizard.
Compatibility Information for Intel PROSet
------------------------------------------
- Intel PROSet and Intel ANS are not supported on Windows 11.
- Intel(R) PROSet for Windows* Device Manager is not supported on Microsoft
Windows Server 2019 (and later) and Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 (and
later). Use Intel(R) PROSet Adapter Configuration Utility instead. The
installer will determine which utility to install based on the operating system
you are running.
-------------------------------------------
The quick conclusion, if you are up to have full control of Intel I226-V / I225 , the selection of the workstation operating system this should be based on compatibility parameters.
With out detailed Intel PROSet, NIC fine tuning this is not possible.
downloadmirror.intel.com/764106/readme_27.8.txt
www.techpowerup.com/305356/intel-releases-windows-workaround-and-patch-for-ethernet-stuttering-and-disconnects