I've read through a lot of previous discussions about the random (~every hour or so) disconnects or dropping of wireless signals when using this card. I'm using the PCI-E desktop card in a newly (literally a few days ago) custom build PC. I'm using an Apple Airport Extreme router with a 5GHz connection on 802.11n. I originally had the most up to date drivers (ver. 16.7.0)
The issue: Randomly while surfing the internet or in an online game, the connection will drop. On the Windows 8.1 taskbar, the wireless signal will still be there but there is a yellow triangle warning sign over the signal strength. When I look at the connection list, my wireless connection says "limited" and no pages can load, there is no connection. I have to disconnect from the wireless connection and reconnect. After I do this, the connection starts to work again. It is extremely frustrating because sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. Actually, just now as I was typing this it happened again.
I've tried many different "solutions". Customer technical support (when I called Intel), had me uninstall the ProSet/Wireless program, then uninstall the driver. The card then reverted to an older version driver (ver. 16.5.3). It seemed to be working for a few hours and then the drops and disconnects came back again in the same fashion. Every 30-60 min. or so.
I am confident that this is a card/driver issue. This type of drop doesn't happen on other laptops in the house nor my cell phone. When the connection goes to limited (not working) on the PC, all other devices still work perfectly fine.
I've tried nearly everything I've read online. Changing the 802.11n channel width from Auto to 20 MHz only. Disabling Bluetooth AMP (even though this card doesn't support bluetooth... makes no sense). Changing the Preferred Band to "prefer 5.2GHz band". Reducing Roaming Agressiveness from Medium to Lowest. Changing the Wireless Mode from 802.11a/b/g to 802.11b/g. Unchecking the box in the Power Management Tab to NOT allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
I know of the option to disable 802.11n mode, but that's the whole point I bought this card which was to take advantage of my router's 802.11n connectivity as well as the dual band 5GHz connection.
I understand that the new update to Windows 8.1 is causing some difficulties for Intel to update the drivers. But it is already March 2014. When are you going to release a driver that finally works. I don't know if others are still having this problem, but this is getting ridiculous. You can't sell a product that is advertised to work with 802.11n and dual band, and then it sporadically stops working randomly. Don't try to convince me that this is because of interference or other hardware problems. This PC is the only one connected to the 5GHz band, all other devices are on the 2GHz band. The router connection is even extended with an additional Apple Airport Express. My motherboard is a brand new ASUS ROG board. Every component is brand new and works great. Everything except for this pci wireless adapter that even with the most up to date drivers, continues to drop connections repeatedly and randomly.
Intel, if you're working on a fix, please tell us, and please let us know the timeframe so we can decide whether to return your faulty product or make do for now and wait until your drivers are released.