My WiFi disconnects from the internet completely when playing steam games...

[Ser Rimmer]

As the title says, a really infuriating issue whenever I load up a steam game my WiFi disconnects from the internet completely. When using an Ethernet cable this does not happen and I can continue to connect to the internet as normal but this is only when using WiFi. I know the simple solution is to use hard wired but that isn't really doable in my house as I don't have a port installed in this room so need to use a 10m long cable. The entire internet disconnects and will not reconnect until I close steam entirely through the task mgr. I like to think I'm tech savvy having done my time in Networking and IT Support but this is really baffling me.

I've tried a few things to start:

I've reset the network stack while the game was booted and this didn't work even after a reboot.

Disabled IPv6 on my adapter settings for the Network card.

I've uninstalled the Network card on Device Manager and removed the drivers and re-installed them from the intel website which is supposedly the best drivers for this device. My new Network card is an Sus PCE-AX3000. This did not happen last night and I was able to play as normal while connected through WiFi, so it has worked since installing this card and I've made no changes to the system this morning.

I've done the basic reboot my router, let it power cycle and left it unplugged for a while to clear then tried again.

I've ran the Windows troubleshooter while the internet was disconnected which told me '''Wifi 3" doesn't have a valid IP Configuration' but was unable to resolve the incident.

I've checked the fw settings and can see that both Steam and the respective games are allowed through on the fw.

Loading up a game through a different client such as BattleNet seems to work and doesn't disconnect me from the internet.

Reloaded the PC.

Ensured that on my Network Card settings on the Device Manager that the option to turn off if the device needs power is not selected.

Ensured that my PC Power mode is maximum so doesn't seem to be a power issue with the device.

I can't see any settings within Steam it's self to suggest that anything networky is limited.

I'm using Windows 11 as well.

I rebuilt my PC the other day and installed a new Network card which is an Asus PCE-AX3000, but as I said this was working last night just fine without these issues. So I'm really really confused and would really appreciate any help or ideas.

[C1REX]

Not a direct answer but I use a 10m cable from another room as WiFi is not a good option for gaming.
Not only it does cause random lags that may look like an intentional „lag switch” but also in games like Tekken 8, where you have WiFi indicator, people often refuse matches against WiFi players.

[_I_]

could be incorrect driver for the nic
or poor router

if other devices also drop, then its the router that cant keep up

windows always grabs generic drivers that are 'compatible' and work just good enough to get the correct ones

get the mobo chipset, audio, lan/wifi drivers from the mobo mfg site

if its a dedicated wifi card, pci-e m.2, get the driver from the cards mfg site


here is the driver for the asus PCE-AX3000
https://www.asus.com/us/networking-iot-servers/adapters/all-series/pce-ax3000/helpdesk_download?model2Name=PCE-AX3000

[HypersleepyNaputunia]

idea possibly a card setting like
sleep mode, or some setting in wifi card in your computer

[N3tRunn3r]

I would recommend to use 5 GHz only, but it looks like you are too far from that.

Try this:

> check router firmware if it is on latest
> check and re-check ALL and advanced router settings
> if in doubt, do a factory reset of your router
> are all cables to and from your router correctly wired and also stable
> do you gain enough bandwidth from your ISP

is it an old / ancient router? does it meet todays standards?

so, i guess it is an issue with your router or even the wiring of your router ..
maybe it is even a faulty router and you need to RMA it ..


in the past i also had some strange disconnects, when i had used 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. it switched too often channels and even GHz bandwidth as was also conflicting with neighbours WLAN / WiFi channels .. was only causing problems ..

since i do use 5 GHz "only" as well as set it up as a "hidden SSID" , my WLAN connection is heavily stable. more freedom, more stable and un-conflicting channels and bandwidth, but less distance.. you know ..

[_I_]

5ghz is shorter range, but less devices interfere
2.4 has longer range, but many more items use that freq range
bt, cordless phones, lots of 2.4 wireless devices

[MonkehMaster]

maybe bad driver, wrong driver, or its getting too hot?

or could likely be interference? have you tried changing the wireless channel to one less congested or over lapping other channels being used?

also as mentioned by others, 2.4ghz is the same used by cordless phones, which can cause interference, microwaves also cause interference with 2.4ghz.

5ghz is good but, shorter distance, like others mentioned.

in any case, i never use wireless, i only use ethernet as its not prone to the interference issues like wireless, it either works or doesnt, meaning a new cable is required, or issue with the pc's ethernet or router.

[Iron Knights]

Don't use wi-fi for gaming. Only a 10m cable ? Easy, run the setup once and you're done.

[Jammer]

I had same issue with steam deck and had to change my router from 5ghz to 2.4ghz.

Seems odd to have to do this for modern hardware. But this worked for me and not had disconnecting issue thereafter

[76561199559798421]

try using low bandwidth mode its in steam settings.

also check your device manager for any software enabled wifi , i had something like this and had to delete mine and resocket my network card over a wifi glitch error with some downloaded steam game.


some games are just bad , and have some type of Denial of Service protocols not sure what the issue really was, but after deleting the software wifi and physically removing the card and resocketing it, it started to work again.