I have a Windows 11 desktop with an MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI motherboard and a MediaTek/AMD RZ616 Wi-Fi 6E 160MHz adapter. The PC intermittently loses internet access even though my phone and other devices on the same Wi-Fi continue working normally. Sometimes it works for hours, while other times the problem appears shortly after startup. I initially suspected games such as THE FINALS or Marvel Rivals because launching them often coincided with Chrome and Discord disconnecting, but the issue also occurs when no game is running.
During the failure, websites commonly show DNS resolution, ERR_CONNECTION_RESET, or similar errors. Discord and games may disconnect, and Windows sometimes reports "No internet, secured." In some cases, an online multiplayer game continues working while Chrome and Discord stop responding. The connection occasionally recovers after a few minutes, but not always.
I have monitored pings to my router, 1.1.1.1, and google.com. During the issue, I have seen latency spikes and occasional timeouts even when pinging the local gateway, suggesting this may involve the Wi-Fi connection itself rather than DNS alone.
So far I have restarted the PC and router, restored DNS to automatic, flushed DNS, reset Winsock and TCP/IP, renewed the IP address, updated the RZ616 driver from 3.5.0.1380 to 3.6.0.1425, checked Wi-Fi power-management settings, and disabled IPv6. Disabling IPv6 seemed to help immediately once, but the problem returned about 24 hours later. I cannot currently test the PC over Ethernet.
Could the RZ616/MT7922 adapter be unstable or failing, or should I investigate router settings and Windows configuration first?
2 Answers
The adapter could be the problem, especially since you are seeing packet loss to the local gateway rather than only DNS failures. If possible, test with a different Wi-Fi adapter or a temporary Ethernet connection. That comparison would quickly show whether the onboard RZ616 is the source.
Try disabling band steering on the router, or configure the Wi-Fi adapter to prefer the 5 GHz band instead of allowing it to switch between bands. Roaming or band changes can sometimes cause intermittent drops with certain drivers and access points.
I’ll try setting 5 GHz as the preferred band first. Thanks!