My boyfriend has a prebuilt CyberPowerPC that has always had unreliable Wi-Fi. We installed an Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 PCIe adapter, and it works well, consistently reaching around 1200+ Mbps compared with the old adapter's 40–100 Mbps. However, after every restart, Windows reinstalls the drivers for the original Realtek 8821CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac adapter, and the connection problems return. Disabling it in Device Manager has not helped, while uninstalling its drivers fixes the issue until the next reboot. We could not find an option to disable it in the Gigabyte BIOS, and the original adapter does not appear easy to remove. Is there a permanent way to disable or remove the old adapter so Windows stops reinstalling its drivers?
4 Answers
Before removing anything, verify which adapter is which in Device Manager and check whether the original device is actually onboard. Disabling the device should normally stop Windows from using it, but if both adapters are active, Windows or the network configuration may still be choosing the wrong one. You can also remove the old device and select the option to delete its driver package, then prevent automatic driver installation through Windows settings or Group Policy.
Check the BIOS Advanced settings carefully. Gigabyte boards sometimes hide onboard wireless controls in a sub-menu rather than displaying them on the main page. If the adapter is integrated through an M.2 slot, there may be a setting specifically for the onboard WLAN device.
If the old device is genuinely a PCIe network adapter, it should be removable. Some prebuilt systems use a small M.2 wireless module or an adapter mounted directly to the motherboard, so it may not look like a traditional full-size card. Removing that module would prevent Windows from detecting it and reinstalling the driver. If you are not comfortable opening the system, have a repair shop identify and remove it.
Make sure the original adapter has its antenna connected if it is still being used. Some motherboard Wi-Fi modules perform very poorly without the included antenna, and the system may keep preferring that weaker connection. Still, the cleanest permanent fix is to disable it in BIOS or physically remove the module if it is separate from the motherboard.
That matches what we are seeing: deleting the old driver stops the problem, but Windows brings it back after restarting. The new adapter itself works properly, so we are trying to keep the old one from being detected or selected.