My 2021 ASUS TUF Gaming A15 (FA506NCR) loses the entire Wi-Fi option whenever I start a game, and sometimes even while the laptop is idle. The adapter only comes back after restarting or holding the power button for about 30 seconds. This happened once roughly a year and a half ago, then stopped, but it has now returned daily. I installed the newest networking driver from ASUS and also tried running `netsh winsock reset` and `netsh int ip reset` as administrator, but neither fixed it. Event Viewer shows PCI Express hardware errors and several messages saying that the Realtek 8852BE Wi-Fi 6 adapter is not functioning properly, timed out, or reported a fatal miniport error. What should I try next?
3 Answers
The important events are the ones specifically naming the Realtek 8852BE adapter: the miniport fatal error, the adapter-not-functioning message, and the command timeout. The COM permission, Unified Store, and similar entries are probably unrelated noise. This looks more like the Wi-Fi card or its driver crashing than a Winsock or TCP/IP configuration problem.
Because Event Viewer is reporting PCI Express corrected hardware errors and the adapter is timing out, the wireless card may be failing or losing contact with the system. Shut the laptop down fully, disconnect power, and if you are comfortable opening it, check that the Wi-Fi card and antenna leads are seated correctly. Otherwise, have it serviced or replace the M.2 Wi-Fi card. If a USB Wi-Fi adapter works reliably under the same games, that further points to the internal Realtek card rather than the network itself.
Try a clean driver reinstall rather than only installing the newest package over the existing one. In Device Manager, uninstall the Realtek wireless adapter and select the option to remove its driver, then reboot and install the ASUS-provided driver. If the problem started after a driver or Windows update, test an older ASUS driver too. Also disable the adapter's power-saving option and, in its advanced properties, test a different wireless mode or band temporarily.
Before uninstalling it, download the replacement driver and keep it locally, since the adapter may disappear until the driver is installed again.
That makes sense. I wasn't sure whether the PCI Express messages were connected or just unrelated Windows errors.