Hi everyone,
I’m having an intermittent Wi-Fi issue with my Framework Laptop 13 Intel 12th gen (i5-1240P) that started after I replaced both the screen and the main battery. Since that repair, the Wi-Fi sometimes works fine at boot, but other times it doesn’t show up at all. Even when it does, it can drop randomly during use. When it happens, the system becomes sluggish — one CPU core stays stuck at 100%, though the laptop doesn’t freeze completely.
Somewhat recently (a month prior) I carefully reglued the small antenna cable holders near the Wi-Fi area using a bit of cyanoacrylate glue to keep the cables in place. After noticing the Wi-Fi issues, I double-checked the module and antenna connections. Everything looks fine physically — the card is seated properly, the connectors are tight, and there’s no visible residue on or inside the slot. The problem doesn’t seem to react to movement or pressure either.
I’m wondering if the glue could have caused a grounding or electrical issue near the Wi-Fi slot, or if the M.2 connector itself is starting to fail intermittently. Has anyone seen similar Wi-Fi dropouts or CPU spikes after doing a display or battery replacement on a Framework 13?
The CA glue seems really unlikely to have any effect on the cables.
This sounds like a software issue. What OS are you running? I know on Linux I had some issues with my 11th/12th-gen Intel machines on earlier kernels but I thought that was resolved in recent kernels?
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That was also my thinking but this is the only operation close to the wifi card so I don’t know.
The pins of the M2 connector look fine and unobstructed and so does the wifi card (intel ax210)
I am running Fedora 43
I managed to launch a nmcli device status when it happens but it errors out
I’ve also been having issues with wifi dropping out. I’m on a Framework 13”, using 12 generation Intel chip. I previously was using the AX210, and was having the same issues where the wifi would drop out. Tried switching out to the AX211, but still experienced wifi dropout.
Possibly related thread: [TRACKING] WIFI Network adapter disappearing (when physically moving laptop?) - #28 by Loell_Framework
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I also have a fw13 intel 12th gen, I had forgotten to mention it the initial message
The fact that it’s dropping randomly and is sensitive to opening and repositioning makes me think the card is not the issue but the motherboard connector is…
I haven’t been able to put that card in another computer and was wondering whether to get my hands on another one to see if it solved the issue but after reading your comment, it seems pretty clear is a connector/motherboard defect
I’m having this same issue in a Framework 13 AMD Zen 4 machine, and am very convinced that it’s a problem with the wi-fi adapter not being seated well in the motherboard socket. I can temporarily resolve the issue by either opening the laptop to reseat the card, or by giving the laptop chassis a firm tap next to where the card is. If anyone has had any luck getting the card more permanently seated, I’d love to hear your method for it.
It’s just that there is a screw holding the card (at least in my model but I have yet to a laptop wifi card not held with a screw) so it can’t just be poorly seated. There is definitely something abnormal going to if the card being recognized depends on a firm tap.
Couldn’t it be that wifi card holder has defective soldering which sometimes makes contact and sometimes doesn’t ?
If you are on Linux, you can find out information about your wifi card with iw
You can do iw dev to find out the interface name for the wifi card. On my Framework 13 with Ryzen Ai 7 350, the Wi-Fi card interface name is wlp192s0. Using this, you can find out information about the link with iw dev wlp192s0 link.
Your should also check dmesg and journalctl -r -b whenever the Wi-Fi card disappears to see if there are any messages reported.
Thanks but I checked already and when the card is not there, the card is just not there (so it doesn’t show up with iw dev or nmcli dev wifi)
The fact that one of my threads becomes 100% busy (almost bring the laptop to crawl) also tells me that the kernel must be spinlooping on finding that device again
Did you check dmesg for any errors? Furthermore, does this issue only occur on Linux?
I would assume that if the card were to disconnect from the computer during runtime, Linux would through a PCIe and USB message in dmesg
After contacting support, they recommended loading a live disk of Fedora to see if the problem happens on there as well (to try to identify if it’s a driver issue or not).
I have observed the wifi dropping entirely on Fedora 43 as well. Wifi connects and works for a while, then at some point it drops entirely. All wifi signals are gone.