WiFi keeps dropping on Windows 11 — 3 fixes that worked for me

1. Your WiFi adapter's power saving mode is killing the connection

This is the number one culprit, and it's stupidly simple. Windows 11, by default, tells your WiFi adapter to go into a low-power state when it thinks you're not using the network hard enough. Problem is, it misjudges all the time — especially if you're on a VPN or streaming video. I've seen this on Dell XPS 15s, Lenovo ThinkPads, and even custom desktops with Intel AX210 cards.

Here's how to kill that setting:

1. Press Win + X and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Network adapters.
3. Right-click your WiFi adapter (usually "Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201" or "Realtek RTL8822CE") and choose Properties.
4. Go to the Power Management tab.
5. Uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
6. Click OK. Reboot.

This alone fixes the issue for about 70% of people. But if you're still dropping after a reboot, move to the next fix.

2. Your WiFi driver is old, buggy, or Microsoft's generic one

Windows Update sometimes pushes a "driver" that's really just a placeholder — it works, but badly. You need the actual driver from your adapter manufacturer. Intel and Realtek both have their own updater tools, and they're free.

Skip the Device Manager "update driver" button — it usually finds nothing. Go straight to the source:

• Intel users: Download the Intel Driver & Support Assistant. It'll scan and offer the latest WiFi driver. On a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10, I saw version 22.200.0.6 fix a dropout that had been happening every 3 minutes.
• Realtek users: Check your laptop manufacturer's support site. Lenovo, HP, and Dell all have their own driver repos. Don't use Realtek's generic download — it often lacks the customized power profiles.
• Killer Networking users: Uninstall the whole Killer suite first (it's known to interfere), then install the plain Intel driver from Intel's site.

After installing, reboot. If the drops persist, try rolling back to an older driver — sometimes a new version introduces bugs. I've had to roll back Intel drivers twice in the last year.

3. Your router's channel width or band steering is causing chaos

This one's less common, but it's a killer when it hits. Windows 11 is picky about 5 GHz channel widths. If your router is set to 80 MHz or 160 MHz on a crowded channel, the adapter can lose sync and drop the connection. Also, "band steering" (where the router pushes devices to the less congested band) sometimes confuses Windows 11's roaming aggressiveness.

Try this:

1. Log into your router (usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1).
2. Set the 5 GHz channel width to 40 MHz instead of 80 or 160. Yes, you lose speed, but you gain stability. I've seen this fix dropouts on Netgear Nighthawk and TP-Link Archer routers.
3. Disable band steering if you can — give separate SSIDs for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Name them something like "MyWiFi_5G" and "MyWiFi_24". Connect only to the 5 GHz one.
4. Also check your router's DTIM interval — set it to 3 (not 1). This helps with power-saving handshake issues.

If you're still dropping after all this, you might have a hardware fault. But I'd bet my lunch that one of these three will get you stable.

Quick fix reference

I'd start with the power saving fix. It's quick, free, and fixes the majority of these disconnects. If you're still stuck, drop a comment with your adapter model and router make — we'll figure it out.