Mainboards with an Intel Socket 1700 (LGA1700) and a 700 series chipset, such as the Intel Z790, H770 and B760, are more and more often affected by a network error caused by a problem with the 2.5Gbps Ethernet Controller Intel I226-V. The direct predecessor already had an extremely bad reputation.
Intel Ethernet Controller I226-V loses connection
Like the TechPowerUp! first reported, complaints about network problems in the form of disconnections with mainboards that have an Intel Ethernet controller I226-V integrated. Problems have been reported in Intel's in-house support community, the Microsoft forum, various Reddit posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and Asus' official customer service, among others. The I226-V was always used.
The problem with the disconnects when using a socket 1700 motherboard with Intel Ethernet controller V226V usually appears as follows:
- The disconnects are transient, usually lasting only a few seconds and often go unnoticed by the user.
- For applications that require an uninterrupted connection, such as online gaming, video conferencing, clients, remote desktops and VPN Connections, however, such a disconnection is noticeable.
- In the Windows Event Viewer, the disconnection is logged as Event 27 or Event 32 (“Intel Ethernet Controller I226-V, Network link is disconnected”).
The TechPowerUp! website was able to reproduce and validate the problem on the relevant hardware. Even a manual change to the forced 1 Gb/s mode of the controller designed for 2.5 Gb/s could not provide the corresponding remedy. After switching to a second network controller, the connection was stable.
The direct predecessor, the Intel I225-V, which is also designed for network connections with 2.5 Gb/s, repeatedly had to struggle with these problems and could often only be operated stably with 1 Gb/s.
So far, no solution is in sight
On high-end boards for Intel Raptor Lake and Intel Alder Lake, which is often equipped with two network controllers, affected users can temporarily switch to the slower 1 GB/s connection.
All other users only have one choice to wait for new drivers from Intel or BIOS updates from mainboard manufacturers. However, it is quite questionable whether the problem can be solved in this way.
The Intel I225-V Ethernet controller is still affected by the problem and, depending on the area of application, has to be in the forced 1 Gb/s duplex mode.
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