Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A (Driver 12.0.0.1257) on Windows 11 negotiating only 173 Mbps instead of 866 Mbps

Question

Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A (Driver 12.0.0.1257) on Windows 11 negotiating only 173 Mbps instead of 866 Mbps

DANIEL 0

Greetings, everyone.

A few weeks ago, my Wi-Fi connection was working fine on Wi-Fi 5 using driver version 12.0.0.722. Driver version 12.0.0.1257 would only give me around 40 MB/s throughput, so I rolled back to .722 and the issue was resolved. This was on Windows 10

Last week, my PC upgraded itself to Windows 11. Since then, even though nothing else has changed (same router, same distance from the access point, same connection, same device), my link speed has dropped dramatically. The maximum receive rate I can get now is 173.3 Mbps.

At first, I thought it was a driver issue because Windows automatically updated the adapter to version 12.0.0.1257. However, after testing several driver versions (.722, .953, and .1257), the receive rate remains exactly the same.

At one point, I uninstalled and removed all the other OEM driver packages, leaving only one driver installed. After doing that, the adapter suddenly negotiated at 866.7 Mbps again and everything worked perfectly. Unfortunately, after restarting the PC, the adapter failed to start and showed a Code 10 error. I had to restore the system to get it working again.

Since then, I have tried multiple drivers, clean installations, and even forced driver versions manually, but I have not been able to get back to the 866.7 Mbps link rate.

At this point, my main suspect is the Windows 11 upgrade itself, especially because several advanced adapter settings that I used to have access to seem to be missing now.

Has anyone experienced something similar with the Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A adapter on Windows 11?

My laptop is a Lenovo IdeaPad 3 15ALC6.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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2 answers

Answer 1

Alvise Cervellati 6,975 Independent Advisor

Hi Daniel, Welcome in Community

Ok, this is the latest version available on Lenovo support website, now follow these steps for reset completely the network and other stuff:

Press WIN + X and open terminal as admin, now type

netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled

netsh winsock reset

netsh int ip reset

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

ipconfig /flushdns

Restart the system

Also, in your system is installed Killer performance suite of Intel?

Let me know

Elvis

Indra Kusuma 0 Reputation points

2026-11-06T16:49:15.4366667+00:00

Umm... somehow after I follow all those steps above, now everytime I do speed test via Ookla and Google, the result is heavily capped down for both download and upload. Through Ookla speedtest dot net, I can only get proper result if the server is local aka within the country. If I choose any server abroad, the result is capped again. I have checked the same server through my phone and the result is proper.

I have tested downloading stuff from Google Drive and it did give me normal speed (my connection speed is 300 Mbps). The only speed test which still gives me proper result is through Netflix fast dot com.

What's going on here? Did I change anything that I need to revert back or anything? I'm also using the same Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A (driver 12.0.0.722) Windows 10 LTSC. Thank you in advance.
JuliaMarvin 23,875 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-11-06T16:57:01.2266667+00:00

@Indra Kusuma
Please start your own thread. Do not resurrect old threads.

Answer 2

Hi DANIEL,

Since the adapter is connecting at 173 Mbps instead of the expected higher 802.11ac speeds, this is often related to how the wireless connection is being negotiated rather than the internet service itself.

Please feel free to check out Alvise answer first then have a look with my answer

You may want to check the following:

Make sure the PC is connected to the 5 GHz Wi‑Fi network and not the 2.4 GHz band.
In Device Manager > Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A > Properties > Advanced, verify that 802.11ac mode is enabled and the Preferred Band is set to 5 GHz (if available).
Check your router settings and confirm that 802.11ac and 80 MHz channel width are enabled.
If the issue started after installing driver 12.0.0.1257, try the latest Wi‑Fi driver available from your PC manufacturer's support page, as vendor-specific drivers can sometimes provide better compatibility than a generic driver.

If the speed remains capped at 173 Mbps, please share your PC model and router model, as that can help identify whether the limitation is coming from the adapter configuration or the wireless network setup.

I hope this helps point you in the right direction. Let us know what you find, and the community can help with the next steps. Thanks for your effort.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Hendrix-V 20,790 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-23T07:06:21.4066667+00:00

Hi DANIEL,

If you have any further questions or updates regarding this issue, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section. I'd be happy to assist you.
Pablo Rebolledo Muñoz 0 Reputation points

2026-10-27T20:43:43.28+00:00

I have the same problem, i have a laptop surface 3 and the same Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A and i cannot pass the 160 mbp , please is there any way to fix this? also the wifi disconect a lot. thanks in advance