Windows 11 Insider Preview Feature Update (26220.8491) - breaks my wifi

Hi,

I would try going to Task Manager,

Services, stop the Windows Update

Service and then restart your PC.

Build 26220 is now up to .8544 so

hopefully the new update will fix your

issue.

Hi @Albert Gribben, thank you for sharing the connectivity issue you're currently facing after performing a system update. I am responding based on my capabilities and experience in handling modular technical issues related to Windows Insider Preview updates.

The loss of Wi-Fi functionality after switching to a Canary or Dev build (such as the Canary/Dev 26220 base) generally occurs due to a kernel incompatibility introduced by the new feature update, conflicting with the driver architecture of your Lenovo laptop's native WLAN adapter — often involving Realtek or MediaTek chips that require specific driver certification for pre-release builds. When the system undergoes a major update, the network stack structure is overhauled, causing the old drivers installed on Windows 11 Home version 22H2 (Build 22621.4317) to fail loading or be recognized as valid hardware by the new Windows Insider subsystem.

To address the automatic updates that keep forcing the device to restart and reinstall, the first step is to isolate the Windows Update service so you don't get stuck in a recurring rollback cycle. You can temporarily pause updates via Settings > Windows Update > Pause updates for a few weeks, or more permanently block the specific build 26220.8491 using Microsoft's official "Show or hide updates" utility (wushowhide.diagcab), run while you're back on the stable 22H2 version. Modifying router settings, such as changing the SSID or channel frequency, will have no impact because the root cause lies at the hardware initialization failure level (Hardware Abstraction Layer) inside your laptop, not in the external signal from the wireless router.

If you remain committed to testing this Windows 11 Insider Preview Feature Update, the driver solution must be performed manually without relying on automatic search from Windows Update — which at that point would be disconnected from the internet. Before reinstalling the update, you are advised to download the latest WLAN driver version compatible with Windows 11 directly from Lenovo's official support website using your device's Serial Number, then save it to local storage or a USB flash drive. I recommend that you find a professional in person to assist you with this. An alternative option is to use the generic Microsoft driver already embedded in the system by opening Device Manager, selecting your network adapter, right-clicking to Update Driver, choosing "Browse my computer for drivers," and then selecting "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer" to force the system to use a more stable generic driver version.

If the above driver rewriting approach still does not yield results due to a known issue in the internal source code of Build 26220.8491 itself, then the safest and most recommended option is to exit that specific update program or downgrade to the Beta Channel, which has higher stability. You can submit detailed telemetry reports and error logs via the Feedback Hub app (press Windows + F) including your Wi-Fi hardware details so that Microsoft's engineering team can release a hotfix in a subsequent sub-build. Forcing an update without validated driver compatibility will only harm your productivity due to repeated network failure cycles on your Lenovo laptop.

Hopefully this is helpful, and thank you.