There's a reason for those ping spikes. Intel specifically designed their drivers to scan for AP at around 3 - 5 minute range in order to roam seamlessly. This is good for those who are very mobile and in an enterprise setting. However, this would be bad for people who want to lock in to their AP and never scan again. Windows WLAN Autoconfig isn't the fault here since MS fixed it with WIndows 7, 8 and 8.1 where Windows would never scan unless the "connect to more preferable network if available" is checked
Here's a tip for Intel: Add a friggin option to disable "Scan for APs when associated" unless the user forces the scan by clicking on the WiFi icon! Better yet, as a default behaviour, the driver should be smart enough to figure that there's streaming going on so the driver shouldn't scan unless the signal is -70 to -80dbm. Well, the signal part is included as "roaming aggressiveness" but the "don't scan while streaming packets" isn't implemented here.
I wish I know how to code these drivers and those two things should fix those ping spikes every 3 to 5 minute issue.