WI-FI connection repeatedly goes"Limited" on Windows 8 Tablet

100% SURE FIX - INTERMITTENT WIRELESS DISCONNECTIONS

I'm having similar issues with my Acer Iconia W700 with a Qualcomm Atheros Wireless Network Adapter. I was able to fix it by simply updating the driver.

If you have the same tablet/ultrabook as me, follow the steps below as I can assure you, this will fix your problem.

1. Download the Wireless LAN driver from http://www.acer.com.sg/ac/en/SG/content/drivers (Wireless LAN_Atheros_10.0.0.217_W8x64_A)
2. Go to Device Manager and uninstall the Qualcomm Atheros Wireless Network Adapter.
3. Restart the computer
4. Windows 8 might automatically re-install the driver upon starting back up. If it does, uninstall it again by following Step 2.
5. Still in Device Manager, go to Action > Scan for hardware changes. This should show the network adapter.
6. Right-click the network adapter and click on Update Driver Software
7. Locate the driver that you have downloaded and extracted
8. Windows will do the rest and this will fix the random wireless disconnections.

*NOTE: This has also fixed my intermittent bluetooth disconnection of my Creative Wireless Bluetooh speaker.

Cheers!

Superproxy

100% SURE FIX - INTERMITTENT WIRELESS DISCONNECTIONS

 

I'm having similar issues with my Acer Iconia W700 with a Qualcomm Atheros Wireless Network Adapter. I was able to fix it by simply updating the driver.

 

If you have the same tablet/ultrabook as me, follow the steps below as I can assure you, this will fix your problem.

 

1. Download the Wireless LAN driver from http://www.acer.com.sg/ac/en/SG/content/drivers (Wireless LAN_Atheros_10.0.0.217_W8x64_A)
2. Go to Device Manager and uninstall the Qualcomm Atheros Wireless Network Adapter.
3. Restart the computer
4. Windows 8 might automatically re-install the driver upon starting back up. If it does, uninstall it again by following Step 2.
5. Still in Device Manager, go to Action > Scan for hardware changes. This should show the network adapter.
6. Right-click the network adapter and click on Update Driver Software
7. Locate the driver that you have downloaded and extracted
8. Windows will do the rest and this will fix the random wireless disconnections.

 

*NOTE: This has also fixed my intermittent bluetooth disconnection of my Creative Wireless Bluetooh speaker.

 

 

Cheers!

Superproxy

Hi Superproxy,

I have done as what you have given and so far have not noticed any Limited Connectivity on my W700. Just some minor update for your Step #6, the extracted zip file does not have *.inf files needed for the Update Driver Software, so you will need to run the setup.exe that comes together with the zip package and first remove all drivers in the device, manually reboot once, and run the setup again to re-install the driver package (this will install Atheros WLan driver and Atheros Bluetooth drivers as well).

The intermittent dropping of signal is fixed, but the terrible connection speed isn't (0.04mb/s from a 60mb/s connection a meter from the router). Do you think this will be fixed or should I send it back, are Acer normally any good with Customer Care?

The intermittent dropping of signal is fixed, but the terrible connection speed isn't (0.04mb/s from a 60mb/s connection a meter from the router). Do you think this will be fixed or should I send it back, are Acer normally any good with Customer Care?

I have read somewhere in the Acer forums regarding W700 issue that the problem with connectivity (wifi and bluetooth) is mainly attributed to the drivers, and not windows. the driver version 217 as recommended by superproxy is THE MOST STABLE driver so far to resolve the limited connectivity issue, however some Acer forum users reported that wifi speeds will slightly suffer when bluetooth is turned on together with the wifi (regardless whether any devices are connected via bluetooth or not).

to confirm this, all you need to do is run a speedtest with bluetooth turned on and turned off, and compare the two results. alternatively, if you are adventurous enough, you can head down to Acer forums and download beta versions of the drivers (there is a version 221 now), but do bear in mind that using beta software is not recommended because there will be no official support from it from Acer, and since beta softwares are normally unstable, they might cause undesirable effect to your tablet, or lead to hardware damage (in the case of drivers).

Good luck!

The intermittent dropping of signal is fixed, but the terrible connection speed isn't (0.04mb/s from a 60mb/s connection a meter from the router). Do you think this will be fixed or should I send it back, are Acer normally any good with Customer Care?

I have read somewhere in the Acer forums regarding W700 issue that the problem with connectivity (wifi and bluetooth) is mainly attributed to the drivers, and not windows. the driver version 217 as recommended by superproxy is THE MOST STABLE driver so far to resolve the limited connectivity issue, however some Acer forum users reported that wifi speeds will slightly suffer when bluetooth is turned on together with the wifi (regardless whether any devices are connected via bluetooth or not).

to confirm this, all you need to do is run a speedtest with bluetooth turned on and turned off, and compare the two results. alternatively, if you are adventurous enough, you can head down to Acer forums and download beta versions of the drivers (there is a version 221 now), but do bear in mind that using beta software is not recommended because there will be no official support from it from Acer, and since beta softwares are normally unstable, they might cause undesirable effect to your tablet, or lead to hardware damage (in the case of drivers).

Good luck!

Thanks Zack.

I have tried all of those suggestions including all sorts of drivers and Bluetooth configurations with no luck so far. Really not sure what to do now, I don't want to send it back because I was looking forward to it so much.

Thanks again.