Windows 8.1: WiFi dropping and/or "Limited"

Anonymous

Since installing 8.1 Pro, I'm having issues with WiFi dropping internet connectivity and always showing "Limited" when clicking on the system tray icon. When I troubleshoot the problem using the system tool it is always the gateway that is faulty. I have uninstalled/reinstalled the device drivers several times, installed the newest drivers directly from Intel, restarted the computer, etc. I can restore connectivity by turning WiFi off then back on, but the connection will drop at what seems to be random intervals. My applicable system specs are as follows;

Lenovo Y510P Laptop

Windows 8.1 Pro

Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230

Apple Time Capsule router w/newest firmware

Needless to say this is quite an irritating bug that didn't exist prior to the update to 8.1 I hope this can be resolved quickly. Thanks!

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Anonymous

2014-01-14T22:47:04+00:00

Seth, I've tried that with the Broadcom drivers for my HP laptop and that doesn't work. I was looking at the update today in hopes that it would fix the problem, but no luck: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2914180/en-us
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Anonymous

2014-01-14T20:16:05+00:00

Thanks! Worked!
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Anonymous

2014-01-14T19:53:21+00:00

The solution i posted may help you. Our office just did this for some people.

(I'm commenting here so that hopefully you'll receive a notice of a reply and be able to fix the issue.)
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Anonymous

2014-01-14T19:51:54+00:00

Ok everybody. I have had to fix this issue for many people after the 8.1 update.

This is often a driver issue because windows 8.1 will use it's own drivers rather than the manufacturer's drivers for the wireless adapter.

The following steps will fix many people's issues with connecting wirelessly after the 8.1 update.

I'm doing this from memory so forgive any mistakes in the exact dialogue options, but I should be satisfactorily close enough.

Try this:

Step 1:

Go into the device manager.

(If you don't know where to find it, read this or just google it.)

Step 2:

Find your wireless adapter under the category "Network Adapters", (take note of the name on it) then right click on the specific wireless adapter (mine looks like "Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter") and select "Update Driver Software...".

Step 3:

Windows will ask you if you want to search automatically for the driver, you must NOT choose this option. Instead choose "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer".

Step 4:

Using the name you took note of in step 2, find the correct driver.

(you may have to disable the show compatible, but i don't think i had to. The name from step 2 will be useful here.)

Step 5:

Install that driver and after a reboot (may work without one) your wireless adapter should now work.

Hope this helps some of you.

-Seth

(found some others who have successfully done this here.)

(another method that accomplishes the same goal)
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Anonymous

2014-01-14T19:08:37+00:00

Everyone in our office that has Windows 8.1 on their laptops is having the same issue. The only solution we could come up with is to install the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client and let it manage the network connections. This can be do even if you do not use the client for VPN. It also has the added advantage of being able to manage wireless networks with having to use the CLI. Moving the management of the wireless networks to the CLI is one of the 10 dumbest things MS has done in years.
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