Windows 8.1: WiFi dropping and/or "Limited"

Anonymous
2013-10-20T17:01:27+00:00

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!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-29T15:05:17+00:00

    Have you tried updating the router firmware? Usually when an older driver works it is because it doesn't use a newer protocol that the router isn't set up for? Similar to this http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2749073/en-us

    It could also be that a Bluetooth device uses the same band and with the older driver it isn't using the Wirelless N

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-28T12:31:35+00:00

    I have a question that begs for  an honest answer.  With Windows  8 and 8.1 being  such poor products,  I would like to know why Microsoft abadons fixing this final mess of an OS only to start writing windows 8.  2hat makes this company thijk that they can do any butter with a new OS when they have not had a good OS since Vista.  I hesjtate to buy a PC after all of the koney and ime I hav wastedd the last few months.  I am angry and jo4 not because of the challenge, but beca6se I have spent mon we y and time which I don' have because of my husbands unexpected death,  certainly not your program, but the fa c tthat I have lost time and money tryibg to find a way to supplement my income.  BUT everytime, I try to use this computer, I am stopped by the OS and now I stand to lose m6 home, my car, everything I own.  What do 7 do with this junk?

    Thank you

    Susan McGuire

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-22T04:29:13+00:00

    I have two wifi USB adapters ( One from Belkin and another from Netgear) which had the same limited connectivity issue. Both the adapters are Realtek based.

    I read somewhere online that the issue was restricted to 11n. Now I don`t know how this makes sense , but restricting my USB adapters to work in 802.11b/g mode only, works for me. You can change this setting in the device manager .

    I`ve tried all the other solutions mentioned in this post and elsewhere(including reverting to older manufacturer provided drivers) but none have worked.

    So right now my working setup is : older driver( as mentioned in other posts) +  disable 11n mode in the adapter ( for me it doesn`t make much of a difference in link speed)

    Some pics to help.

    1.  Setting in device manager

    1. Pings look normal - ( i used the ping to AP as a metric to see how my adapter performed)

    1. I change the device mode back to 802.11b/g/n and this is what I see

    The initial "PING: transmit failed" messages are when I`m changing the mode ( the wifi connection is disrupted during this process)

    And then the typical "Request timed out" messages start popping up - just like they used to before.

    In 802.11 b/g mode , Ive had ping running for quite some time now and seen no issues. Will update the thread after a few days if my fix still works. ( the driver rollback fix had similarly worked for me for a few days and then the issue cropped up again. Hence not taking this as a final solution until Im sure)

    The current drivers I`m using :

    Let me know if this works.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-21T10:39:15+00:00

    If the driver works with 8, but not with 8,1 - HP to blame, not MS.

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-08-21T00:21:10+00:00

    I have the same problem.

    Limited connection on my Wi-Fi network after updating to windows 8.1.

    Please provide a solution for this problem.

    It’s NOT the router.

    Thanks.

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