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
    2014-10-11T19:13:13+00:00

    Click on driver details in the driver tab inside device manager for the NIC adapter who is the actual driver file provided by. That isn't a Microsoft driver most likely. If it was it would be a version number like 6.3.9600.16384 which indicates the build it belongs to.

    What you most likely did is the same as updating you driver. Many driver come as optional updates and don't update automatically.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-10-11T20:02:25+00:00

    I just checked and the driver is 13.3.0.137 dated 15/08/2010,  A ping to my router just revealed 5% dropped packets so things could be better so I will be trying updating the driver to the default to see if this improves things, though I will be waiting a few days when I should have more time. to investigate.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-10-11T21:28:17+00:00

    You can go to participate on the top of this page and start a new thread of your own for better help. Provide a link here to the new post and one on the new post to here so others van see what you have done so far

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-10-12T08:10:29+00:00

    To FIX this problem got to - Device manager- Network adapters

    Find WiFi adapter-right click it-properties

    In Power management tab - Uncheck/disable first option.

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-10-12T09:20:10+00:00

    It seems there are a multitude of issues depending upon which wireless adapter your W8.1 machine contains.  My Toshiba Satellite L series laptop has an Atheros AR956x adapter.  I originally got some relief from slow/intermittent wifi connections by going back to a previous (older version) driver.  However, the wifi issue resurfaced again after I discovered that Windows was automatically updating my adapter's driver to a newer version, which I didn't want to happen.  I disabled the automatic updating of the driver, but the problem kept coming back.  Oddly enough I decided to change the settings on my router to standard channel vs wide channel (2.4ghz) and I haven't had any further issues, no matter what driver is installed.  Weird, but it seems my Atheros adapter doesn't like a wide channel signal!  :-)

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