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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

744 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2013-11-11T16:16:15+00:00

    Hi everyone, sorry for my bad english.

    Since i've upgraded Win8 to 8..1, my WiFi signal is unstable than before, and very slow without apparently a reason.

    First of all the signal is variable from 1 to 4 bars than 5 bars before the 8.1 upgrade, and browsing, even downloads are very slow.

    Sometimes WiFi drops too.

    The router works like a charm with other PC / smartphone in my house.

    My Wlan is a Realtek 8192CE PCI-E Card with latest drivers and my PC overall is perfectly stable.

    Seems a bug or something, can you help me ? Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-12T00:58:23+00:00

    Thanks for the tip.  After uninstalling Wireless_16.5.3_e164.exe, it reverted to the MS 15.5.x? from June, 2013, which I then updated to the latest MS driver 15.10.3.2.

    It seems to be working again even after multiple speedtest.net tests and reboots--although it was the same driver that caused problems before I installed the Intel Wireless_16.5.3_e164.exe driver.

    In case it happens again, I downloaded the Windows 8 (not 8.1) wireless_15.5.7_De64.exe drivers from the Intel download site.  I will also try rolling back to the MS June, 2013 drivers if if happens again.

    Can anyone else confirm what version of the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 works with Windows 8.1 without the problem with WiFi dropping every few minutes?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2013-11-12T06:19:47+00:00

    ...and the problem came back with 15.10.3.2 after being stable for a few hours, through reboots and multiple speedtest.net tests.

    Now, I am rolling back to 15.10.0.12 from 6/25/2013 in the hopes that this might solve my problem.  Otherwise, I will need to install 15.5.7 from Intel, uninstall the MS driver to see if I can get an even older driver.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2013-11-12T07:29:38+00:00

    Version 15.10.0.12 had the same problem, so I am back to version 15.10.3.2.

    This time, I disabled "Wake on Magic Packet" and "Wake on Pattern Match" under the "Advanced" tab of the "Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6235 Properties" dialog, since I suspect that this might be causing the problem.

    I would not be surprised if there were a bug in the driver with the pattern matching or magic packet detection that might trigger the wake-up logic--it would be a classic software bug.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2013-11-12T08:41:29+00:00

    Hi everyone, sorry for my bad english.

    Since i've upgraded Win8 to 8..1, my WiFi signal is unstable than before, and very slow without apparently a reason.

    First of all the signal is variable from 1 to 4 bars than 5 bars before the 8.1 upgrade, and browsing, even downloads are very slow.

    Sometimes WiFi drops too.

    The router works like a charm with other PC / smartphone in my house.

    My Wlan is a Realtek 8192CE PCI-E Card with latest drivers and my PC overall is perfectly stable.

    Seems a bug or something, can you help me ? Thanks.

    UPDATE:

    I've changed my Wlan card with an Atheros AR9285 PCI-E, and finally i have no problems anymore.

    Microsoft and Realtek should cooperate to find those problems.

    Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments