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
    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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. 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?

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  4. 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.

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  5. Anonymous
    2013-11-11T04:20:23+00:00

    The problem came back.  I tried uninstalling the Centrino Advanced-N 6235 driver and re-installing Wireless_16.5.3_e164.exe, but that didn't help.

    Meanwhile, for the work that I do that requires a stable network connection, I will need to tether to my LTE iPhone 5s until someone finds a solution.

    I am very disappointed that Microsoft introduced this problem in Windows 8.1 that was not in 8.  Small point-release Windows upgrades didn't used to introduce regressions like a network driver dropping its connection.  No wonder almost all of my co-workers have switched to Mac...for their work machine.

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