Windows 8.1: WiFi dropping and/or "Limited"

I was also having connectivity/speed issues with my almost new Win8.1 L70 Toshiba laptop.  However, I think I found a solution. The driver version for my Atheros AR956X wireless adapter was 10.0.0.270.  That apparently was the driver that was loaded during setup of the system.  I reverted back to a previous version 10.0.0.263 (which was still on my computer) and have had no further issues.  In fact my surfing/downloading seems faster and more reliable than it ever has.  i'm not sure if that driver was originally designated for Win7 or Win8 but it also works great with Win8.1.  So those of you having continued trouble might visit your computer OEM support page and see if they've made available older driver versions for your Win8.1 machine.  Might be worth a try.

Yes, this response beats all.

Our other computer of same brand type (both are Sony Vaio), but with Windows 7, NEVER has this issue, only the laptop with 8.1. Our other computer is upstairs and is the same brand--the 8.1 computer is much closer to the router, yet it drops ALL the time. Previous laptop with earlier OS never dropped downstairs near router either.

Uninstalled/reinstalled driver, which is the most recent, and it did nothing to help.

Microsoft needs to get this FIXED and fixed QUICKLY, or our next computer (within the next month) is going to run on anything BUT Windows 8/8.1.

Have had enough of their smugness and shallow answers, as though none of their customers know anything about connectivity issues.

Does that change the adapter it is using too or just install/update the software, I am guessing it does? In Device Manager you can click the driver tab>driver details>and select the one you want to use I believe. Check the events tab to see if it added the adapter you are switching to. Thanks for testing so people can see what works

Same problem on a HP Envy 14 with Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230. 

Pretty sure its a problem with network driver.    By selecting the properties of the adapter, Drivers TAB, Update driver, Manually select, pick from a list - you can pick a different version of the driver.  I have switched from intel versions of the driver to a Microsoft version of the driver to see if that rectifies.

Glad you got it working. When you said you got it working for a while I thought you meant it was coming back after working for a longer time. And I thought you were having lagging issues with the WiDi. I've heard that lagging is solved when changing the Aero theme to Microsoft's Aero Theme from Intel's Aero theme. That's in windows 7, however. I've tested my computer on several networks and haven't had any issues. Some of those use the same hardware and drivers as people who are having issues. In fact on one network everyone who uses other windows OS versions can't connect to one of the routers on a daisy chained setup but my windows 8.1 machine can

So far I haven't found any issue related to WiFi limited connection on Windows 8.1 its always fixed by changing an offending network. I wish I could get a local machine to reproduce this so I can troubleshoot first hand. With updates you can always hand pick which ones to update like critical security errors. Let me know if any issues ever come back. Have a good day! Sorry for misunderstanding about your stsus