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
    2014-07-20T02:41:40+00:00

    Good ideas.

    Just wanted to add step 3 can be a solution it your ISP or domain DNS server is not working but lately the Google Public DNS servers are slow, over twice as much time to resolve a name then my ISPs server. I would suggest if you think that you ISP DNS is an issue you use 8.8.4.4 as a secondary and your router IP/Default Gateway as primary.

    ipconfig/flushdns is good to clear out cached dns data that is wrong/corrupt

     Just a note for anyone having issues Limited Connection is a generic error and if you continue to have an issue start a new thread and add the steps you have tried to resolve the issue so that you can get help

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-18T14:59:22+00:00

    Holy cow, WvuSoldier...your solution solved my wifi issue!  Thanks a million.  I was about to go back to Windows 7 Pro just prior to reading your reply in this thread.  I can't thank you enough!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-10T13:17:05+00:00

    Hi,

    I had this exact problem and did everything I found on the net to solve the problem, but was not successful.

    I finally arrived at the cause of the problem and was able to solve it finally as my PC was always turning limit after a short successful connection to the internet. My all other devices were connecting fine though without any problem.

    The problem was the wifi range extender that I was using in my room. For some reason it was not compatible with this particular PC unlike other devices that I have. So what I did is that I had the main router (the one connected to modem of my service provider) in my room and the range extender in the faraway room and now all devices are working perfectly. So I believe that this problem happens with some PCs not all and the cause of the problem is the booster device that I used to enhance the signal.

    I hope this is helpful.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-07-09T16:20:31+00:00

    Great, excellent, bravo. After days and weeks of troubles with QualcAtheros and Microsoft support, discussions and recommendations on web, the solution above finally works as expected. Stability, performance and throughput on WiFi seems to be like before the 8.1 upgrade which I've done without any respect to the fact that "all new upgrades are inherently fault". Once again, thanks, thanks and thanks.

    Vaclav

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