Windows 8.1 wifi limited dropping slow frustrating

Anonymous

Hello,

I've seen some older posts on this site and others that reference this problem, but I've seen no solution as of yet. I live in a house with about 5 different OS's from mac to, now, Windows 8.1. I'm from the states, but I've been visiting friends in New Zealand for three months and just upgraded from 8 to 8.1. Upon doing this, my wifi has had intermittent connectivity at best. I've made sure the router/modem had the latest drivers and the settings were right. I've made sure my laptop had the latest drivers, updates, etc. Funny thing: The machines here with Windows Vista, 7, and 8, as well as those with Mac OS and Android, have zero problems connecting to the internet. No dropping, no reloading web pages over and over and over again to finally get them to show up.

I've also tried, with my 8.1 system, using Windows Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. I've temporarily turned off firewalls in both Windows and on the router/modem, with no change in the problem. I've rolled back drivers and still it's like all the laptops with 8.1 on them (three, one bought in the last month) are misfiring on one or more cylinders (yes, I'm aware that computers don't function like cars. It's an analogy).

Sometimes the connection works fine. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it looks like I have full bars, but web pages or downloads simply stall and I have to reload or re-download. When I connect directly to the router/modem via ethernet cable, zero problems. Everything runs like greased lightning, much as the other devices running OS's other than 8.1.

My specifics:

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Windows 8.1 Pro

Intel Core i7-3667 U CPU @ 2.00GHz 2.50GHz

4GB RAM (3.82 usable)

64 bit OS X64 based processor

Network Adapter

Intel Centrino Advanced N 6205

Modem/Router

Telecom Technicolor T G589vn V2

Happy to share general security settings, but the settings are exactly the same for the different operating systems across the board.

Help?

Edit: I should also note that, while the internet is sloppy via wifi using your standard browsers going to URL's, the live tiles on the start page, including Windows Store, Facebook, Skype, or any other live app is also not loading properly, not working, or otherwise not running smoothly when connected to wifi. I also play two videogames online: Mechwarrior and Minecraft. I rarely was ever dropped before upgrading to 8.1, now I have issues connecting to them, and once I do connect, I'm constantly getting dropped.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Hi Tortugaverde,

The “Limited Connectivity” means that the PC has successfully connected to the router, but the PC wasn't assigned a valid IP address, so you can't actually get to the Internet. It would be great if you can answer these questions to assist you in a better way.

1) Did you install the latest Windows 8.1 compatible Intel Wireless LAN drivers (Version: 16.8.0) on the computer? If yes, was it downloaded from the Lenovo website?

2) Apart from updating to Windows 8.1, did you make any recent changes on the computer prior to this issue?

3) Do you have any third party security program installed on the computer?

Since you do not face any issues with the other Windows Vista, 7, and 8 devices on the same network, this issue seems to be due to the incompatible drivers installed on the computer. Let’s first run the Network and Network Adapter troubleshooter and check if that provides any useful information regarding this issue.

Method 1: Run the Network and Network Adapter Troubleshooters

Step 1: Run the Network Troubleshooter

The Network troubleshooter is an automated tool which can find and automatically fix some common networking problems. Follow these steps and run the troubleshooter.

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “W” keys from the keyboard.

b) Type “Network Troubleshooter” in the search box.

c) Click on “Identify and repair network problems” on the left pane of the window.

d) Click “Next” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.

Please check the troubleshooting report and let’s know the details. You may also try the suggestions given by the troubleshooter and check if that helps. Let’s also run the Network Adapter Troubleshooter and check if that helps.

Step 2: Run the Network Adapter Troubleshooter

The Network Adapter troubleshooter is an automated tool which will check the adapter in the computer for any known issues and provides the details and on how to fix them. Follow these steps and run the troubleshooter.

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “W” keys from the keyboard.

b) Type “Troubleshooting” in the search bar and press “Enter”.

c) In the “Troubleshooting” window, click on “View All” on the left pane.

d) Click on “Network Adapter”.

e) Click on “Advanced” and then click on “Run as Administrator”.

f) Click “Next” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.

Please check the troubleshooting report and let’s know the details. You may also try the suggestions given by the troubleshooter and check if that helps.

If the issue still persists, then I would suggest you to try installing the latest Windows 8.1 compatible Intel Wireless LAN drivers which are released on 26^th^ Jan 2014 from the Lenovo website and check if that resolves the issue.

Method 2: Uninstall and Reinstall the latest Wireless LAN Drivers

Before installing the latest drivers, let’s uninstall the old existing drivers from the computer. Please follow these steps:

Step 1: Uninstall the Device Drivers

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard.

b) Click on “Device Manager” from that list.

c) Search for the WiFi adapter device from the device list, right click on it and then select “Uninstall”. On the un-installation window, if you have an option: “Delete the driver software for this device” you may select that and then remove the corrupted drivers from the computer.

d) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete it and the restart the computer if prompted.

After the restart, please open the Device Manager again and then click on the “Scan for hardware changes” button. Check if Windows 8.1 detects the WiFi adapter device and installs an appropriate driver automatically. If the issue still persists, then try the next step.

Step 2:Download and Install the latest Intel Wireless LAN Drivers from the Lenovo Website

Please download the latest Windows 8.1 compatible Intel Wireless LAN Drivers from this link:

Intel Wireless LAN (11abgn, 11bgn, 11ac) for Windows 8.1 (64-bit), 8 (64-bit), 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) - ThinkPad

For more information and suggestions regarding the Network and Network Adapter issues, you may also refer to these articles:

Wired and wireless network problems

Why can't I connect to a network?

How do I fix network adapter problems?

Please get back to us with the results. If the issue still persists, we’ll be glad to assist you further.

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44 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-03-30T07:15:55+00:00

Hey Susan,

I wish I knew the answer to that one as well!!

I had to take my PC to a tech guy to download the driver again through there internet, with no success I am still getting the same problem :-(

So don't bother!
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Anonymous

2015-03-29T13:50:39+00:00

Great post. I have two Eiffel Towers for sale, if you know anyone who's interested...

I too have exactly the same problem. I have a few old lappies that run XP and connect to my marina WIFI. No problem. 4 year old android phone. No problem. Cheap and nasty £50 android tablet. No problem. All of these devices can connect and access stuff like iPlayer, email, web etc.

Brand new HP lappy, nothing but problems. I've been in tech since 15 - I'm 48, so am not someone fiddling about randomly with my machine. My neighbour runs Win 7, no problems at all. Another neighbour runs 8.1 on a brand-new Tosh and she's having same problems.

Looked at every permutation of driver update, roll back etc. Checked power management for WIFI devices etc. Faffed about in shell with various suggestions from MS re fixing this problem. All to no avail.

This is a new machine with nothing other than Office 2013 installed. Simply not worth installing anything until the machine is actually useful/productive, It's currently as about much use as one of my anchors and whilst I like the machine and it's grunt (speed!) I am tempted to return it as it simply doesn't connect. That should be fun. Me vs. PC World, again. That'll be several hours of frustration as someone who sells washing machines tries to tell me I know nothing about Tech...

*sigh*
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Anonymous

2015-01-15T20:17:35+00:00

That could be the case since windows 8.1 may have a newer version of a driver then the windows 8 had that came from the vendor. Installing the windows 8 version of the driver that predates 8.1 usually fixes the issue. You would need to contact the maker of the driver to solve the issue. If you heed help finding the driver vendero let me know. It will say Microsoft on it but that is jut the source of the driver file not the vendor that made it.

Refer to this link for help http://www.vindamedia.com/windows/help/troubleshooting-your-network
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Anonymous

2015-01-15T20:14:58+00:00

I see your point. But the way it works is Windows makes some thing Windows Driver Foundation. Each hardware and software maker carries the responsibility to make their hardware and software work with Windows.

There are millions of drivers. And billions of hardware software OS configurations. Windows does much more then other OS to make sure that things work even when they shouldn't.

I am a programmer, it would be incorrect for me to think that if I write software and sell it that Windows is going to override my bugs and somehow create a OS that can account for flaws in others code. Most issues are with the bloatware installed by the PC vendor or anti-virus software which installs hundreds of drivers around the components that handle network traffic.

Older routers and ISP that are cheap and behind the times can have issues with IPv6. Windows 8 uses IPv6 as a preferred method but handles Ipv4 as it did in older versions. If you are getting limited connection with a sub message that there is no internet access then that is most likely the router or the ISP.

If you want some help looking into the issue try the steps here they have a pretty complete amount of troubleshooting to determine the issue. http://www.vindamedia.com/windows/help/troubleshooting-your-network If you can boot into cleanboot and have no issue it is a software conflict. If you can boot into safe mode with networking and there is no issue but clean boot has an issue then it is a hardware issue.

Also, if you can connect to the internet without issue with Ethernet then the issue isn't with windows its the wireless NIC. IF you are staying connected for 5 min then having issues the issue is most likely the router. They can overheat and become unstable if the are beginning to fail.

Windows doesn't handle the connections to the internet in the way most people think. I had a similar issue where my connection would last a few min then fail other times it would last hours or days. I vented the router and it worked longer so I bought a $30 router and haven't had an issue since. That is obviously something Windows can't fix with an update.

Finally, my point that there are millions of users that have no issue is to point out that windows doesn't have the issue it is something that in unique to your setup. Meaning Windows works when the third-party vendor hardware and software works.

Its like buying a new car then replacing the onboard CPU with different software and taking it to the dealer and expecting them to fix the firmware you installed.
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