Windows 8.1 Causing Wi-Fi Connectivity Issues
Apparently, Softpedia is still trolling the Microsoft Community forums, as the site has come across another problem Windows 8.1 upgraders are experiencing: limited or no Wi-Fi connectivity. The site reports that the problem was first related to the Surface tablets, but customers on PCs and other non-Microsoft Windows 8.1 tablets are facing the same issues.
"I have the same problem. Did everything. Read the web. Installed 8.1 twice. Now back to factory settings. Have all the latest updates on everything. I too believe it is a hardware issue," reads one complaint. "I own a laptop I bought at BestBuy only 6 months ago. It drops on me after several minutes. I reset my router, called the cable company, called Microsoft and still no fix."
"Same computer system as the user above however, I cannot connect AT ALL unless I plug straight into the router. Makes having a laptop very inconvenient," reads another complaint. "I have reinstalled drivers, updated my IP settings, run an IPConfig - very frustrating. I am at the restore point which is obviously a last resort."
A Microsoft rep explains that a limited connection means the device has connected to a router, but the PC wasn't assigned a valid IP address. However, Internet connection problems are most commonly caused by disconnected cables or by routers and modems that aren't working correctly, the rep says. The rep then points to links for wired and wireless network problems, and why users can't connect to the Internet.
"This is horrible response and I've seen it given by other MS engineers," another complaint reads. "Thousands of people are having this problem since the 8.1 release. I highly doubt all of us had our routers go bad at the same time. Own up to this Microsoft and please fix it. The standard response will not cut it anymore."
On a personal note, I had wireless connectivity issues after upgrading to Windows 8.1; the operating system would not recognize the 5 GHz spectrum. To fix this, I did the following:
- Downloaded and installed the adapter's latest drivers
- Entered "Network and Sharing Center"
- Clicked "Changed Adapter Settings"
- Right-clicked on the adapter in "Network Connections" and its "Properties"
- Clicked on the "Configure" button and clicked on the "Driver" tab
- Chose "Update Driver," "Browse My Computer" and then "Let Me Pick..."
- Here there should be two drivers: the Windows 8.1 version and the new ODM drivers
- Chose the ODM drivers and suddenly the 5 GHz network appeared
Granted, this won't help everyone, as most of the problems listed in the thread seem to be Intel Centrino related. Still, this seems to be an ongoing issue, with suggestions including installing an old driver, disabling Bluetooth to changing the channel in the wireless router.

How is that a solution when it has been seen to happen on 7 as well?
I am not surprised as Broadcoms WiFi chips are at best mediocre. I have a HP ElitePad with 8.1 and it uses a Intel Centrino WiFi adapter and I have had 8.1 since release with no issues.
What's interesting is that it has been 2 months since the release and these reports are just now surfacing. Makes me wonder if it is a specific WiFi adapter that had a driver update that is causing it.
I realise when problems affect you and others talk about it it seems like it is a far reaching issue that is affecting a large portion of users but often they are very limited cases of hardware issues or some driver. Yet people will still blame an OS that has been out for months over an issue that has been happening for a couple of weeks.
This reeks of driver update or broken hardware. Some of the machines I have use Broadcom wifi and I have no issue.
Going back to 7 isn't a solution either as this problem has existed since at least WinXP....
The other laptops, tablets no problems; stationaries and servers are cabled and no problem.,
It's funny, I had the exact opposite experience. Windows 7 kept dropping my network connection, Windows 8.1 is rock solid.
I think a lot of these have to do with the cheap realtek network cards that cheaper laptops insist on using. Sony's community forums are full of these reports.
Those users might have to open their computers and replace the network adapter with a proper one (Intel Centrino cards seem to work well).
IB
It is all about driver updates. It is much like what happened with LGA775. Most mobo vendors stopped after a new chipset with BIOS updates but I found a Asus P945 chipset LGA775 mobo one time that supported everything from the first Pentium 4 775 CPUs to the at the time latest Core 2 Quad 9000 series 775 CPUs.
Most hardware will work with 8.1. It is up to the hardware vendors to write the drivers for it. A lot of them stop after 1-2 years but good companies keep on going.