There seems to be a problem with Windows 8 wifi drivers working with specific WAPs. I have a Windows 8 ultrabook that works famously on my wifi network at home. When I take it to work (yeah we're BYOD) there are issues with connecting. A coworker of mine has the same problem. The Windows 8 laptops will only get a limited connection to the wireless network. Running the troubleshooter will "fix" the problem for about 3 minutes then the device is back to limited. The troubleshooter says "Not a valid IP configuration: fixed" and "no default gateway: fixed." Then you have full connection for 0 to 3 minutes before it goes back to limited. Bizarre (to me anyway). Right off I thought it would be a driver issue. I updated the drivers to the latest and greatest for the Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230. Didn't work. I uninstalled the Windows 8 driver then installed the Windows 7 driver for the device. That didn't work either (so I went back to the Windows 8 driver). I made sure the power management was correct, i.e., the laptop couldn't turn off the adapter to save on power. That didn't work either.
- at this point I think I should mention that, yes, all other laptops (windows 7 and XP) and wireless devices (iphones and win8 phones) connected and functioned perfectly on the wireless network*
What could be causing the intermittent issue? Especially since it's only Windows 8? I'm not sure why I went here, but I went into the settings for the WAP. Perhaps the firmware for this Netgear model didn't want to play nicely with Windows 8? It's possible given the age (a few years old Wireless-N 802T v2). I updated the firmware on the device. That didn't fix the issue. My frustration was quite high to say the least. So, I scoured the tech forums. Oddly enough, I did find something I hadn't tried that someone had tried which was changing the channel/frequency setting in the WAP from auto to, in his case, channel 6. That worked for him. I gave it a shot. Guess what? It worked for nearly an hour then the ultrabook just disconnected. It didn't even go to limited. It just disconnected. I changed to other channels only to find the same disappointment.
This doesn't happen on my home network. I talked with my coworker and she said the same about her home network. It is only at work with the Netgear WN802T v2 WAP.
Stupid things I tried that obviously didn't fix the issue: Turning off the firewall Disabling other network adapters besides the Intel Centrino Resetting WinSock
Thoughts? Anyone?
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