6300AGN, Cisco, Windows 8.1

[DHope1]

Sine upgrading from Windows 8 to 8.1 I've experienced numerous WiFi issues. My laptop, a Lenovo W510 with the Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN will disassociate every few seconds.

I use a single Cisco access point (Cisco 887VA-W , 2.4GHz only) configured with WPA2-PSK (AES CCM). I've disabled aironet extensions on the AP to see if that's the problem with no luck. A section of the log from the AP when the problem occurs is as follows:

Oct 8 22:01:07.991: %DOT11-6-ASSOC: Interface Dot11Radio0, Station 1068.3f73.ccba Associated KEY_MGMT[WPAv2 PSK]

Oct 8 22:02:05.646: %DOT11-4-MAXRETRIES: Packet to client 1068.3f73.ccba reached max retries, removing the client

Oct 8 22:02:05.646: %DOT11-6-DISASSOC: Interface Dot11Radio0, Deauthenticating Station 1068.3f73.ccba Reason: Previous authentication no longer valid

Oct 8 22:02:05.646: %DOT11-4-MAXRETRIES: Packet to client 1068.3f73.ccba reached max retries, removing the client

Under Windows 8.0 the problem didn't occur. The driver version is 15.10.3.2. No other devices have the problem (Windows 7 laptop with a different Intel card/driver, iPad, Android phone etc). I'll gladly provide debug info if Intel want to contact me outside this forum.

Switching to a Meraki MR12 access point (2.4/5GHz) seems to stabilise things. I still face the problem after coming out from hibernation/suspend - but from a cold boot there are no disconnects.

[JInns]

If you are using Intel PROSet, could you please check if you have any Cisco options enabled in the wireless profile on the client? Those seemed to cause multiple issues for us if enabled on the Cisco network we use.

[DHope1]

Initially PROSet wasn't installed. Installing it doesn't present any Cisco options that I can see unless WPA-EAP is used (which I'm not using).

I've already tried disabling Aironet extensions on the AP, which made no difference.

[Jose_H_Intel1]

Thanks for reporting the issue. Please make sure the affected AP has the latest firmware.

[DHope1]

The AP is running the latest IOS release:

Cisco IOS Software, AP802 Software (AP802-K9W7-M), Version 15.2(4)JA1, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)

[MSulz]

Same Problem here, everything worked fine, after a Upgrade to Windows8.1 I get a lot of disconnects.

disconnects only appear if I use Wireless-N, WirelessA/B/G without N works fine for me, can you confirm this behavior?

Regards, Mitsch

[JInns]

Just to add to this - running Windows 8 and 8.1 on a laptop with 6300AGN was a horrible experience (ping timeouts every 10 seconds) on my Airport Express 2nd gen running the latest firmware. Windows 7 was fine. Dropping one firmware level down on the Airport resolved the issue. Point is - both the wireless adapter and access point manufacturers seem to be in a frantic race to resolve wireless-N issues introduced by Windows 8. Resolving one bug seems to just surface another.

[DHope1]

Mitsch,

I've tried to set just a/b/g on my adapter by disabling "802.11n Mode" in device manager but the problem persists. No problems with 8.0, just 8.1.

Are you also using Cisco AP's ?

[DHope1]

Further to my previous message,

Setting "Wireless mode" to "3. 802.11g" and then setting "802.11n Mode" to "Disabled" and clicking "OK" causes an instant BSOD in Driver Version 15.10.3.2

@joe_intel , Do you want to get a copy of MEMORY.DMP and some MiniDumps? I can put WinDbg on here and provide a stack trace etc.

[MSulz]

I have a WNDR3700 from Netgear, running DD-WRT Firmware.

Never had Problems with that Router, not with my T400, not with my T430, but since the upgrade from Win8 to Windows8.1 I have that problems.

[Jose_H_Intel1]

I am sorry for the delayed response here.

Please try thehttps://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=23389 driver version 16.6 which is the latest for this adapter and operating system.

[DHope1]

I managed to identify the problem, or at least found a solution.

The problem is specifically with AES-CCM used with WPA2. If you use TKIP (supported for backwards compatibility) the problem does not occur. Using AES-CCM, if you increase the broadcast (group) key rotation interval to the maximum available the problem will occur less frequently.

This seems to occur with a number of Intel cards, running the latest available drivers (now 16.10) and making the change I identified results in the problem occurring less frequently. The same card and AP configuration under Linux with the open-source drivers does not exhibit the problem leading me to believe it's specific to Windows 8.1 or the Intel drivers for Windows.

I'd be interested if other Cisco AP users with Intel WiFi cards experiencing this problem can try the following to see if the problem persists:

int Dot11Radio 0 broadcast-key change 3600

This will increase the rotation to one hour. Increase beyond that as required.

[Jose_H_Intel1]

I have reported your findings. Thank you!