The latest security update for Windows 11 appears to have been breaking business Wi-Fi networks, causing major headaches for IT admins globally.

Windows Latest claims that several readers, working across universities and SMBs, have been experiencing slow Wi-Fi speeds or even total disconnection since updating to Windows 11 KB5033375.

It gets worse, because many have suggested that the problem occurred in the earlier (and optional) KB5032288 update, and has therefore carried over into the next build.

Windows 11 Wi-Fi issues

Microsoft has not commented on the matter, according to Windows Latest. TechRadar Pro has asked the company if it is aware of any connectivity issues in its latest Windows 11 builds, but we did not receive an immediate response.

The publication has indicated that the problem may be limited to Qualcomm’s old wireless adapters, which are often used in public universities and other similar establishments. One Windows Latest reader specifically called out the Qualcomm QCA61x4a.

One IT worker at a Belgian university posted to the Microsoft forum that four students were experiencing the exact same issue following the optional KB5032288 update. A thread moderator commented that the KB5033375 had since been released, but this is also known to cause errors.

Another commented that they could reproduce the Wi-Fi problem on a WPA2 Enterprise SSID. In both cases, 802.11r was also being used – a standard designed to improve roaming experiences when connecting to different access points.

As such, disabling 802.11r has been seen to fix the issue, but with the clear consequence of poor roaming. Other IT workers have suggested removing the KB5033375 build, otherwise known as the Windows 11 December 2023 Update, however this comes with the sacrifice of several new features, including Copilot, Redmond’s generative AI tool.

In the meantime, though, those needing access to the Internet (which is basically all of us) are left with little choice while Microsoft (hopefully) works on a fix.

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Via Windows Latest