winnate - problems connecting to wireless networks

chances are, if you work in an office building with managed wireless access points, you have probably run into this problem outlined here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2749073

in particular this problem manifests in cisco equipment filed under CSCua29504. cisco has released updates to correct this problem. i’m guessing you are in an environment where windows 8 isn’t exactly a supported platform yet so it’s highly unlikely the wireless controllers will be updated soon just to make you happy. there is a workaround – roll back to older drivers that are not windows 8 logo certified and hence have not implemented 802.11w. according to the kb article listed earlier, there is no means of turning off 802.11w support in windows 8. :-|

it took a little digging to find this problem, but i found the best info in this blog post which has all the pertinent links you could ever want.

anyway, until next problem… :)