Troubleshooting Wi-Fi Issues: Common Connectivity Challenges with Windows 11

When it comes to updates, unless an update is fixing a really urgent security issue, the way to go is to update quickly , but not too quickly. You want to have the latest software and features, but at the same time, you want to avoid any issues that might have made it to production. We usually have beta testing channels to catch this kind of issues before builds go live, but that’s sometimes not enough, as a Wi-Fi bug on Windows 11 has indicated.

Some Windows 11 PC owners have reported that installing the cumulative updates KB5032288 and KB5033375 on their PCs is breaking support for some Wi-Fi networks, resulting in them not being able to connect to Wi-Fi. The issue is most frequently to public or enterprise Wi-Fi connections, and Microsoft says that it shouldn’t really be a problem with home connections, but it might affect any network using 802.1x authentication. Microsoft confirmed the reports, adding the following:

Microsoft has received reports of an issue in which some Wi-Fi adapters might not connect to some networks after installing KB5032288 . We have confirmed this issue was caused by KB5032288 and KB5033375 . As reported, you are more likely to be affected by this issue if you are attempting to connect to an enterprise, education, or public Wi-Fi network using 802.1x authentication. This issue is not likely to occur on home networks.

At the moment, the issue only affects Windows 11 production builds. The company is also advising users to roll back to a previous update using Known Issue Rollback, although for most people the solution is as simple as going into Settings, clicking on Windows Update, Update history, then selecting “Uninstall updates” and selecting the two problematic updates. It’s also not clear if Microsoft has halted the rollout as of the time of writing, but if the company hasn’t done so already, it likely will do so soon.

In the meantime, if you are affected, you might want to follow the above steps to bring your PC back to a properly working state. If you’re not, and the update is pending on your device, then perhaps put it off for as long as possible.

Source: Microsoft via Bleeping Computer