Microsoft’s recent mandatory security update, KB5033375 for Windows 11is proving to be a source of major problems, even cutting off Wi-Fi connections at several universities.
While waiting for welcome changes for the start of 2024, Windows 11 continues to receive its traditional updates, and one of them, released in December under the identifier KB5033375, causes Wi-Fi interruptions, when it was supposed to fix bugs. The fix is particularly harmful to universities, which report a drop in speeds and unstable connections. Microsoft is perhaps not the only one responsible for these inconveniences.
Universities are advising their students to uninstall this Windows 11 update
Users at various universities, such as Brunel in London, and others working in small and medium-sized businesses have reported severe Wi-Fi issues after installing Windows 11 update KB5033375. was that wrong?
Wireless connections, especially in configurations with multiple access points, appear to experience speed degradation. Some even complain about disruptions during simple ping requests. Although Microsoft has not officially responded to these concerns, users report that the problem had already been spotted in a previous optional update (KB5032288), before being attached to KB5033375, a mandatory update. .
Universities, including New Haven and Brunel in London, have warned their students about Wi-Fi issues caused by the December 2023 update. These difficulties in accessing the wireless network on campus could affect those who prepare for their exams. The London establishment has recommended to its students to uninstall this update altogether, if they are working on a laptop PC running Windows 10 and 11, at least until Microsoft finds a real fix.
Hypotheses, but no solution proposed by Microsoft yet
But is Microsoft really the one responsible here? The system administrator of a university affected by the problem, who contacted our colleagues at Windows Latestexplains that the problem could result from a lack of compatibility between the Windows update and the Qualcomm wireless adapter branded QCA61x4a.
If this concern is partly true, the problem could also come from the PEAP (for Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol) settings, which are defective in Windows due to recent updates. On a Microsoft forum, there is more talk about problems with the 802.11r standard, which is particularly suitable for the WPA2-Enterprise encryption method.
Some users also point out that disabling 802.11r can restore connectivity, but this is only a temporary solution. For the moment, Microsoft has not officially communicated on the subject, and is not able to provide a fix.
Source : Windows Latest
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