Microsoft resolves Wi-Fi issues caused by Windows 11 update

Microsoft has moved swiftly to fix a bug that was causing broken Wi-Fi connections on public, enterprise and educational networks with the latest Windows 11 updates.

Users reported the issue after installing the December Patch Tuesday updates KB5032288 and KB5033375. Universities and businesses were most affected, with users reporting slow and broken wireless connections. Windows 11 users on home networks were apparently unaffected, as were Windows 10 users. Microsoft remedied the issue in a little more than 24 hours via its Known Issue Rollback (KIR) system.

For those unfamiliar, Known Issue Rollback allows Microsoft to quickly revert a single, targeted problematic fix without the need for users to uninstall entire updates or download patches. Known Issue Rollback was introduced with Windows 10.

Microsoft has confirmed the recent updates were the source of the issues.

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.

Affected users need not do anything to implement Known Issue Rollback (save perhaps a device reboot), and at this point all Windows 11 PCs should be back online.