Windows 8.1 update effectively disabled wireless networking
After further research i discovered a solution that worked for my particular device.
I followed these steps:
Open Device Manager (search Windows Help if you don't know what this is)
Select 'Network adaptors' and then open (double-click) Broadcom 802.11n Network Adaptor
Go to the Driver tab and click the Update Driver... button
Select 'Browse my computer for driver software'
Select 'Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer'
Select the "Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter (Broadcom)" entry from the list
I used the Broadcom 802.11n Adapter version 5. Next restart and test.
Note: You must disable compatible hardware checkbox to find the previous versions of the driver
This solution uses the driver that was working before installing windows 8.1
UPDATE: After further testing i discovered that the broadcom 802.11n network adapter was actually limiting my connection speed. I am now using broadcom multiband network adapter with full speed
Source: denpsch