NM shows Wi-Fi as connected but can't communicate over Wi-Fi interface -- Realtek RTL8185

[sojourner]

ubuntu quantal with the 3.5.0-x kernel . network-manager shows my wireless connected when it is not , disconnects and reconnects randomly . My wireless is realtek rtl8185 which has been supported by a built in kernel module for a long time .
network and other problems have persisted all the way through the 3.5 series kernels . wireless does work on the daily live cds but not consistantly on the installs from the same .

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1037865/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[apanagio (apanagio)]

I have the exact same issue.
Both in KDE and in unity if I stop the service "network-manager" and connect to the access point with iwconfig I can connect without any problem.

Posting the workaraound for people looking for one:

sudo service network-manager stop
sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid 'name of your network'
if you have wep enabled:
sudo iwconfig wlan0 key 'your WEP key'
sudo dhclient