I'm also affected by this issue.
I'm on a Asus U32U running Ubuntu 13.10, and when running Ubuntu 13.04 the problema already existed!


pedro@asus-U32U:~$ nm-tool

 NetworkManager Tool

 State: connected (global)

- Device: wlan0 ----------------------------------------------------------------
Type: 802.11 WiFi
 Driver: ath9k
 State: unavailable
 Default: no
 HW Address: DC:85E:25:18:1C

 Capabilities:

 Wireless Properties
 WEP Encryption: yes
 WPA Encryption: yes
 WPA2 Encryption: yes

 Wireless Access Points 


- Device: eth0 [Conexão cabeada 1] -------------------------------------------
Type: Wired
 Driver: r8169
 State: connected
 Default: yes
 HW Address: 50:46:5D:31:6F:57

 Capabilities:
 Carrier Detect: yes
 Speed: 1000 Mb/s

 Wired Properties
 Carrier: on
 ´
(...)


pedro@asus-U32U:~$ lspci
 00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 14h Processor Root Complex
 00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler [Radeon HD 6320]
 00:01.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler HDMI Audio
 00:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 14h Processor Root Port
 00:11.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 40)
 00:12.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller
 00:12.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller
 00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller
 00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller
 00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 42)
 00:14.1 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 IDE Controller (rev 40)
 00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) (rev 40)
 00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 LPC host controller (rev 40)
 00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge (rev 40)
 00:15.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB700/SB800/SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0)
 00:15.1 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB700/SB800/SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1)
 00:15.2 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 2)
 00:15.3 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] SB900 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 3)
 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 0 (rev 43)
 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 1
 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 2
 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 3
 00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 4
 00:18.5 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 6
 00:18.6 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 5
 00:18.7 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 12h/14h Processor Function 7
 04:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 5289 (rev 01)
 04:00.2 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0a)
 05:00.0 USB controller: ASMedia Technology Inc. ASM1042 SuperSpeed USB Host Controller
 06:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)


pedro@asus-U32U:~$ rfkill list all
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: no
 Hard blocked: yes
 1: asus-wlan: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: no
 Hard blocked: no
 2: asus-bluetooth: Bluetooth
 Soft blocked: yes
 Hard blocked: no
 3: hci0: Bluetooth
 Soft blocked: yes
 Hard blocked: no