Replace Intel Centrino Wireless-n135 with Broadcom BCM943228HMB Windows 8.1

Hi,

My current laptop is an MSI GE60 with the Intel Centrino Wireless-n 135 running Windows 8.1

Like many people I have had many problems with the wireless dropping since upgrading to 8.1 and have got round this by disabling the 'n' part of the card and just using 'g' I have the latest drivers but still never works on 'n'

So following many people's advice on various threads I decided to replace my wireless card with the Broadcom BCM943228HMB card.

After searching the internet I downloaded the latest drivers for that card and bought the card itself.

I thought a quick 5 minutes work and I would be up and running at full speed but I can't get the new card to work.

I installed the card, deleted the default Microsoft driver (which didn't work) installed the Broadcom drivers but keep getting error 10 in device manager.

As far as I can tell this is usually a driver issue but am not sure how to proceed from here.

The card is enabled and can be seen in device manager but has the black and yellow symbol (exclamation mark?) on it.

I'm not sure if maybe the drivers for the Intel 135 are conflicting with the Broadcom ones but can't see any way to remove them once the Broadcom card is installed.

I have put the Intel 135 back in for the minute and it picks up the old driver straight away and works (although hamstrung!)

Any suggestions?

Kind regards

Martin

(Mods, hope this is the right part of the forum if not please move thread)

 

Generic Broadcom Wireless Lan driver v7.10.96.0 for Windows 8.1:
www.station-drivers.com).exe]Broadcom_WiFi_7.10.96.0(www.station-drivers.com)[/url]

ALSO;
Wlan

For the Intel N-135 you can try driver 17.0.0.34
http://download.gigabyte.eu/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_wlan_wb867d-i_w8.1.exe

To get "N" performance make sure WPA2 AES is selected in the router setup.

If WPA and WPA2 is selected N will not be working.

In the router QoS settings WMM needs to be enabled.

In my MSI GT780DX the Killer 1102,1202 and 1103 wireless cards worked very well.

I now use the Intel AC-7260 wireless card paired with a Netgear AC router on the 5ghz band

 

Thanks for these suggestions.

N is only not working as I have disabled it. The reason for this is the continuous disconnects if I use N, this is due to Intel's driver not working properly with Windows 8.1

If you google the Intel Centrino wireless-n range you will see that they all seem to have this problem with 8.1

The Broadcom card I have bought should work (as that's what other have done) but just won't start.

I have the latest drivers for both cards but I'm sure that I must be doing something wrong during the installation process as the Broadcom card just will not start.

Now I know there is a possibility that it is faulty but I have no way to test that hypothesis.

So far this is what I have done.

Uninstall Intel driver for Intel 135
Reboot and repeat uninstallation until I get back to the Microsoft driver that comes with 8.1
Uninstall Microsoft driver (but not deleted from system)
Power down and change wireless cards
Reboot
System installs default Microsoft driver - new card does not start (error 10 in device manager)
Uninstall Microsoft driver
Install latest Broadcom driver
Reboot
New card still does not start (error 10 in device manager)

Maybe someone can tell me if I am doing it wrong or has a suggestion on how I should be doing things.

Every other time I have done things like this I have never had any issues that I haven't been able to resolve but I am struggling with this one.

I could use power line adaptors or a 10m Ethernet cable but these are not ideal solutions as it wouldn't solve the problem when away from the home.

If the issue is the card I am using (there is no information about compatibility between this card and 8.1 but others appear to have used it successfully) then I could go with another card but it would still need to be wireless and Bluetooth on the one card.

If I went that route does anyone have direct experience of using non Intel wireless cards with 8.1 successfully?

Cheers

Martin

 

Martin,I have no experience at all with Broadcom wireless cards.My testing has been with Intel.Killer and a few Realtek cards.

In my MSI GT780DX the Killer 1102,1202 and 1103(3x3) worked very well getting N performance with Netgear WNDR3700v2.WNDR4500 and R6300 routers on both bands using Windows 8.1.

The Intel 6300(3x3) was a good performer but had occasional lag issue.

The Realteks all had dropoffs and some disconnects as did the Intel N-135 and 2230.

I also has a few issues with Intel 6230/6235

I've had my Killer 1202 and 1103(3x3) performing well with Windows 8.1 including with the new Spring update.

Back to basics is a good option when running into issues.

Start with a clean install of the OS(not updated or Upgraded) using the Windows 8.1 X64 RTM iso from reliable source unpacked onto a USB 3.0 flash drive.A USB 2.0 flash drive will be a much slower installation.

Reset the router to default factory settings.Then adjust settings to WPA2 PSK(AES) and insert your SSID info.Router should have latest firmware from the manufacturer.

If you can,sending the Broadcom card back would be a good idea IMO.then try a Killer 1202.

If the 1202 doesn't work with N performance after starting from basics your issue can be due to other problems with the notebook hardware or installed software.

 

How do I do a fresh install of 8.1?

I'm sure I can find a copy of the ISO on the net with a bit of looking but no security key gets provided with the computer nowdays.

8.1 was done as an upgrade from 8, I've also migrated my whole system onto an m-sata ssd to increase speed if that makes a difference to the install (I'm using the original disk as storage).

Everything on my storage disk gets backed up externally so I have no qualms about losing data when formatting and reinstalling etc. only in the fact that I may end up having to pay for Windows a second time if I can't get a clean install to work.

It's good to hear the Killer 1202 works with 8.1, I will see if I can get one at a reasonable price and go down that route. Not much point in sending the other card back as it came from Hong Kong.

The router is a Virgin Media Superhub which I know isn't the best but it's free and seems to work fine with the other devices linked into it (5 phones, 4 tablets, 2 consoles and 3 laptops) so I think it really is a Windows 8.1 / incompatible driver issue.

Given me some food for thought. I know it's not the right forum to diverge into re-installing 8.1 but if someone can point me a good resource for doing a clean install I would appreciate it.

Kind regards

Martin