Should I update wireless driver or not?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

That is correct.

If the hardware ID for the wireless card you bought is included in the driver setup information file, the driver will work.

If you want me to check, please post the hardware ID for the wireless card you installed.

In the device manager, there should be a device labeled as a Network Controller.  That is what the wireless card is called when the driver is missing.

Click on that, and then click on the Details tab at the top of the Network Controller window.

Now you should see a Property drop down list and it will be set to Device Description.

Drop down on that list and select the 2nd item (Hardware ID's).

Post the top string of characters that you see in the window.

[dkline]

I already took out the new card when I couldn't find the driver.

Is the hardware ID listed ion the card itself?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You would have to reinstall the card to get the Hardware ID, by using the steps I gave you above.

And if you are going to reinstall the card, try the driver I posted first, and see if it works, because I am pretty sure it will.

If it doesn't, then post the hardware ID for the card so I can look around to see what driver will work for it.

[dkline]

Will do, thanks.

[dkline]

Okay, I put that new dual-band wireless card back in but the driver package you gave me didn't work.

The hardware ID on that card is as follows:

PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_145C103C&REV_01

I did try that Coredy dual band usb wireless adaptor (with antenna), though, and I'm getting 140 Mbps speeds on the 5 GHz network, so I'm happy to have solved the problem -- though not in the way I originally planned.

Btw, when I copied the hardware ID and went to paste it into a Word file or draft Outlook email, I initially got a little black circle rather than text. I had to recopy several times before what was pasted was text rather than a graphic black ball.

Any idea what that is?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

See if this driver works...It is a Broadcom model card, so I was wrong about it being made by Atheros.

This package contains drivers for the supported Broadcom Wireless LAN Adapters in the supported notebook/laptop models and operating systems.

File name: sp57965.exe

[dkline]

Hey Paul,

Sorry that new driver didn't work either, and I'm going to give up on that front now since I do have the usb adaptor that works just fine to give me 5 GHz wireless speeds.

Thanks for all the time and thought you put in to trying to help me. I really appreciate it.

Is there any way to uninstall those Atheros and Broadcom drivers?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I don't understand why the Broadcom driver I posted didn't work.

Here is a partial copy and paste of the driver setup information file which shows this driver supports that card...

; x64 (AMD64, Intel EM64T) - Win7
;
[BROADCOM.NTamd64.6.1]

        %BCM4313NG_DeviceDesc% = BCM43XNG2022_NT61, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_145C103C
        %BCM4313NG_DeviceDesc% = BCM43XNG2022_NT61, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_1483103C
        %BCM4313NG_DeviceDesc% = BCM43XNG2022_NT61, PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_1795103C

Try manually installing the driver as follows...go to the device manager and click on the Network Controller needing the driver.  Click on the driver tab.  Click on Update Driver.  Select the Browse my computer for driver software option, and browse to the driver folder that was created when you ran the file.

That folder will be located in C:\SWSetup\sp57965.

Make sure the Include Subfolders box is checked and see if the driver installs that way.

The Atheros driver never installed.  If you can't get the Broadcom driver to install after you try the manual installation method above, you can simply go into the SWSetup folder and delete those driver folders.

You can delete the Broadcom driver folder too if the driver does install as well.

[dkline]

I already tried what you suggested. I browsed to that particular folder, ensured that subfolders were included in the search, yet still device manager said it could not find the driver.

Maybe it's just one of those weird software mysteries that are part and parcel of PC life.

Anyway, I appreciate you're trying to help me -- really, the assistance you've offered has been above and beyond anything I could have hoped for.

But functionally I'm now getting what I need -- 4 times the speed for my 2.4 GHz wireless signal -- with that Coredy USB adaptor, so I'm fine.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I raise the white flag and surrender to the PC!

As you wrote, you overcame the problem by another method, and since you're fine with that, all is well.