Broadcom 802.11 + Realtek 8188EU wireless issue on Windows 10

Nick887 · 28 Sep 2016

Hello all,

I got serious issues with the HP G4 250. When I bought it the integrated Broadcom 802.11 device catches the wireless signal really bad. Even with my phone hot's spot on the distance should be not more than 20 centimetres away from the laptop. Now I'm using this wireless card 1.5 meters away from a router with an external antenna.

Ping statistics for 8.8.8.8 :
Packets: Sent = 167, Received = 132, Lost = 35 (20% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2562ms, Average = 98ms

So instead of troubleshooting I just boght a mini USB Realtek RTL8188EU device for $10, which worked fine until today I upgraded Windows 10 with the automatic updates. Now the Realtek doesn't show any network. I tried restarting few times and different USB ports. I tried disable/enable. Install/Uninstall from the device manager. Nothing helped.

Could you please help me find working drivers for both (or at least for one) of the cards?

1) Broadcom 802.11 - current driver version 6.30.223.256
2) Realtek 8188EU - current driver version 1030.6.1201.2015

Thank you in advance!

Cheers,
Nick

bro67 · 28 Sep 2016

802.11 is just a standard. What type of Wireless Connection are you using? b, g, n, ac? If you are using a cellphone as a hotspot, the hardware could just be cheaply built for the wifi portion. Also the speeds are not going to be that great, same as latency.

Nick887 · 29 Sep 2016

Hello bro67,

Thank you for your reply! Please note that I'm a CCNA and CCNA Security engineer so I do understand that 802.11 is just a standard. However I took 802.11 as the name of the card, because there is no other name on the broadcom site itself or in the device manager.

I don't really think that the issue is with the network connection itself because I'm using different routers in a coffee shops, friends, at my parents and so on.

Any other ideas?

Nick887 · 29 Sep 2016

I think I just found the solution.

I just got here:
Drivers Software for HP 250 G4 Notebook PC - HP Support Center.

And downloaded the original Broadcom drivers for the HP G4 250. Now the rRealtek is not needed.

Steps:
1) Download the 45.3 version (7.35.344.0) from 1/26/2016
2) Uninstall the old driver from the device manager
3) Just start the setup and enjoy

The result:
1) Full network coverage - even in another room.
2) More networks available in the windows menu
3) No network losses toward to router itself:

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 143, Received = 143, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 135ms, Average = 5ms

Thank you for your help!

Nick

bro67 · 30 Sep 2016

Keep the Realtek in case you need a second wifi dongle for sharing the connection through the laptop. The Broadcom drivers have always been really restrictive, since they are not as open as Realtek and Intel are with theirs.