My S3-391 wifi radio is unreliable

Notaguru

S3-391-9606

Windows 7 HP

Atheros wifi network adapter

Driver version 10.0.0.274

AV = Microsoft Security Essentials

 

This remarkable notebook works perfectly in every respect except one: wifi. This radio+driver combination does not work properly. It loses connectivity randomly. I disabled, removed, and reinstalled the .274 driver with no improvement.

 

Finally, I disabled that Qualcomm driver and installed a Realtek USB radio, which works properly. Other laptops in this environment work as well, and the problem persists at the university where I work, so it is not the wireless router. 

 

What can be done to fix this?

Clyde

Maybe you can try updating to the v10.0.0.276 driver.

 

 

Notaguru

Thanks.

I disabled the Realtek radio/driver, and installed the v10.0.0.276 driver for the Atheros radio. It worked fine for a few minutes, but as before its performance quickly deteriorated and it became became unreliable. Rebooting fixes the problem, but the "fix" doesn't last.

 

I switched back to Realtek, and it works perfectly. HOWEVER, with only two USB ports on this machine, this is an unacceptable solution.

 

 

 

 

Notaguru

I appreciate the driver update, but it had no effect.

 

That means the hardware radio must be faulty. Presumably it's a small PCB module connected to power, mother board, and antennas (it does both wifi and BT). How do I get a replacement from ACER? I can install it.