My Wi-Fi Driver Problem (And How I Fixed It!)

I recently got an old laptop from my dad. The first thing I realized was that the the Wi-Fi wasn't working really well, if working at all. At first, I thought that it was just acting up, and it'll be fine after a restart. Not happening. The laptop was as stubborn as hell. I could see my Wireless Network, but I could never connect to it at all.

So then I thought that there could be a problem with an outdated driver, or worst, a corrupted driver. Of course, being a Compaq laptop, I headed straight to HP.com to download the latest drivers. I downloaded them and hoped for the best. But luck wasn't on my side. The Wi-Fi problem was still there. The driver had to be outdated on HP's website, especially considering how old the laptop was (It's the Compaq Presario B1900 shown above, in case you wanted to know).

Secondly, I searched and combed all over Broadcom's website for Driver downloads. There wasn't any downloads for my specific wireless card. Broadcom is more an OEM parts (i.e. Wireless Cards) manufacturer, thus I'm guessing they provide the downloads straight to the Computer Hardware brands like Dell, HP, lenovo etc. So, back to square one.
I was stuck. I googled the web for "Broadcom drivers". Trust me, that was completely useless. Third party sites either had the outdated driver as well, or only had it for a specific Operating System (except for mine).

I guess all that googling led me to UniBlue. I used to use their RegistryBooster and knew I could trust them. They're not your typical Internet Software scam, claiming to give you a "new computer" whilst the software did nothing. I knew their software actually worked.
I found out that they released a new product called DriverScanner and downloaded it RIGHT away. A quick scan of my drivers showed that I had numerous outdated drivers. And guess what? I saw that my Wireless Card was on that list!
Like I mentioned, I knew I could trust UniBlue from my previous experiences with their software. I went straight to their website and purchased DriverScanner 2009 with the little money I had in my PayPal balance. I then got the full version, which actually allowed me to download the Drivers.

I know what you're going to say right now - "I bet that still didn't work" or "back to square one". Well, for once, you're wrong. After the driver installed (The latest version was 4.170.77.3, while I had 3.xxx.xx, which was pretty outdated in terms of version number), I re-entered the Wireless settings and waited patiently for the dreaded Connecting dialog box in Windows XP. "Connected!" it finally read! I was so happy, as it meant I could take the laptop to school, as the only way to connect is Wi-Fi there. As I bonus, I downloaded the Bluetooth drivers as well, as to my surprised, the Bluetooth started working as well! (I previously thought there wasn't any Bluetooth on the laptop)

Disclaimer: This is a true story. I truly, from my heart, recommend UniBlue 100%. If you have any driver problems, I suggest you download DriverScanner first to check how outdated your drivers are, then buy the program if necessary.


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