Inspiron 17R-5720, DW1704, Windows 10

I have a Dell Inspiron 3543 which has a DW1704 card. I recently upgraded to Windows 10, the card has been dropping connections, just turning off and restarting out of the blue. I need this solved ASAP as this laptop is an integral part of my studies. Please help. 

I have the same problem on Windows 8.1 - haven't done the windows 10 update yet.  Would really like to know solution - laptop basically useless in current state.  I guess we may have to return them?

I am facing the same wi-fi  connection stability problem on my Vostro 2520.

Community Professional offer me to download the drivers offered by "natakuc4" but the package neither install nor extract in Windows 10(64 Bit) platform.

Hardware IDs and what driver did you use (file name)? Also what size is the driver you downloaded, it sounds like an incomplete download?

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/checking-hardware-ids-in-the-device-manager/

Dell have a newer version 7.35.290 listed for the XPS 8700:

http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03206226M/2/BCM_Wireless_WT4_D3P4M_A01_Setup_ZPE.exe

However it seems the driver you have is still newer (from Windows Update?).

What if i just buy a new network card and install it then...

Hi Todd,

I have an Inspiron 17 3721 and, like many others, am unable to download and install Windows 10 due to incompatibility of my Broadcom Virtual Wireless Adapter.

You suggested checking with Broadcom directly.  Navigating the Broadcom website for the driver is quite difficult.  Using the term "Virtual Wireless Adapter" in the search field under driver downloads yields too many results to sort through without more information.  Can you please help?  Is there a better search string? Am I looking for a specific one of the items listed under "Choose Your Technology?"

Also, my computer seems to have disabled the adapter but I am unable to update to windows 10.  I have connectivity issues where my connection will be disrupted.  I did not disable this software yet, it is disabled. Is this something that Dell would have initiated at install?

Thank you in advance!

Amanda

The wireless half-card appears to have a standard interface, is there a description that I can search for a to find another card (not based on Broadcom) that IS Windows 10 compatible.  If I have to buy new card for $40-50 and can eliminate hours of searching to find a Broadcom solution for Windows 10, it's definitely worth the price!

I assume Broadcom is not going to support their base, otherwise  would assume Dell would have an announcement, by now!  Microsoft has made it clear that the Broadcom card is not supported!  Regards CR Cope

As I said earlier in a previous post:  "to resolve the Broadcom Virtual Wireless Adapter problem with Windows 10, go to the list of drivers and uninstall the Adapter.  Make sure you don't delete the driver (leave the box unchecked after you click on Uninstall).  On my Inspiron N7010, there is another Microsoft Wifi Miniport adapter that you leave.  I did that, my wifi still works, the next time the "Get Windows 10" app checked my PC, it found everything to be A-OK!!!"

This is a VIRTUAL adapter, not the real thing.  Try it, you'll like it.

Brilliant!  Thank you for the re-post.  I greatly appreciate it!

It sounds like such an easy solution!!  I don't understand why Dell has not recommended it before. 

Hey Todd:  WAKE UP!!!

I upgraded in-place a Vostro 3560 from 8.1 Update. It has a 1704 Dell (Broadcom) wireless card. After the upgrade, Windows kept the driver that was previously installed, 6.30.223.245, which I had downloaded from the Dell webpage. No problem with this driver. 

A client of mine just encountered this problem. It's not a virtual WiFi thing glitching it out (this thread seems to have two separate groups of issues) - all signal strengths were down around 1 bar, except those that were sporadically higher. Even 2 feet from the router, it was just 1 bar. All WiFi connections were dropping out.

I tried driver updates and rollbacks, but that didn't help at all. The answer seems to have been in the device manager. I noticed under the Advanced tab for the network adapter that the wireless drivers actually specify a wireless channel - in my client's case, channel 11. I checked out their wireless router, and it was on Auto (channel 6) - although there's some overlap with nearby channels, channel 6 and 11 really shouldn't have any, which would explain the terrible signal strength. Since channel 1 or 11 are usually less used than the middle channels, I flipped the router to Channel 11 (forced, so it won't roam), and bumped it up from WPA/WPA2 (TKIP/AES) to just WPA2 Personal. (AES) After that, everything is hunky dory. ~3-4 bars across the whole home. Much improved from 1 bar at the router.

This fits with what someone else reported. If the Win10 drivers don't properly adjust channels, Mennooo's suggestion would be a work-around. The older Win7 drivers would pick the correct channel for your wireless network, and then assuming that the router doesn't deviate from that, the drivers will continue to work after being upgraded to lame-brained Win10 ones.

Let me know how it goes for the rest of you. There is one other fallback solution if anyone is totally stuck - you can open up the underside of your laptop and replace the wireless adapter with a fully Win10 compatible one. As an example, I've seen Intel 7260 Wireless AC/N adapters going for as little as $25 on sale at Newegg/NCIX/Amazon. Those should be Win10 compatible. (Search Google before buying anything.) You just swap out the hardware (Powered off, of course! Battery removed if possible.) and once complete, plug your computer in with an ethernet cable and turn it on. Windows Update should pull in the correct driver and get your wireless working.

-Kramy

Yes, that's right.  I disabled the Broadcom adatper first before installing Windows 10. There were no negative impacts; the WiFi still worked fine.  I went ahead with the Windows 10 upgrade and all is well.