Hi there.

I recently upgraded my Inspiron 580s to Windows 8.1, and I am now experiencing some issues with my Broadcom NetLink Ethernet Adapter.  My connection will work for about two hours and then the connection will change to limited.  I try using the built-in Windows troubleshooter to fix the issue and it just stalls on resetting the adapter, which leaves it disabled.  I can reboot to restore connectivity, but then the process repeats.  I'll have my connection for a couple of hours and then it goes away again.  I'm basically at the point where I'm rebooting my computer every couple of hours.

Here is what I've done so far:

I started with the Microsoft support forum to see if anyone had any suggestions.  I've tried disabling the power options on the adapter, uninstalling and reinstalling the adapter, and I've downloaded the current driver from the Broadcom website.

Disabling the power options and reinstalling did nothing.

When I try to install the driver from Broadcom's website, Windows informs me that the driver currently installed is newer than the one currently in use.  The driver number installed is 15.6.1.2.  The driver number from Broadcom's site is 15.6.0.10.  I've been able to confirm that driver 15.6.1.2 and Windows 8.1 has issues based on my discussions with others on the Windows support forum.

I'm curious if anyone knows if Dell has provided a solution to this or if someone has found a workaround.  I'm open for any ideas as I continue to troubleshoot the issue.

Thanks.