Windows 8 hates my Broadcom 802.11n wifi

Got an ugly issue gents and no answers from those 'lesser' forums :-D

new to me, clean Gateway NV52L15u laptop, comes with windows 8.
I debloated etc and its a pretty decent laptop [budget gamer...]
It has an otherwise unspecified "Broadcom 802.11n wireless adapter" that it hates. Lots of issues with it so I have, twice I think, completely eradicated it from the system to the point Windows could not find a driver [which was what I was wanting to do] then I downloaded the latest driver I could find from the ACER site via this systems identical twin V3-551-8469. [i had originally tried the older broadcom wad from the gateway site for this model - lots of issues]. Installed the package in total [instead of pointing device manager to the driver folder]. Per usual broadcom packs a huge hairball of stuff in the package. Rebooted and tried for a couple of days and here are some observations:

- sometimes get a good connection and life is ok for a few minutes - speedtest shows fullspeed numbers for my LAN/AP's etc but then it will inexplicably become unreliable. I have rigorously tested the lan/ap with a bunch of other devices and this notebook is unique in its troubles - ipads, androids, win7 workstations and another win8 workstation all fine.
- Win8 takes a long time to truly [if it is truly] shutdown when these episodes occur. I don't know if there is a connection I just mention in case you do know...
- If I try to disable/re-enable the WIFI device, then things get really wacky. in the control panel applet for the task the device will be shown as "hanging" ... that is I get stuck waiting for the device to be disabled, with no feedback [just the circle spinning]. the taskbar widget will show it still connected to the network. When I check it in Device Manager its weirder still... the main first pane will show "no drivers loaded for this device" but when I check whether it is disabled/enabled it shows "enabled", and checking the Driver Details it shows me four driver files loaded and active, and "device working properly"....
- If I force a reboot after trying the Disable, it will come back "disabled".
- If I UNinstall the device altogether using Windows 8 Device Manager, but do NOT check "delete drivers", When windows 8 restarts it will find the device [in the background... windows 8 gives no status about such things], and when I go check Device Manager it will then have only two driver files loaded for the unit.

As I type this Device Manager shows a driver ver 5.100.245.20 from Microsoft dated 3/13/2012, driver files C:....BCMWL63A.SYS and ... vwifibus.sys

I would sure love some good input on this. do I need to adjust some default settings, or chant an incantation or burn incense or what?
if you're familiar with the onboard component, is there a better set of drivers floating out there in the ether? does anyone know how to get the exact specifics of the device? the main Hardware ID is PCI/VEN_14E4&DEV_4727&SUBSYS_E042105B&REV_01

Thank you one and all

 

Doubt that it is a Windows 8 issue. Most likely a issue with the drivers. If you have the Microsoft driver on there, uninstall it, and install the Gateway driver from http://support.gateway.com/us/en/product/default.aspx?tab=1&modelId=4104

Never install Microsoft drivers on any computer, since it has been known since the days of XP, that they do more harm than good. I have gone as far as getting rid of the Toshiba drivers for my Satellite C805D-ST3NX1 Notebook that I have, and install the actual device manufacturer drivers instead.