Virgin Media Hub 5 Compatibility with Wireless Adapters

[NBajaffer]

This is not a question but a solution for those who have received the Virgin Hub 5 router.

I received the Virgin Hub 5 recently and noticed that the SSID/SSIDs for the Virgin Hub 5 were not being advertised on a couple of laptops. These laptops had one thing in common, they had the Microsoft Wireless Drivers installed on them (Dual Band Wireless 7260/7265). After updating the drivers to the latest version, nothing changed. Other laptops had Intel drivers and they were working fine so then I decided to install the Intel Pro Wireless Drivers for 7260 Family on the non-working laptops and the SSIDs showed up immediately and connected to the Virgin Hub 5.

So it looks like the Microsoft Wireless Drivers are not compatible with the Virgin Hub 5 router.

[Tudor]

Good spot and solution.

[asim18]

Yep. The proper manufacturer drivers are much better than the Windows generic ones. Even if the generic drivers seem to work fine, you usually get much better performance and unlock more features with the manufacturer's drivers.

It's one of the reasons I refrain from using Windows nowadays as I've heard horror stories about the Windows Artificial Intelligence taking full ownership of people's systems and changing system settings on its own accord and replacing user-defined drivers.

[goslow]

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@asim18 wrote:

<snip> I've heard horror stories about the Windows Artificial Intelligence taking full ownership of people's systems and changing system settings on its own accord and replacing user-defined drivers.

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Manufacturer drivers being overwritten by Windows own is certainly an unwelcome 'feature' of Win 10 which I know from personal experience. Stopped it on my Win 10 Pro PC with a group policy setting to 'Do not include drivers with Windows updates'. No further problem since.

[Tudor]

I’ve worked with and supported Windows ever since beta days and the split from OS/2. It’s just got too heavy and too much trouble these days. I gave up on it 18 months ago for Apple. Just updated to Monterey with no problems at all.

[goslow]

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@Tudor wrote:

I’ve worked with and supported Windows ever since beta days and the split from OS/2. It’s just got too heavy and too much trouble these days. I gave up on it 18 months ago for Apple. Just updated to Monterey with no problems at all.

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Agree entirely and will have to make a similar move myself once my present Windows PC expires.

I used to regularly do repairs, updates and fixes for the Windows PCs of friends and family members but, since Win 10, those basic kinds of tasks have become more and more difficult to do due to the unpredictable and unreliable behaviour of Win 10. Have more or less stopped doing it entirely now because of the endless succession of failed monthly updates in Win 10 and MS Office. The regular calls from friends and family about broken Windows computers after failed updates each month were almost becoming a part time job!