Broadcom Netlink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet Windows 10 driver

Few days ago I installed Windows 10 on my desktop computer and then I start having problem losing LAN (local area network) internet connection. I upgraded from Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit. I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 before this and I did not have any problems with the drivers.

I used the troubleshoot tool from Network Settings – Network & Sharing Center and that solved the problem for a period of time. The troubleshooter fixed this issue: “The Default Gateway is not available”. But the problem continued and it was frustrating.

I went to Device Manager and tried to update the driver for the Network Adapter – Broadcom Netlink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet using the option “Search automatically for updated driver software”, which concluded that I already have the latest version. But the problem was not solved and the LAN internet connection broke again after 30 min.

I searched for “the default gateway is not available windows 10”. Some articles suggested it may be the Power Management tool that stops the LAN connection, but it wasn’t that. Other articles suggested some conflicts with the Windows Firewall, but it wasn’t this either. So I assumed it must be the network adapter driver. I tried to get a driver from Broadcom official website, but it seems I did not find the right one from the start.

Then I searched other articles on Google looking for a solution for “broadcom netlink ™ gigabit ethernet windows 10”, until I found this post:
http://www.windows10forums.com/threads/no-internet-connection.1031/

Thanks to the user Trouble, I found the proper driver on the Broadcom official website:
http://www.broadcom.com/support/?gid=12

Here is the solution, as Trouble mentioned it in his post.

Download the Netlink (R) 57.xx driver for 64-bit, it will come as a .zip file, at this time it was named win_k57-15.6.0.14.zip. Extract the content of the archive, and you’ll get a folder 15.6.0.14 wich contains both 32-bit and 64-bit driver versions. Remember the location for this folder. (when you read this article you may get a newer version for this driver, but you can proceed in a similar way)

Right click the Start menu, then click on Device Manager – Network adapters – Broadcom Netlink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet and select Driver update. When prompted use the option “Browse my computer for driver software”. On the next screen click Browse beside “Search for driver software in this location” and locate the Netlink (R) 15.6.0.14 for 64-bit folder mentioned above. Click Next and finish the process. This will update your driver and everything will work fine. See the attached images below.

Now you can enjoy your new Windows 10 installation!