Very poor wireless reception on HP Envy 17t-j000

Question

So I just recently got a  HP Envy 17t-j000 quad edition (Windows 8), which seems to be having some wifi issues  
I opted for the cheaper non-bluetooth adapter, the Realtek RTL8188EE, which at present seems to have almost zero documentation on the internet. The Realtek website doesn't even show any record of it!
Anyways, here's the problem: I'm getting very poor reception with it, to the point where one of my two wireless routers has only very intermittent and horrendously slow connectivity, and the other will work a room away but no further (and also sometimes drops too, but less frequently). Outside of this range, I can still see these networks, but cannot always connect. If I do manage to connect, it will show a strong signal (4-5 out of 5 bars) but will never actually load anything. In fact, though I'm not sure this is relevant or not, I have never seen any networks with less than 3 out of 5 bars for signal strength.
Meanwhile, a number of other devices work at a much larger range and without dropping the connection as this computer does. This includes a year old HP (I forget the model) and a five year old Acer. The speed on my faster router doesn't appear to be very different between the HP Envy and the other two.
I have:
* Done a number of restarts of the network modem and both wireless routers
* Verified that the driver on the wireless adapter is up to date and reinstalled it
* Checked to make sure there are  no antivirus/firewall/other programs systems that could be interfering
So, does this sound like a just a crappy wireless adapter or could this be some sort of software issue or defective hardware? Also, if I were to just replace this with another wireless card, what sort of things do I need to be concerned with in order to make sure the replacement is compatible with the system?

Answer 1

OK Boys & Girls - - here's what I did - -
First - the Envy X2 is having similar problems - but my laptop is the 17t-j000 quad
so this IS the correct thread - -
I used the HP support assistant - - it installed an updated BIOS -
The WiFi still shuts down at 8 - 10 min watching Netflix (no mouse or user inputs - Max signal strength indicated)
{Yes - I have disabled allowing the machine to turn off power to the WiFi card in the driver section}
Loaded the Softpaq mentioned above (quoted below) - - 200MB - had to be SOMETHING in there ??
It loaded without a problem - - strange thing is - the Intel Driver date stayed the same: 9/17/2012
Tried the WiFi - - still shuts down at 8 - 10 min
Went back to HP Support Assistant - -
NOW it says - - I need a new WiFi package ?!?
So - I download and installed THAT - -
Back to Netflix - - and so far - has been NO SHUTDOWN ?!?
2 episodes watched - still connected - fingers crossed
Your mileage may vary - -
Hi,
         Download the Softpaq sp63183 from the below FTP link which should resolve these issues. 
This Softpaq is for Windows 8 notebooks with an Intel Wireless card and should not be installed if they have another manufacturer like Broadcom , Realtek , or Qualcomm . 
http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp63001-63500/sp63183.exe
Customer complaining about connection “ dropping ” intermittently.
Fixes an issue which causes the 802.11n wireless connection to be disabled after a wireless adapter driver is installed.
Customer is having general wireless connection issues with their Windows 8 notebook. 
"I work for HP."