Atheros Modem
As I'm sure you've heard, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. First, download the updated device driver package from the link I posted. Next, go into control panel and open device manager. Go down to network adapters and double click it. Under network adapters there should be a listing for your wireless adapter.

Right click it and select uninstall from the menu. In the next box that appears check the box next to 'uninstall device driver' and then click ok. Reboot the computer. Phone Unlocker V2.2 on this page. Now, open the zip file you downloaded containing the driver files by clicking on the file.
Inside the zip folder there are a bunch of files. One of them is named setup.exe, click or double click on that, depending on how your mouse is setup, and it should run the installation files for the network adapter. Interestingly enough, I have had a very similar issue with my new Lenovo G510 laptop, with the same Qualcomm Atheros AR9485WB-EG wireless card. It wouldn't find networks that were pretty strong, unless it was sitting right next to the access point. For a while I thought the solution was to take out the battery every so often and 'hard reset' the hardware.
However, I found a thread with the same question, the effect of which was that the manufacturers of some of the laptops that use these cards wired them wrong at the factory. If you look at the post here (props to James Croft): you'll see some pictures about it. Other people were having the same problem on different brand laptops: but the solution for all of them was to open up the laptop and switch the cables on the wifi card, such that the white wire connected to MAIN and the black wire connected to AUX. Hope this helps, if you still haven't solved the issue.
