WPA/WPA2 netbook firmware

[noober]

Hi, im running the latest version of Kali on a Acer "Aspire V5" netbook. I've had it for a a little over a month now and im generally pretty happy with it. There are however two pretty big issues.

Firstly, I cannot seem to connect to ANY wifi network that isnt using either WEP, or no encryption at all. WPA, WPA2 will not work. I can attach my Alfa wireless adapter and it connects to WPA/WPA2 net's just fine. here is my wifi card via "lspci"

"03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)"

Are there any fixes for this? is it a firmware issue? I have the same problem in Ubuntu 13 as well. Ubuntu is Debian after all, so i guess that makes sense.

Any help or input is appreciated.

**Bonus Points**
On the same netbook I cant adjust my screens brightness at all. Is there a command that will show me my exact video specs? This issue also happens on both kali and ubuntu.

[noober]

Update:
Ive attempted the following fixes.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/25085...3-on-12-04-lts
(I tried the first answer) no luck.

http://askubuntu.com/questions/22199...reless-n-issue
I know my issue isnt wireless N related, but worth a shot. Already have b43 cutter package..no luck.

After losing wifi completely, I followed this guide and installed the .deb (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/raring/...bdcom-0ubuntu6)
Now im back to square one. Could this be a kernal compat. issue? how do i check my current kernal version, or see if it can be upgraded?

Sorry for the painful noob speak :]