for the first time or upgrade?

I remember on a couple upgrades that Broadcom had issues with a hardware vs. software block in a config file that even if your external wifi switch is turned on (laptop) the file has wifi harware set to block. In that file you just unblock both hardware and software. You have the choice of either. There is also a terminal command to do the same. These are all root commands/text not local user.
I'm on my phone now but I'll look it up when I'm on my main machine. In the mean time maybe that gives you something to search.

Try...
sudo rfkill list all

See if your network hardware is listed and if it's blocked.

If anything is blocked then..

sudo rfkill unblock all

or

sudo rfkill unblock (whatever the name of the hardware is)

Broadcom also has issues with other loaded drivers. An installed driver may need to be blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

sudo rfkill list all

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
2: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
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So this is telling me there is a hard block on brcm and hp-wifi I think?

Hard block might be the modem/router firewall?

Is that what it's saying to you?

The drivers that run the hardware are blocked. You can unblock them using the rfkill unblock command. If it works you found your issue. Sometimes it's just a Broadcom glitch and it won't return, but sometimes it means there's a driver conflict and Broadcom won't continue after reboot. You have to find the hardware driver that is in conflict then add it to modprobe.d blacklist.conf so it won't try to initialize on restart.

i did follow this page as far as installing the proper broadcom driver

https://askubuntu.com/questions/55868/installing-broadcom-wireless-drivers

Have to get into BIOS tomorrow

Have you tried the wifi button on your keyboard? Sometimes it's overlooked.

I did use
sudo rfkill unblock all earlier today, and just now, no that didn't change things

I didn't know there was a wifi key on my keyboard

should I be looking at the BIOS?

It was a clean install, not an upgrade

If there are other wifi drivers or even incorrect Broadcom drivers it will re-block your wifi.

And yes, look in your bios...

It also looks like you have 2 hardware drivers. Do you actually have 2 wifi network cards or harware? If you know you are using Broadcom, blacklist the hp one exactly as it's presented there or find the actual driver name. If you rfkill unblock both, they may turn off again if they're not happy together.

these were 2 router settings made today

They are hardware driver conflicts most likely.

If traffic is blocked it won't keep the wifi hardware from activating and wont block the driver in your machine.

Wifi button? No.
Wifi heat-sensitive switch? yes. Hasn't worked in years. Suddenly it's alive

But now it asks for password, and the router password doesn't work?

It probably a setup problem from here

Is this a Client, HotSpot, or AdHoc mode?

IPv4 mode automatic, link-local, manual, or shared?

IPv6? similar choices as IPv4

Should the network adapter in BIOS be disabled again?

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I think I need to install legacy Broadcom drivers in Linux. Most of the instructions I've found are in Ubuntu or Debian, which are close. Do you think they are close enough to work in Linux Mint?