Alienware Wireless Issue X51

Question

Well judging by the sudden falloff of X51 wireless issues since Jan 1, 2013, it would appear that all the wireless issues with the X51 have been solved.  Had Dell Support to the house 3x first to replace antenna and DW1502 wifi mini board, second time again to replace DW1502 and the third to replace the DW1502 with the DW1506.  All three attempts failed within 2 to 24 hours with wifi conntection either falling off or not at all.  BTW - on the last contact with Dell Support I requested replacement of the Atheros DW1506 Mini Card with an Intel 5100.  I was denied that request and told that Dell would only replace the DW1502 with the DW1506 which they are still providing in the X51 PC's.Well at the point when the DW1506 failed (4 hrs) and after reading in reivews on the web what garbage Atheros makes (at least in wifi cards) I purchased a Dual Band Intel WIFI Link 5100 Half-Mini PCI-E Card H006K purchased on eBay for $7.36 including free shipping. Needless to say - PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!  My download and upload speeds are steady at the same speed as the Ehternet Cable I used while waiting for the new card to arrive. So in the event any of you are still getting the Antenna and Atheros Card runaround from Dell Support, here is the ebay link to your problems solution: http://www.ebay.com/itm/121033112028?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 Another satisfied Dell Support Customer.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

DJohnH, Did the 5100 connect easily to our internal antenna?

DJohnH · Answer

Chris,

Same (2) Clip antenna configuration as the DW1500 Series. Between you and

me I think the biggest upside to the Intel WiFi Mini Card 5100 is that it

is a Dual Band 2.4/5GHz Card with 450 Mbps of bandwidth. The DW 1500

series is only a single band card. Can't beat this eBay sites pricing

either - looked all over.

Thanks for your inquiry

DJohnH · Answer

Chris,

After installing the Intel Mini Card, I connected the X51 to the net and Intel's website and they have an auto search function for installing Wifi adaptors. It identified the Card and downloaded and installed the drivers perfectily.

DJohnH · Answer

Chris, Forgot to mention that after installing the new Intel Card, I connected to the net via Ethernet Cable. Sorry!

StlJer · Answer

Not Fixed! Received my Alienware X51 on 4/5/13 and discovered terrible download performance with WiFi. Like watching paint dry. Dell Tech Service graciously sent a contract field tech to replace the antenna. Good thing I found tech Article ID 576089 to show him how or he never would have been able to do so. It's now done and speed improved slightly. Paint drys faster. In disgust, I disabled the internal wireless network and used the same D-Link USB adapter I used on my old Dell Dimention 4600 and now get the speed I pay AT&T for.

Dissatisfied with my Alienware.

NataliaatAW · Answer

Hi StlJer,

Thank you for sharing your experience, I would like to review your case and report your complaints about the onsite service, would you please send me a private message with your service tag and contact information?, include the link to this thread.

StlJer · Answer

The Dell phone tech Diego did a good job. He diagnosed a problem with the antenna and authorized an on-site service call to replace it.  The on-site also did a good job. Even though unfamiliar with the X51, he correctly replaced the antenna which requires almost complete disassembly of the case.  My complaint is NOT with the onsite service.The problem is Alienware's inferior Wi-Fi design and non-existent documentation.  I fortunately had an old Toshiba laptop in the exact same location which has far superior built-in wireless network capability that allowed me to find this forum. The hub is a U-Verse 802.g unit about 30 feet away so this is not rocket science.

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