Wireless issues on Studio XPS 13

I just bought a Studio XPS 13 as well with the 1515, and I was having problems with every WiFi connection I could find.  Then the list would reset, nothing would be found at all, and then after a minute it would repopulate.  After being connected for a few min, it would drop again.  Even being 3 ft from the router.  I chatted with Dell who made me reinstall the driver, and then told me the lamest excuse you could come up with:

"Because the 1515 is an N adapter, and you are trying to connect to a b/g network, these are not compatible."  He wanted me to contact their Priority support team for a fee to reconfigure the router.  Completely unacceptable after just buying the machine yesterday! 

I did my own research and I found the fix to the problem.  The driver included from Dell (as of 3/28/09) and on the website are BAD.

Use these drivers:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15297

v7.6.1.204 with modded INF v1.24 for both Vista x86 and x64
Should work for ALL Atheros Chipset versions

The problem is 100% fixed, and I also can see like 15 wireless networks around me now in the list, as opposed to just the one a few feet from me.  If I didn't find this driver, I would have returned the computer at BestBuy.  Dell maybe you are reading this and can acknowlege this problem and the horrible customer service!

Suffering same. Often requires safe reboot

Just delete the Dell drivers from Device Manger.  (Click uninstall and make sure you check mark "Delete the drivers").  Then reinstall the Atheros drivers from the link above and you should be good to go.

Suffering same. Often requires safe reboot

Yes the drivers found at Support.dell.com are normaly out of date. Tech support will often recomend going to the manufactures website for drivers. I would recomend trying the connection in safe mode with networking. This will help determan if its software or hardware. pls keep me posted on what happens.

Seems to have worked. Thanks

PS. I think driver has been updated to 211

Very helpful. Had the exact same issue with my brand new XPS 13, so thanks!

There seems to be never verison and not WHQL.  What one works the best?

I'm having the same problem with my Inspiron 15.  I've tried the Atheros drivers but I can't connect to any networks at all.  According to the device manager the card is properly installed and the diagnosis wizard can't find out what is wrong.

Any ideas?

Did you delete the old Deel drivers before installing new. (See above on how to do that). That may be important

Uninstalled the card from device manager and chose to delete drivers also.  Is there anything further?  On rebooting I chose to scan the file with the new drivers in when Vista asks to install the device.

Tried a few different sets of the Atheros drivers now with no luck.

The router I am connecting to is compatible with up to g I think.  The PCs that connect to it have g cards in them.

The v1.24 driver in above link is not available. none others I tried worked with my new XPS 13 Vista x64. Can anybody please upload it somewhere and give the link. ?

thanks

H

HI All, I had a neighbor just get a Studio 13 with a wireless-n 1515 adapter.   Had the exact problem that everyone has described in threads.  Connectivity with less than wireless-n and frequent drops and problems reconnecting.   As many have suggested, Google has problems with Dell and as many with HP.  Anyone using a wireless n solution based on AR5009 (atheros) chipset.   Did a lot of web searching as some of the download suggestion links had gone stale.   Found this link (http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/15297-atheros-modded-driver-for-windws-7-vista-and-winxp/) that had multiple drivers to download.   System had 4GB of memory and 64bit OS.   Did trial and error and .259 for x64 fixed the intermittent drop problem.   Others may have a different combo, but lots to choose from.

On the less than wireless n side, others have reminded that any router security needs to WPA, WPA-2, TPIK.   WEP, which is standard on some configs, won't do greater than 54mbps (wireless g equivalent).   As soon as we reset router config and entered WPA-2 key he created for router.  We had stable connection over 54mbps.  

Just some things for folks to consider.

I fixed this issue myself after long trials and a number of fruitless contacts with Dell Support. At somepoint I even considered returning the computer back to Dell.

Here are the steps that worked on Vista SP2 64 bit.

1. download  version: 7.7.0.259 Date: 18.03.2009 File: xp3264-7.7.0.259-whql.zip
from http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?atheros=AR5001XPLUS&system=2 and unzipped/extracted it in a folder in my desktop.

2. From Device manager select wireless Dell 1515 network adapter, right click on it and select 'update Driver spftware.

3. selected 'Browse my computer for drive software" and then 'Let me pick a list of device drivers on my computer'

4. Click on "Have Disk" button and then browse to the locateion where  you downloaded and unpacked the driver in step 1.

5. select the "netathw.inf,"  click on   "open" and then "OK"

6. In the new window 'Select network Adapter' from the list "Manufacturer" select "Atheros" and from list "Network  Adapter" "Atheros AR5008X Wireless netwrok Adapter', click 'Next' and then 'Yes'

7. the Update should be successful and you Wireless network adapter is now named "Atheros AR5008X Wirless Network Adapter" with an excellent signal strength

That's it :)

Haik

Maybe finally a solution. May wait until after October 22. I am running Win 7 RC and will have to do a clean install.