XPS 13 wireless issues

Question

Hey,About 3 days ago I bought a new Dell XPS 13 l321x ultrabook. I love all aspects of it, besides one issue.The wireless is inconsistient. My HP pavillion DV6 works flawlessly, but yet my ultrabook stuffed up within an hour of turning it on.I've gone to the Dell website and followed all their reccomendations, such as rebooting the modem, resetting the adapter and reinstalling the drivers. I've figured out the problem relates to the Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 adapters drivers. Just in case you were wondering, the drivers I have currently installed are version 5:2:0:19 and I downloaded them from the Dell website here http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/au/en/aubsd1/DriverDetails/Product/xps-13-l321x?driverId=37PPD&osCode=W764&fileId=3000755423 along with bluetooth drivers too as per instructions here http://supportapj.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?docid=427835 These are all temporary solutions and I need to know my ultrabooks wireless connectivity will be reliable in the future, otherwise I will have to return it.Yes, I have tried tweaking the settings of the adapter, and I have also installed the McAfee antivirus patch. I have tried to use the computer in safe mode, and yet the problem still exists.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

DELL-Sujatha K · Answer

Hi FrankAustralia

Thank you for the detailed information about the steps that you have performed to troubleshoot the wireless connection. I suggest that you uninstall the drivers for both wireless card and blue tooth card and shut the system down. Please restart the system and install only the ‘Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230’ driver for the wireless card first. After installation, please restart the system and then install the blue tooth card drivers. Please reply to this post if any further assistance is required.

Thanks and Regards,
Sujatha K
#iworkfordell

FrankAustralia · Answer

Thanks for your fast reply.

I Uninstalled the drivers for the wireless card, which also uninstalled the bluetooth drivers at the same time. You seem to be mistaken in thinking there is a seperate bluetooth card, as my research indicates it is a combined card. My computer automatically reinstalled the wireless drivers upon start up, so I am unsure if the bluetooth drivers installed or not... I assume not seeming as my bluetooth mouse works, so I am very unsure about that aspect.

As I said above, reinstalling drivers or turning off the modem is a temporary solution, and it will be a test of time as to whether the problem is permanently fixed.

I will reply in a few days as to whether it worked or not.

PudgyOne · Answer

FrankAustralia,

Go to Drivers & Downloads enter your service tag number, then select your operating system. Under Network, download and install the latest drivers.

I used these tweaks...

Intel ~ Recommended settings for 802.11n connectivity

Start, control panel, device manager. Click on Network and then right click on your wireless adapter, left click properties, power management. Uncheck the box, allow computer to turn off this device to save power.

I went to the power options, and changed the Wireless Adapter Setting, from Maximum Power Setting to Maximum Performance.

Rick

FrankAustralia · Answer

Rick,

Thanks for your reply. I did what Sujatha did yet today I was running into the same problems, so I gave what you said a go.

All the wireless adapter settings were as you set, but the two power options in the battery menu and the turn off device part were not checked. However I found that unchecking "allow this computer to turn off this device to save power" as you recommended did not make the laptop automatically connect to the network upon opening the lid.

This was a nuisance for me so now I have just selected "maximum performance" in the battery menu, and will see how that goes.

FrankAustralia · Answer

Rick,

I am glad to report that the wireless doesnt disconnect now. However at random intervals of about 4-10 minutes, the internet still plays up. From what I have worked out by going into "status" of my wireless adapter, is that the "speed" goes down to 1.0 Mbps, when it is normally at 54.0 Mbps at the same distance from the router. For it to continue working normally, I reset the adapter and it works again. However this is a temporary solution, and I need something I know will make my dell laptop work permanently.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, otherwise I will really have to consider returning this laptop and getting a different brand.

PudgyOne · Answer

FrankAustralia,   If you're under warranty, contact Dell Tech Support.     Rick

DELL-Sujatha K · Answer

Hi FrankAustralia

As Rick as suggested you to contact Dell tech support I request you to provide me the service tag of the system to check warranty status. In order to send the service tag private message me, to private message accept my friend request; click on my user name and click start conversation.”

Thanks and Regards,
Sujatha K
#iworkfordell

Elsie_L · Answer

Hi,

It seems I have the same issue on my XPS 13.

When it boot, it did not connect to the wireless network, I clicked the trouble shoot, it said not able to find solution. So that I installed that latest wireless card driver, and restart.

After restart, it still did not connect to the wireless network, I tried trouble shoot again, it allowed trouble shoot this time, and it said the cause is that the wireless card is disabled, and I clicked "fix the issue with administrative".

The issue repeats. I do have other laptop which is using the same home wireless network, and it does not have similar issue as happens on this XPS 13.

Is this a hardware issue?

DELL-Sujatha K · Answer

Hi Elsie_L,

Pressing Fn + F2 keys on the keyboard will enable/ disable the Wireless radio. Make sure you used to this key combination to enable the wireless card. In case you are getting this error message even after pressing Fn + f2, I request you to check the wireless driver status in the Device manager. To go to Device manager open the charms bar by moving the mouse to right top corner of the screen and in the search box, type ‘Device Manager’, and then, in the list of results, click ‘Device Manager’.

When the device manager window pops up, in the list please check for ‘Network Adapters’ and check if there is any yellow or red indication for the wireless driver. Right click on the Wireless card and from the drop down list select ‘Enable’ and then check if you are able to go online.

Revert for further queries.

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XPS 13 wireless issues

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