Help! Wi-Fi keeps getting disconnected on Dell XPS Studio 1640

Question

I have a Dell XPS Studio 1640 running Windows 7 32bit on it. I also have a secondary laptop which connects perfectly to the Wi-Fi without any disturbances so it is not a router problem.

Dell connects to Wi-Fi and then disconnects very frequently and doesn't maintain a stable connection. I tried performing diagnostics, turning wi-fi switch on and off, rebooting, installing new drivers.

This laptop uses Intel Wifi Link 5100 AGN as network adapter driver. To check if its a driver problem, I checked on Dell Support forum for latest drivers and it mentioned 5500. But I was unable to uninstall the current 5100 driver because as soon as I uninstall from Device manager and reboot, it will automatically reinstall 5100 driver by saying 'Found new hardware'. I tried installing 5500 despite unsuccessfully uninstalling current 5100 driver and now I have something called 'Intel PROset wireless driver+software' which I can't uninstall as it gives error 'You don't have permission to stop this driver from running'

I am able to get uninterrupted connection by using LAN cable but the Wi-Fi still is extremely unstable even after rebooting multiple times (and performing full memory scan) and doing above. Please help me in how to uninstall current 5100 driver if its causing problems or installing any other driver? Any other way to try?

I used Dell XPS 16 support site website to check for recent drivers.

Please ask me if I need to provide more information

Thanks a lot

PudgyOne · Answer

don1231915,

Make a system restore point.

Download the drivers you need. Try Dell's Drivers and Downloads and also try Intel Download Center and save the drivers to your desktop.

Start, control panel, device manager, network adapters, right click on Intel 5100, left click uninstall. Tell it to remove the drivers and software. Then restart the computer.

After you login, the drivers may or may not install with the new hardware wizard. Try installing the drivers you downloaded and installed.

I would also try channels 1, 6 or 11 on my wireless router. Most wireless devices work better on these channels.(I prefer channel 11)

Rick

rcollette1 · Answer

Amazing... My XPS 16 is doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.  But I can't find my wireless adapter hardware on the device list AT ALL.  Won't do me any good until I can locate the  hardware.

PudgyOne · Answer

rcollette1,

Did you recently install/reinstall/upgrade the operating system? If yes, did you install the Dell System Software (if applicable) and the chipset drivers first? If not, the rest of the drivers will fail to install. How to Download and Install Drivers in the Correct Order

Rick

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Help! Wi-Fi keeps getting disconnected on Dell XPS Studio 1640

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