Inspiron 17R Special Edition Won't See or Connect to 5 ghz Wireless

Hi,

I have the same trouble, let me know if you found something. I will do it too.

R.

Hi ajbadger and B0real,

Inspiron 17R Special Edition is shipped with one the following wireless cards:
*DW1703 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card.
*DW1704 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card.
*DW1901 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card.
*Intel 2230 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card.
*Intel 6150 WiFi/WiMAX combo card (US only).

DW1901 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card is a dual band card and if your laptop is not configured with this card then, the wireless connection will work only at 2.4MHz. You can check the card installed in Device Manager under “Network Adapters”.

Please let me know about your findings.

Hi Rajathm

Mine is a  the 2230: "Intel Centrino Wireless 2230"

Thanks

Answer from another post:

Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 2230 is a single band adapter and works on the 2.4GHz band ONLY.

I understand better now. 2.4GHz band of my router was set to 802.11g only and the 5Ghz dedicated for the N.  I have it (2.4) set to Mixed G and N. I was then able to reach a speed of 130mbits / s. Knowing that this was not enough, my goal was 300 Mbit / s. Parameter in the Wireless card and also the router, I had to change the width of the channel parameter set by default to 20MHz for auto (40MHz). Then I reached the desired speed of 300 Mbit / s. I hope that this addin will help someone else. Thanks!

Here is what it shows under  Device Manager under “Network Adapters”.

Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)

Bluetooth Device (RFCOMM Protocol TDI)

Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 2230

Microsoft Kernel Debug Network Adapter

Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller

I am not seeing any of the wireless cards you listed. I am not seeing any of the cards you listed.

Hi ajbadger,

From the details provided by you, the laptop has Intel 2230 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card and it is a single band card. It can connect only at 2.4GHz.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Hi ajbadger,

Thank you for your reply and apologize for the delay in responding to your request. You can upgrade to the Dell DW1901 WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 combo card as it is a dual band card and can connect to 5GHz networks.

For laptops that have the wireless display functionality (WiDi) like the Dell Inspiron 17R, there is an issue with a wireless IEEE interoperability requirement that won't let a device broadcast on the 2.4GHz band and 5GHz band simultaneously unless it's a certified wireless Access Point. (http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/CS-031809.htm)

WiDi can only use a 2.4GHz connection so to prevent a laptop from also using a 5GHz connection while WiDi is being used they had to strip out 5GHz wireless connectivity functionality from the WiFi card on any laptop that has the WiDi feature.

I have a dell wireless 1704 802.11 b/g/n 2,4Ghz.

So it is not be able to connect to my 5Ghz router?

Windows 7 64bit.

Centman,

The Dell Wireless 1704 WLAN Half Mini-Card works on 2.4GHz ONLY. It will not connect to 5.0GHz.

Rick

Okay, thanks for the reply.

However is it possible to buy a 5Ghz wireless for the Dell 5720?

One more question.

What does dual band means? not 2,4Ghz  AND 5Ghz?

Centman.

You have to watch the word dual as it is used.

Some 2.4GHz adapters use dual streams to give you the faster speeds, so they can be called wireless N adapters, but they work ONLY on 2.4GHz. So not all wireless N adapters work on 5.0GHz

Dual band should, but please read the description, work on both 2.4GHz and 5.0Ghz, but they can only operate on one frequency at a time.

If you find an adapter you're interested in and cannot tell if it works on 2.4GHz or 5.0GHz, post back and I'll see what information I can find.

Rick

Hi Rock,

Thanks for the reply. i leave it as it is now.

My wireless speed is good enough.

Regards,

Martijn