Issue with Inspiron 5100 and connecting wirelessly

Question

I have looked through the message board and notice that many individuals are having problems like I am with my Inspiron 5100 laptop and the internal wireless connection. I have had this system for 3 weeks now and every so often (after 10-15 minutes of steady network activity), it will either go from an 11Mbps to 1 Mbps or drop the network connection entirely. Typically, it begins to respond after a minute or so but that fluctuates also.

I upgraded to the Internal True Mobile 1400 Dual Band Mini-PCI card and my router is the Netgear MR814 802.11b Cable/DSL Wireless Router. Keep in mind that on my IBM laptop with another wireless card, the connection is always solid. In addition, it has never been intermittently unstable like this new laptop is with the wireless connection.

So my general question, what else can I do to troubleshoot this problem? I have read a number of posts in regards to this issue and I have also ensured that the setting for the IEEE 802.1x authentication has been disabled (per the instructions found at http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?dn=1081097#Sectlink). Please provide any input on this and any advice that can assist me in permanently resolving this inconvenient and frustrating issue.

JDHUNTLEY · Answer

What does it take to get a response here?  I was very thorough in my post and I gave relavant information to an actual problem I am having.  Does anyone have any advice I can use for resolving my issue?

RAhlgren · Answer

This is disheartening. I just bought two 5100s, and the wireless on both of them is worthless. (I'm writing this on my mac).

Why doesn't Dell jump in and offer advice on this? I thought they read these forums.

JDHUNTLEY · Answer

Yes, I feel your pain on both accounts.

Are there any reps from Dell who can shed some light on this issue?

It would be nice to have some type of resolution including some steps we can take to ensure we are getting the most value out of the product we purchased from Dell!

Each day we wait, the more frustrated we get...

johnallg · Answer

Both of you need to realize these forums are user to user - Dell Tech Support does not respond here.  All I can offer in addition to what you have tried is to change the channel on the Netgear router, it could be interference.

JDHUNTLEY · Answer

John,

Now that was a very comprehensive answer. I appreciate the time you gave to us.

Now I'll continue to troubleshoot this on my end and when I have an answer for the thousands of people having the same problem, I'll post it for all to see

Message Edited by JDHUNTLEY on 12-17-2003 02:03 PM

RAhlgren · Answer

Thanks, John

Changing the channel to 1 (one) did it for me, so far. I hope it works when I get home also.

For some reason, I thought there were Dell people circulating around the forums. It seems it would make sense for them to see what issues their customers are having.

JDHUNTLEY · Answer

RAhlgren,

Mine was already set to channel 1 so I changed it to channel 2. The issue has calmed a bit from there. I also heard that the firmware on the router itself may need to be upgraded. I recommend that you visit NetGear's website to see the latest version of firmware available for your specific NetGear router. Follow the install and setup instructions from that point. If I get anywhere else, I'll update it out here.

johnallg · Answer

You might change all the way to channel 11. I believe but don't know for sure that the 2.4mhz phones use bandwidth just below the wifi spectrum and may bleed into our spectrum.

The Dell moderators that pop in once in a while are here only to police for compliance with the Terms of Service - any help they offer is voluntary.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Issue with Inspiron 5100 and connecting wirelessly

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