Losing network connection (Dell XPS 8500)

Question

Hi all,

I am having a very frustrating problem with my new Dell XPS 8500's wireless connection - Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz). Basically, I am losing my network connection every couple of minutes. The process goes something like this:

1) Not connected - Connections are available

2) My network dissapears completely (yet all other local networks are still visible) for a matter of seconds then reappears

3) I try to connect and receive "Windows was unable to connect"

4) I press "Troubleshoot problems"

5) "Resolving problems", "Resetting network adapter", "Troubleshooting has completed"

6) Problem with wireless adapter or access point - Fixed

7) I am reconnected to the network/internet with a full 5 bars

8) Process repeats itself five minutes later

I have been able to come to a conclusion that is not the adapter, or the router, but some sort of compatibility issue as:

a) I have tried connecting to a different wireless network and it has worked fine

b) There are other systems in the household that connect to the network and are not experiencing the same issue

It is not a distance issue as router is 2 meters away from the adaptor with nothing inbetween, the other systems that use the network are much further away.

What I have tried so far:

- Changing the channel from "Auto" to a set number

The router is a Belkin N300 Wireless N.

I do not have much knowledge when it comes to networking so please ask for any further information which may be required and I will provide it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Mart

(P.S. In the time it has took me to write this, I have lost my connection 9 times).

Mart_2 · Answer

Hi Gaurav,

Thank you a lot for your help.

I was unable to try your first suggestion, I could get up to step 5 but unfortunately I am not provided the options that you mentioned.

I have also tried deleting the profile and reconnecting, but to no avail.

Do you have any suggestions regarding my router settings? Also, I am unsure how to match the channel.

Many thanks,

Mart

DELL-Gaurav Sh1 · Answer

Hi Mart,

You may try changing the settings on the Wireless adapter by performing the following steps:

1. Click Start > Right-click Computer > Click Properties.

2. Click Device Manager in the upper left corner. (If you are prompted to continue by the User Account Control, click Continue).

3. In the Device Manager window, click the next to Network Adapters.

4. Double-click the Dell Wireless WLAN Card.

5. Click the Advanced tab.

6. In the ‘Property’ box, click to highlight AP Compatibility Mode, select Broader Compatibility under ‘Value’ from the drop-down menu.

7. In the ‘Property’ box, click to highlight Minimum Power Consumption, select Disabled under ‘Value’ from the drop-down menu.

8. Click OK.

You may also try matching the channel on the wireless adapter of the system and router. Another good idea would be to delete the profile of your wireless network from the system and then create a new profile for the network by performing the following steps:

1. Click Start->Control Panel, Select Network and Internet, and then click Network and Sharing Center.

2. In the task list, please choose Manage wireless networks.

3. In the Network table, please select the existing profiles and click Remove.

4. You may see a warning dialog box, just click OK.

5. Then you go back to Network and Sharing Center dialog box, and choose Change adapter settings -> right click Wireless Network Connection -> click Connect/Disconnect.

6. Click the refresh button to view available wireless networks. Select the correct network which you want to connect, double click it or click Connect button.

Let me know if you need any information or assistance. I will be glad to help.

PudgyOne · Answer

Mart,

Experiment, try changing the type of security from WPA to WEP or no security. How is the connection now?

I have had members have problems with Belkin products having problems determining the difference between WPA-PSK(TKIP) Security(Personal) and WPA-AES, so there are connection problems.

Rick

dcevans · Answer

I am experiencing a similar problem with the LAN card. I'm connected to the my router and the internet fine. Then the internet connection randomly drops. I can still access everything on my home network from the XPS 8500 and other machines can access the internet. So, it's local to the XPS 8500. If I disable / enable the local area connection, access to the internet is restored.

I replace the drive from the support site, however, it's seems to be the same version as shipped with the computer - 7.50.1123.2011 dated 11/23/2011.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks,

David

DELL-Nikhil D1 · Answer

Hi dcevans,

In order to provide the right WLAN card drivers for your computer, please private message the system service tag, contact number and registered owner’s name.
To private message, accept my friend request; click on my user name and click start conversation.

Please reply with results.

rsblack7 · Answer

Hello, My name is Riley.
Im pulling my hair out trying to figure out why my companies numerious Dell XPS 8500 systems are constantly losing wired ethernet connectivity.
These xps 8500 systems are the only ones on my network experienceng such issues.
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I figured I would try to communicate on here rather than on the telephone.....

My companies name is xceligent. inc. and im IT Tech.

These are the systems im having issues with...

All of these systems are fully updated and they are the only ones on my network experienceing the same issues.

Thanks,
Riley

Kevs Dell · Answer

I am having the exact problem with my xps 8500, however I am using windows 8 64 bit home premium. My wireless adapter is the DW 1703 and my router is a Linksys e3000. Also, my networked wireless HP printer keeps going offline. The only way I have been able to get it to work is delete it from my devices then reinstall it. However it has been necessary to execute this process several times daily. I have run the troubleshooter several times and it indicates I should contact my network administrator, and that happens to be ME!!

SpicyG1965 · Answer

I'm having the same problem with mine but only for about a week...  I've had the machine since  Fall 2012

DELL-Nikhil D1 · Answer

Hi SpicyG1965,

I would like to know if you have tried the steps provided by Gaurav and Rick in the above post, also please provide the operating system installed in the computer.

I will be glad to assist you further.

djsteveg · Answer

I had very similar issues with my brand new dell xps 8500 running windows 8 - after searching and searching, trying to find ways to disable wireless and bluetooth completely so I could run with only wired connection, I decided the issue looked suspiciously intermittent like urls were being scanned before being pulled..

I was having issues keeping a connection with a chat room, and random urls, even google searches would occasionally fail. Even though I had unchecked the box for the pre-installed Mcaffee security thing to NOT check urls.. it appears that it was still processing them in some way.

At this moment, I think my suspicion is right, I have now uninstalled the McAfee security suite, and then removed it's "app thing" from the windows start screen.

Now the internet surfing seems fast and without issues after trying dozens of urls, searches etc.

Of course I do not suggest that anyone remove the Mcafee security without immediately installing another anti-virus product such as Kaspersky, or Avaste.

However with my quick testing, it appears that removing the Mcafee has fixed this issue with the constant internet disconnects and random internet fails. I would be interested in knowing if others posting similar issues in this thread are also using the Mcafee.

If I find the problem returns, I will update.

djsteveg · Answer

more info - after removing the mcafee suite and it's metro app, my experience has been 95% better with this issue. I do still have occasional page load fail - further research on this shows that at least 500 posts have been made with similar issues with people who are using windows 8, and google chrome - productforums.google.com/forum[526-550-false] - there is some speculation in these threads that it may be more frequent of an issue when using chrome / firefox - and may be especially an issue when using windows 8 in "desktop mode" -

some users in that forum thread are saying that removing all the samsung support apps is clearing the issue, and there is some speculation that it may have to do with the way windows 8 prioritizes processes or something. This issue appears to be affecting a lot of users, especially samsung latptop owners, and dell xps from what I have seen.

This issue has and still occasionally occurs even with windows defender turned off, and windows smart screen turned off. There is defnitely some kind of conflict going on here, my internet surfing was faster with my previous dell core duo system running a heavily bogged down windows xp - now with the latest and greatest I5 and windows 8, I am thinking of going back. sigh.

djsteveg · Answer

another update - 90% of previous disconnects and failed page loads in my experience have still been taken care of by removing the mcafee - but there is still occasional hiccups. While using this system, windows 8 in desktop mode - I am seeing the wireless network icon appear sometimes, and the wireless icon appears when there is a connection fail.

I am using a wired connection, and have never setup any wireless passwords, or attempted to connect via wireless.

I have searched for methods to turn off the wireless card, with no luck. The tutorial I found for windows 8 on another web site shows the wireless settings on the metro ui settings screen, but I do not see it with this machine. I also do not see the wireless device in the control panel -> devices (although there is a bluetooth device icon there).

Can anyone tell me how to disable the wireless and bluetooh on this machine?

(I think this may fix the remaining 10% of the connectivity problems here)

AuntieS · Answer

I am having these same issues as well.  Tried the steps mentioned above and nothing is working.  Very frustrating to have to keep my laptop out when I have a new XPS.

Annie70 · Answer

I had a similar problem with 2 Lenovo Laptops that would not stay connected to the internet. I removed Sophos (the virus protector) and had no problems after this. Both systems had Windows 8.1 on them. I activated Windows Defender. I would be interested in seeing what solves this problem on the other Dell computers.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Losing network connection (Dell XPS 8500)

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