Problem with Dell Wireless 1704 802.11b/g/n

I too had same problem with the WLAN speed, always fluctuating from 5.5 mbps to 72 mbps.

I got my Dell Inspiron 14R 5420 4 months back. 

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit . I have the same WLAN card (Dell Wireless 1704 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz)

I tried many things to make the WLAN speed stable. I tried several versions of driver. But nothing become fruitful until I found out a simple solution that worked for me.

Just Follow these Steps:

1. Go to the Device Manager

2. Go to the Network Adapters and expand it. You will see your WLAN Card name there. (Dell Wireless 1704 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz)

3. Right click the WLAN name and select PROPERTIES.

4. Go to ADVANCED tab and Select BANDWIDTH CAPABILITY from property.

5. Select the 11b/g:20/40 Mhz and Click OK  (here the default value is set to 11b/g:20 Mhz which has been lowering the speed to 72mbps)

6. Now the WLAN had been set to increased bandwidth capacity. Check the speed from Network and Sharing Center. You'll be getting 150mbps WLAN speed.

This completely solved my problem. Hope this works for all having the same issue.

The fluctuation in speed still occurs but only if you are far from your router or if there are obstacles in between your laptop and router. Otherwise speed is stable at 150mbps.

I too had same problem with the WLAN speed, always fluctuating from 5.5 mbps to 72 mbps.

I got my Dell Inspiron 14R 5420 4 months back.

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit . I have the same WLAN card (Dell Wireless 1704 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz)

I tried many things to make the WLAN speed stable. I tried several versions of driver. But nothing become fruitful until I found out a simple solution that worked for me.

Just Follow these Steps:

1. Go to the Device Manager

2. Go to the Network Adapters and expand it. You will see your WLAN Card name there. (Dell Wireless 1704 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz)

3. Right click the WLAN name and select PROPERTIES.

4. Go to ADVANCED tab and Select BANDWIDTH CAPABILITY from property.

5. Select the 11b/g:20/40 Mhz and Click OK  (here the default value is set to 11b/g:20 Mhz which has been lowering the speed to 72mbps)

6. Now the WLAN had been set to increased bandwidth capacity. Check the speed from Network and Sharing Center. You'll be getting 150mbps WLAN speed.

This completely solved my problem. Hope this works for all having the same issue.

The fluctuation in speed still occurs but only if you are far from your router or if there are obstacles in between your laptop and router. Otherwise speed is stable at 150mbps.

Hello Alan,

I have just purchased a vostro 3560 and have the same problem. I have done all of your recommendation and more without any help

please help

Hi,

I have Vostro 3560 i7 Win7x64 and driver 6.20.55.51, it works for me just great. Speed at 54 at g and 150 at n standard all the time and I haven't seen that wifi connection is lost.I've been using this driver since  october 2012.

Good luck with instaling this driver :)

it have nothing to do with hacked modems . I had the same problem and I know what I am doing. I have 4 other laptos and PCs at home and the only one with this problem is the Dell. I went thru my modem and router security and changed the passcodes after master resetting the modem and router and the results were the same. This is not the first time Dell does this with a network card. Here in the forums you can see this same similar problem on other Dell network cards and Dell never did anything about it ,mostly other users have posted solutions or tried to ,but the problem never went away. The Dell drivers for these network card simply are not well programmed. They buy these network cards by the thousand to the chinese but then they are sloppy with the dirver creation and continuos update. Most people that dont know anything about computers just think they got a slow computer or that they have to upgrade to the next i5 or i7 processor. But the thruth is that Dell can not just go an buy a good and proved double range network card from Intel like Asus and Acer do , and in the process they completely cripple what would be an otherwise good product. I though I would give then the chance, thinking they have improved their game but they are going backwards not forward. No need to be a fanboy or to assign the fault to imaginary "hackers". SImply the Dell drivers and cards are not stable and the only thing that will change that is if you know what to buy and go and buy an intel network card and install it yourself or just buy another brand of pc. Loof for a thread in this forum  named " Problem with Dell Wireless 1704 802.11b/g/n " and you will see the same problem from several people since 2012 and not a single positive answer that would get rid of the problem completely. The 17xx  series of network cards is *** and they know it. Other people that dont care about internet speed fluctuations or dont even know how to measure it are the bulk of buyers that will keep buying them.

I always think there is a troll under the bridge.  That is just me and it is a securities thing.  Do not take my life experiences for merit because situations vary.  I would just do a few trace route calls and see where it is at. 

I'm having the same problem. Just bought this computer a few months ago too. Tried sanzeev007 suggestion of changing the settings in the device manager, and also bbDom suggestion of disabling Bluetooth. No change. Guess this network card really is a lemon.

Allen I tried that but on the driver download page there are only 4x downloads under network, it is a airplane mode driver, 2x bluetooth drivers and ethernet driver, there is no wifi driver in the list.

Where can I find a wifi driver? I am now using win 10 and if my laptop is further than 5 metres from any router I cannot use the wifi. All other computers in my business do not have problems connecting to the same router, is only this one that has problems connecting.

While thread is +5 yrs, continued contributions are important because it is the most quoted with regarding this issue. Dell has been uncharacteristically obstructive and we've found that replacement with a different card IS the best option here. WIFI cards are most economical < $20 and not particularly difficult to swap out.