Using Wifi got so much slower when going a few meter away (inspiron 15 5547)

Question

so i'm aware that when i used wifi on another room (the router is on the other room of my home, about 10m) i got 10 times less speed than usual. i thought that it was the windows 8 that is bothering me, so i run through a search and lots of efforts were made. in fact, my download speed is 10mbps but i only got around 0,9mbps. and when i tried to came out from my room to get closer around 5 m i got around 3mbps. is there anything wrong? i've never seen problem like this before, especially when i used around 3 other laptops at my home it is fine (it isn't a dell). ipad, smartphone, lots of them has the same speed as long as i'm connected. and basicly the signal is fluctuating(another bug?) on my laptop. so what is the point of having a laptop without a wifi? i mean when i used at my room and tried to play the game, the ping is 1000. That doesn't make any sense at all. is there anything that the moderator can do for me? i just bought the laptop a month ago (using online with international warranty for 3 years) and i found on this forum: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19532210/20500173.aspx http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/network-internet-wireless/f/3324/t/19496748.aspx both of them were changed and had problem on their wifi antenna. so where can i asked a dell to change my antenna? or maybe could i get a refund for my laptop? it is like NEW condition, no scratch, and i haven't done anything to do with it. i'm not really satisfied with this laptop anyway. i sincerely thankyou for everyone who is responding to my thread, especially for DELL engineer and Staff. Robert

robert william · Answer

bump, is anyone willing to answer my question? please help anyone

P.Fields · Answer

You can try changing HT mode to 'disabled' but then I got another problem after the laptop went to sleep.  It is still worth a try before you make other changes.

KevinLaptop · Answer

I have a couple week old Dell Inspiron 14 5000 Series 5447 (i7 and Windows 8.1). Bought it from Futureshop (Canada) and it is too late for me to return the laptop.

I just tried testing the speed/distance.

If I am pointblank next to my wireless router I get an internet speed of about 30 Mbps (speedtest.net). If I move to my room I get a speed of at most 3 Mbps (speedtest.net). The Windows Wi-Fi Status says I have 4-5 bars signal quality and a speed of 90 Mbps. I don't understand this at all.

I don't think it is a network problem. If I use my older laptop (Thinkpad T400) in my room I get 40 Mbps (speedtest.net). My tablet and Smartphone aren't slow either, nor are any of my other family member's devices. The only thing all these devices have in common is not having Windows 8 / 8.1 and not being made by Dell.

i sincerely thankyou for everyone who is responding to my thread, especially for DELL engineer and Staff.

I hope so too. They are all ignoring this problem.

P.Fields · Answer

Have you tried changing HT mode to 'disabled'?

robert william · Answer

Isnt ht mode only related with the processor mate? Is it has something to do with the wireless connection? O.o

j3551c4 · Answer

I did this just now and so far my wifi speed is significantly faster and has been steady. What was the issue you encountered when your machine went into sleep mode?

j3551c4 · Answer

I did this and though I noticed a change in speed while browsing, my downloads are not going past 6 megabits while I am in the bedroom not that far away, but shoot up to 15 megabits when I am in the same room with the modem/router. A door shouldn't have this much impact. This makes me sad because I have tried just about every suggestion to fix this issue and if I don't get download speeds of at least 11 while in the bedroom, I am going to have to take this machine back.

I think it is a windows 8.1/dell issue rather than a hardware issue...but then again I don't really know what I am doing and I am learning as I go along.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Was this post helpful?