WIFI problems on Dell xps 15 L521X

Did you place the antenna on the bottom of the laptop or did you route the wire somewhere else? I am interested in trying this in the XPS 15 (L521X) with the Intel 6235 card.

I tried myself too, placing them in the same spot but it was not any better.

I used these antennas:

www.ebay.ie/.../390109688161

Can you please give us a link to the antenna(s) you used?

its been a year now and dell refuses to acknowledge the problem, the media remains quiet on the issue(probably being paid off by dell) and still no fix :(

Yes its pathetic elvis! and just because i have a band-aid on mine doesnt mean i am happy! I want it fixed by Dell! a check would be nice for every hour i have wasted already too! I wonder how many people are affected by this beween the two systems???

The store didnt have anything in stock so i went home and tore a Dell E6400 apart and used the antennas out of that.

How did the antennas work just hanging off of the laptop not mounted? Those cables look very long. Is that just the picture? If they are long what did you do with the slack? Do they have metal exposed? Adhesive back? I have never seen antennas like that. How did you mount them? Metal screw to chassis? Adhesive? Screw to plastic? Plastic screw etc etc.?? Sorry for all the questions.

I just thought I would post my experience with this laptop as I had this problem and it is now fixed.  Here's what happened.

Had the wireless problem (where connection dropped if I was more than 5 feet away from router).  Called Dell.  They said it was a known problem and were working on a fix which should be out in a month or so (this was in December).  In the meantime they sent me a dongle.

Dongle worked fine, but was flimsy and because it was in use all the time it broke.  I called dell again and said this is unacceptable, that they shouldn't knowingly sell products that are broken and not fit for purpose without any warning whatsoever etc.  They got me to download the bios and hotfix thing.  Made no difference.

They then agreed to send an engineer who would try and fix it, or it would be sent back to be examined.

The engineer arrived and opened the back of the laptop.  The first thing we both noticed was that the wireless antennae connections were disconnected, as though they had never been properly fitted, or had been knocked loose in transit.  He simply pressed them on to the wireless card and hey presto...we have working wireless.

Anyone who hasn't had their machine examined please try this (get an engineer to do it....messing about with the insides of a laptop yourself may ruin your warranty).  I recommend getting in touch with dell and mentioning this.  After I spoke to them again saying the problem had been resolved they sounded very happy and said that mine was going to be used as a prototype fix as this may be the problem with all the broken laptops and that it was very helpful to them that we had resolved the problem this way.

I thought people might still be having trouble with it and know how frustrating it is so thought I'd share this.

Let me know if anyone calls dell and gets an engineer and has this problem.  Hope it helps.

Hey, I just got my new Dell XPS 15 L521X with almost the highest end config with 16GB 128SSD+1TB etc. here in Feb 2013.  I am having the same issues described here with WiFi (35Mbps internet but can barely get 5Mbps down even sitting next to the router - 2.4 or 5ghz). I guess that would mean they are not shipping the new laptops with this 'display hinge kit' / 'new display/antenna' config. That is pretty disappointing after dropping about $2k on a laptop. I'd suggest Dell do a proactive replace plan if they ever want to keep customers buying their high end stuff.

Has anyone else had this 'fix'? Did you have to go through a bunch of hoops with support or it seems this should be known and they just come to your place and fix or what? I will be calling but wondered what other experiences there have been out there getting this fixed. Fortunately I bought this through Costco so I can return without a hassle which I may do but what a shame I do love the design and attention to detail on the build but of course I need reliable WiFi.

Thanks to anyone that can share their experience. I'd love it if there were a software fix but totally makes sense with the aluminum body that this missed some real world engineering Quality Control.

highest config is 512GB SSD. It has nothing to do with wifi problem, though.

Here is my story.

Bought the high end dell xps l521x and immediately noticed the wifi issue.  I couldn't use it it the next bedroom over.

1) Dell was really responsive and a guy logged in and tried some things (like turning off the bluetooth).  Problem still occurred.

2) They decided to come out and replace the wifi card and the antenna (which means replacing the screen).  Unfortunately, they replaced the screen with a bad screen.  Below is a screen shot of what I am looking at now.  This is particularly visible at night when I turn down the display light.  If you have the brightness up as high as it can go - it looks ok.  Which is why the tech didn't catch it before he left.

3) Now I am traveling for the next few months out of country and won't be able to get it fixed :-(

I was very optimistic until now that the wireless is still bad and my screen is worse.  Spent a lot on this computer that is getting worse.  All I can say is BE CAREFUL when you get your screen replaced.  It's refurbished and could have issues.  Try to notice them before the tech leaves.  Unfortunately, my tech guy came at 8pm and didn't leave until 11:30pm.  He had never seen my computer before and had never done this type of replacement!  Very bad combinations.  So when he was done - all he did was turn it on and left.

Hoping that when I get back to the states in a few months I can get the screen and wifi truly fixed.

well if you were succesful on the return congratz. they dont even want to talk to me about returns

well mine is the newest model with 12gb ram.. and my internet itself reaches only up to 5mb. but ive seen couple problems there and there with connecting from sleep. otherwise im having so many other issues. fan is loud.. battery is like 1.5 hours.. how long does ur battery last?

I'm adding this to keep the thread alive. I have a long litany of frustrations with my XPS 15, which I will leave out, but I will say this:

I wasted far too much of my time and the time of the three technicians that they sent to me to deal with this any longer. I'm on my second laptop, fourth wireless card, and I'm doing everything I can to get a full refund. This is, at its roots, a silly problem to have with such a "high-end" computer. However, the techs promised me that others solved this problem with a driver update or a new card, so if you're looking at buying a new XPS, there is a possibility that your wireless will work.

While the technicians weren't able to solve the problem, they were unfailingly polite.

I'll be changing brands, now....