Wifi problem XPS15 L521X - Killer Wireless-N 1202

Hi,

I also got a dell XPS 15 and I have been having a similar issue with the Wifi card - stepping away from my router slows me down by a ton.... Did the tech guys just came by and fixed it?

Also, I have found that the battery life is pretty short - bellow 2hrs. Do you get the same thing?

Gabriel

Hi,

Thanks for the reply Corey. Last night I talked to support and I am going to get my battery replaced. I also cant get my WiFi above 7mbps but ill just ask support when I see them again.

Best,
Gabe

Hi, 

I have recently got my XPS 15 L521X and I am facing the same problem with the wifi. Just now spoke with a dell technician and they have dispatched an antenna and the wifi card for replacement. Sandeep, I see that the Dell is aware of the wifi issue with the XPS 15 L521X laptops. Why is Dell not considering to fix this issue in recently manufactured/shipped models? As I can understand the pain of the customer to call the tech support and get hold of the right person to address the issue and frankly, no one wants their newly bought laptop to undergo a repair just within a week or so..Atleast from now on, please try to consider to address these issues before manufacturing/shipping the new models.

Thanks,

unlimitedawesomeness

Hi,

I'm facing exactly the same issue and unable to browse pages if I go away from router. I've purchased from Dell site.

Pls provide me the contact no. I'll call tech team and get the antenna fixed. 

Cheers

Hi Seshi,

I ended up returning the computer... to many small issues for my taste... good luck thought!

I also just bought a new XPS 15 L521x. I was having the same wifi issues - even though the card was reporting that is was running at 300Mbps, speedtest.net claimed otherwise, about 5Mbps. Even right next to my router. My internet connection is 25Mbps download, so this is very poor performance.

On the positive side, I found a workaround for my specific case, and maybe it can help some of you that haven't RMA'd your laptops. Try setting your router/access point to a lower speed (i.e. 145Mbps or 54Mbps). Once I changed this from 300Mbps to 145Mbps in the router/access point, speedtest.net immediately showed speeds of 25-30Mbps for the laptop.

While this isn't the best solution, it is certainly worth a try, especially if you are out of the refund period. Since most people are limited by their internet speed anyway, dialing back to 145Mbps shouldn't be an issue. The only downside is that computer-to-computer activities (like copying shared files) will be slower. I'll probably end up getting another access point just for this laptop so I don't have to slow down all the other 300Mbps devices on my network.

For completeness, my router/access point is a Netgear WNR3500L - don't judge me, it was a really good Black Friday special ;-)

Now I just need to figure out why one of my USB ports stopped working after "upgrading" to Windows 8.1...

I recently bought the XPS 18, and i am facing the exact issue, Killer Wireless-N 1202. I can't even surf the web because is so slow!!!! Can't browse network files either. I tried 4 different drivers both from Dell and from Killer, zero improvement. I read from the web that i had to turn off BT to get better wifi speed, i tried that as well, and also the BT stack is buggy as hell, sometimes I try to turn off the BT and the dialog just freeze up and had to force close it manually. 

Overall, I'm extremely dissatisfy with this Dell Tablet. Because without wifi (and no actual Ethernet connection unless I buy the dongle) this tablet is absolutely USELESS.

Please advice a fix, or I think I will have to return this unusable hardware!

I just bought the XPS 15 (2012 model) with Windows 7 and am having the same type of poor or unstable WiFi performance.  Was Dell able to resolve your issue?

Hey, the solution is to do the following:

Go to Metro interface (start menu), go to Settings > Network > AirPlane mode > turn off Bluetooth.

Then you need to REBOOT. Then your wifi should be ok.

You must reboot for it to properly turn off BT, I had issues with Win8.1 when I turn off BT, it doesn't really completely turn off and gets stuck half way.

Is annoying, but it works.

For Windows 7, it you may or may not need to reboot, but just to be sure, just turn off bluetooth and do a reboot.

And no, Dell wasn't able to solve my issue, I solved it myself after troubleshooting it 4 nights in a row after work... *thumb down*

Hi all,

I just bought the XPS15 , this without knowing there could be any problem...

This is my 7th dell computer, i still have a latitude from 2002 (windows 2000) that is working properly.

not this XPS however !!! the wifi stuff does not work properly, exactly as described above.. i tried all the suggestions to solve the problem (no wifi if more dan 2 meter from router). nothing helps

i asked Dell to take back the computer. Cannot understand why they are still selling faulty computer while the problem seems to be quite 'old' if i check the internet.

next time i will first google 'DELL XXX WIFI problem, where XXX = type of computer) before placing an order

Are you running Windows 8? is more of the problem with Win8 imo.

I've been experiencing the same issues with my XPS14 for what is now been 3 months. Dell took similar steps by logging in remotely to my laptop and doing an initial diagnosis. They then sent out a technician who replaced the wireless card and antenna (laptop lid), which didn't improve my connectivity speed of 1-2mbps.  After dealing with technical support for two months, Dell then sent me a brand new XPS14 and the hard drive crashed almost immediately. The same technician was sent out to replace my hard drive and the laptop worked properly for about 3 weeks (wireless connection speeds were still low, 7.8mbps but it was operational). I am now experiencing connection speeds of around 1-2mbps and the wireless antenna has failed on yet a second XPS that Dell has sent me.  After spending an hour on the phone yesterday and over 2 hours on the phone today and countless hours over the past 3 months; being transferred around, speaking with different managers who have put me off, and requesting an exchange system (which Dell tech support is making it as difficult as possible to get a resolution on), the nightmare continues. If you are still within your return period, I would recommend returning the system for a refund and save yourself the headaches of dealing with these ongoing issues.  I would advise against buying this laptop to anyone who is considering it.

I've been experiencing the same issues with my XPS14 (L421X) for what is now been 3 months. Dell took steps of logging in remotely to my laptop and doing an initial diagnosis. They then sent out a technician who replaced the wireless card and antenna (laptop lid), which didn't improve my connectivity speed of 1-2mbps.  After dealing with technical support for two months, Dell then sent me a brand new XPS14 and the hard drive crashed almost immediately. The same technician was sent out to replace my hard drive and the laptop worked properly for about 3 weeks (wireless connection speeds were still low, 7.8mbps but it was operational). I am now experiencing connection speeds of around 1-2mbps and the wireless antenna has failed on yet a second XPS that Dell has sent me.  After spending an hour on the phone yesterday and over 2 hours on the phone today and countless hours over the past 3 months; being transferred around, speaking with different tech support personnel and managers who have put me off, and requesting an exchange system (which Dell tech support is making it as difficult as possible to get a resolution on), the nightmare continues. If you are still within your return period, I would recommend returning the system for a refund and save yourself the headaches of dealing with these ongoing issues.  I would advise against buying this laptop to anyone who is considering it.

I have the same problem. From what I gather this is a problem that has happened at least since 2012. I am going to return my laptop and have email Costco to strongly advice them to stop selling this laptop.