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Wifi router for Dell Studio 1749
I've been trying to help my father out with WiFi issues with his Dell Studio 1749. He has a Siemens SE587 ADSL modem/router which supports Mixed, B_only, G_only WiFi modes. The laptop has a Dell wireless 1397 WLAN mini-card which supports Loose 11h, Loose 11h+d, and Strict 11h WiFi modes. No matter what combination of modes I configure in the router and the laptop the wireless connection on the laptop only ever comes up as 1MBps or 2MBps (full strength signal, laptop right next to router). By contrast my ageing Dell Vostro 1700 always connects to the same router at 54MBps.
So I'm guessing that there is some incompabitility between the router and the laptop. We're happy to replace the router, especially as recently the ADSL side of it appears to have gone a bit flaky. I've scoured the 'net and cannot find any router which claims to support 802.11h, so (a) what should I buy and (b) how can I be sure it will work at a sensible speed with this laptop given that the one we currently have won't?
Thanks,
Mike
PudgyOne
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March 13th, 2013 16:00
Mike,
I have seen some virus programs and firewalls cause connection issues.
Try using these Recommended Wireless Router Settings I use channel 11. I would make a new SSID to make connecting easier.
Go to Drivers & Downloads enter your service tag number, then select your operating system. Under Network, download and install the latest drivers.
Try these tweaks....
Start, control panel, device manager. Click on Network and then right click on your wireless adapter, left click properties, power management. Uncheck the box, allow computer to turn off this device to save power.
Click on advanced. Look for antenna diversity. Change the Antenna Diversity from Auto to Aux.
Go to the power options, and changed the Wireless Adapter Setting, from Maximum Power Setting to Maximum Performance.
Rick
MikeBz
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March 14th, 2013 02:00
Thanks, I've already done most of what is listed there but will double-check when I get the opportunity.
The router needs replacing as the ADSL has become intermittent (this isn't related to the poor WiFi speed), so I'd like a recommendation for a reasonably priced ADSL modem/wireless router to work with the Dell 1397 wireless mini-card. The puzzling thing is that the only options for the card are Loose 11h, Loose 11h+d, and Strict 11h, but I cannot find any routers on the market which make any mention of modes H or D. They are all either G/B or N. I know they are supposed to be backward compatible but...
Mike
PudgyOne
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March 14th, 2013 10:00
Mike,
The Dell Wireless works on 2.4GHz ONLY, some consider it wireles g. A wireless N router, usually considered 5.0GHz, will not allow the adapter to connect, unless you purchase a dual band wireless router.
Rick
MikeBz
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March 15th, 2013 02:00
Well I bought & installed a NetGear DGN2200 last night and it works perfectly. 54Mbps Wifi connection from the laptop, and it completely auto-configured itself - just plugged it in, switched it on, and 2 minutes later connected to the internet. All I did was change the admin password to stop any drive-by chancers from getting into it.
It's 802.11n 2.4GHz BTW.
Mike
MikeBz
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March 15th, 2013 02:00
... although obviously the 1397 WLAN mini-card in the laptop doesn't support 'N' hence we get 54Mbps which is the max capability of the card.
PudgyOne
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March 15th, 2013 16:00
MikeBz,
That is correct 54Mbbps max
Rick