XPS 13 Ultrabook bad experience returning for a refund

Duplicate post edited

I had a horrible experience with my Ultrabook too and ended up returning it for a refund. The WiFi performance sucked so bad that only way I could get a connection was to sit right next to the wireless router. DELL could not resolve the issue even after countless hours of phone support, field staff visit and shipping it to Huston for repairs. The problem never went away  so I had to finally give up and return the Ultrabook. So for all the trouble I went though I have to wait to get my money back.

 I bought the new Ultrabook a few weeks ago. I had it delivered at work and soon as it came out of the box it had trouble connecting to the office wireless network  so I eventually gave up and took it home. At home the Ultrabook would work fine if I sat right next to the wireless router but as soon as I took a few steps away the wireless connection would drop. At about five feet away from the wireless router it would lose wireless connectivity completely. Then started a long and frustrating series of support phone calls.  A lot of hours were spent troubleshooting, updating drivers, replacing drivers etc. Finally I was informed a technician would be sent to my house to repair the Ultrabook. Few days later I had to take half a day off from work to come home for the technician visit. The technician spent a few hours troubleshooting, replaced the wifi card, updated the drivers etc. and then finally gave up. I was informed I had to ship the system to Houston for repairs. Few days later I received the shipping box, packed up the Ultrabook, dropped it off at the fedex location and off it went to Houston TX for repairs.  After over a week  I received the Ultrabook back I was informed the wifi card and antenna had been replaced.  

Just like before the Ultrabook could not connect to my work wireless network. At home it behaved exactly the way it did before losing wireless connectivity a few feet from the wireless router. I have other dell laptops which have never had any issues with my home wireless network and work throughout and around the house. This started another round of support calls, more driver updates, router configuration, restoring factory settings etc. basically a lot of time on phone for nothing. At this point I had had enough. It took me another round of multiple calls to get connected to the refund department and I was finally able to request a full refund. So now hopefully after another round of packing and shipping I would get my money back in about 30 calendar days!.

I like Dell products I have bought them in past and continue to use them at work but after this experience I am not sure if I would be buying or recommending a Dell product any time soon.

I have the same problem, poor signal reception. Even a US$200 netbook close to me has a better signal that my garbage DELL XPS13, I do not understand how DELL can put in the market a machine with such a terrible problem. I really regret getting this laptop

sebisebo,

If you're under warranty, contact Dell tech Support. If the antenna wire(s) came off the adapter, it's a little tricky to open the system.

You can also try...

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.

Go to the power options, and changed the Wireless Adapter Setting, from Maximum Power Setting to Maximum Performance.

Rick

I am experiencing the same problem.  I have a Windows8 XPS13 delivered during Christmas2012.  it worked awesome from my home office since the router is located in my home office.During New Years we went to San Antonio to my fathers home, and I could only get connection if I was sitting next to his router.  This PC has an Intel Centrino Advanced N 6235 Wireless Card. I upgraded from Dell Support Website to Driver Version 15.5.4.45 along wih Dell Application Update dated 12/5/2012 Version 2.6.23.40059, A02

It did not help.  I found this link and checked the Power Saving Mode and it was set to Maximum Performance on Battery and Plugged In.

This week I am in Chicago and the XPS13 could not even find Network Connections in my Hotel room in Oakbrook.  It works fine at work and can find the wireless network.

I will call Dell Support this Friday and hope they can replace the antenna, if not what are my options?

Can I buy an USB Wireless Network Adapater and use it when Network Connections cannot be found?  Would you be able to recommend a Windows 8 compatible adapter which you used with an XPS13?

Thanks

eDolen,

A USB wireless adapter can be used as a way of connecting, if needed. I will not recommend a brand name or adapter. To get the best usb wireless adapter, I would recommend using an adapter that works on both 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz. That way you can connect to faster networks, when you're using the 5.0GHz connection.

Rick

The power settings for the wireless adapter were both set to Maximum Performance. I followed the link and installed the latest network driver from the Dell website. With my  service tag number, latest driver is dell network driver 15.2.0.19 A02 (for Intel Centrino Advanced N 6230 cards). 

After reboot, It did not make any difference. Is there a procedure to verify the wifi antenna is in place?

I resolved my problem using USB WiFi adaptor. As suggested by the moderator, I purchased a dual band for about 59 USD.  I will not name the brand, but it is a fat one where top part of the USB flops up as an anntenna.

The installation requires a CD, therefore you have to make sure that you have a CD reader.

Now at my hotel room I see Wi-Fi (2) with full bars where the built-in Advanced!!! WiF-Fi shows 1 or NO bars at all.

I wanted to cross post my experience with my XPS 13, and how I seem to have gotten wireless working like I expected it to work in the first place:

YMMV - I was having some serious wifi issues while traveling, so I decided to try and take matters into my own hands to get a solid connection as I have other work to do, other than constantly reconnecting my wireless adapter.

I have an XPS 13, but it does pack the same Advanced-N 6235 adapter.  I'd read a thread somewhere else where someone utilized the Windows 7 driver from Intel with marked success.  It was better than the latest Windows 8 driver, but it was still pretty awful.  Realizing there were other drivers defined in the zip I downloaded, I decided I'd try a few to see if I could find one that was stable.  I seem to have done just that.

Here's what I did:

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I installed the Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205 driver instead.  Driver Version: 15.3.1.2.  Available from the Intel website.

downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx*&DownloadType=Software%20Applications

Download the zip appropriate to your OS:

Windows 7 32-bit: Wireless_15.3.1_Ds32.zip

Windows 7/8 x64: Wireless_15.3.1_Ds64.zip

Extract the files somewhere you can find them easily.  Once extracted, its time to "update" your driver.

Open Device Manager, or otherwise pull up the properties for your NIC.  A way that should work for just about anyone, Win7 or Win8:

Windows Key + R (in Desktop for Win8)

Type "ncpa.cpl" and press the enter key

Right click your WiFi adapter and select "Properties"

Click the "Configure" button"

With the properties of your network adapter up:

Click "Driver" tab

Click "Update Driver" button

Choose "Browse my computer for driver software"

Choose "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer"

Click "Have Disk"

Click "Browse"

Browse to the files you extracted earlier.  Drill all the way down to the "Drivers" folder, and select one of the .inf files

Click "Open"

Click "OK" on the "Install From Disk" dialog

Click the check box for "Show compatible hardware" to clear the check, and give you a list of all the drivers in that folder

Select "Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205"

Click "Next"

Click "Yes" on the "Update Driver Warning" dialog

Once the driver has finished installing, connect to your access point/router/etc, and see if your speeds are any better.  The difference was VERY pronounced for me.  I haven't had a chance to burn it in more than this evening, but so far it's worlds apart.  Word from the wise - The 6230 driver has similar performance, but it ramped my CPU up to 99% until I unloaded it.

-----------------------------------

If you try this (at your own risk, of course), sound off on your results so this can get as much attention as possible, and hopefully we can get a better driver for this 6235.  With my current experiences, I'm very certain that this is a driver related issue, and not hardware.  While I may not work on client hardware for a living, I think this should be the nail in the coffin as far as if it's hardware or software related.  :)

I just received today my XPS 13, if I had know all this problem, I wouldn't have bought it. Also, I'm in france and I don't speak the language, so trying to talk to the IT guy was going to be a nightmare.

Anyway, I did what you said, with the driver 6205 and so far it has worked for me. Only I see it's a little  more slow, but it's stable.

So we'll see how it goes, otherwise I'm asking for a refund (in Français, wish me luck).

I could have written that email myself.  I am having the very same problems!  I have never been so frustrated in my life.  I bought the Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook, because I was so happy with my old Dell.  The only thing wrong with it, was after 5 years of carrying it around, it was just too heavy. 

Since the day I got the new Dell, I have had issues with the wireless!  We have four computers in this office, and not one of them constantly drops the connection!  In fact, they have never lost an internet connection.

It took me a solid week to download Microsoft Office, and Dell support was no help at all.

What do I do to fix this constant issue of losing internet connectivity?!?!?!

I had the same problem, I purchased an external USB Wireless Card and used it for a few months. Recently I contacted support and they replaced the mother board and the screen which serves as an antenna, now the Internal Wireless card works fine and I do not have to use the external one.