Dell Inspiron 15 7000(7537) WiFi issue

jacksonkjoseph,

Did you contact Dell Tech Support?

Rick

Sorry, I posted to wrong thread.

Update with the issue…

Ok so now dell support told me that they should change the network card and the wifi antenna of my new laptop. I was taken aback by this and I asked them I don’t want any parts to be replaced. So either return my cash or replace the whole system.

The customer support agreed to this and replaced the ,laptop. I just received new Dell inspiron 7537 yesterday. Thank s to dell for their prompt service.

But guess what..!! I have the exact same problem with this laptop as well.

The wifi doesn’t work even I’m just 5 feet away from the router.

I tried connecting the laptop via Ethernet port and the internet works perfect, so I don’t think it is the network card issue. I have just updated the drivers as well. But nothing seems to solve the issue.

Dell should do something about this!!

I am having the same problem with my new Inspiron 7537. I bought one a few days ago, only to find it had multiple problems:

1. Very hard to log on to WiFi. Multiple tries required.
2. Couldn't upgrade to Win8.1 because after download and install Win8.1 wanted to connect to WiFi, which it couldn't, no matter how many tries.
3. Selecting "Shut Down" would actually perform a Restart instead about 50% of the time.
4. Although it worked for the first few hours, all of a sudden I was unable to use F2 or F12 to get into the bios settings. Pressing either one would just continue on booting Windows. I never did resolve this, which is why I took it back for an exchange.

So I got a replacement from the store, but had to return that one too because:

1. Same difficulties with WiFi.
2. Space bar defective, wouldn't work unless pressed within 1/2 inch either side of center. Useless for a touch typist like me.

Took that one back for another replacement. This third one seems fine except for that exact same WiFi issue. I did finally manage to get Win8.1 installed, but only by telling it not to try to connect to the Internet during installation. When it was finally installed i was able to get a connection after multiple tries, but now I see I am rarely connected over 11Mbps. This seems to be an inherent problem with this model, probably a bad batch of Intel WiFi adapters, incompatibility with my WiFi router, or a driver issue. I suppose it is also remotely possible it is a Windows 8 problem, although my wife's 2 month old (cheap) Win8 laptop connects fine at full speed.

I should say that I use an expensive ($200CDN) Asus 802.11ac router with the latest firmware. I have at least 10 other devices in the household that connect fine, including a Samsung TV, multiple mobile devices, and multiple laptop and desktop PCs. The laptop I am replacing was consistently connecting at 300Mbps.

I don't know what to do now because I love the feature/price ratio of this laptop, but I don't need to be messing around trying to get the WiFi working on a brand new laptop when I should be working with it instead.

This intel wifi card is known to have issues. just go to intel's site and you will see an apology by them saying they are working on the problem. I have an idea to solve your problems...return the machine and purchase another brand. what is soooo amazing about this laptop that keeps you trying again and again? next year prices will drop, new models will be introduced and possibly intel will solve the problem.  then you should pick it up and probably at a few hundred dollars cheaper.

I can't wait till next year, my current laptop just died and I use it to earn a living. As for why I really like this laptop, WiFi problems notwithstanding...

1. Gorgeous full HD Gorilla Glass touch screen.
2. 16GB RAM (as a software developer I run a lot of virtual machines)
3. Intel i7-4500U Haswell CPU (great battery life)
4. Built in Bluetooth.
5. Illuminated power cord (easy to find in the dark)
6. FOUR USB3 ports, more than any other laptop I've see at any price.
7. Best quality hinge on any laptop I've ever owned (I've had to replace three laptops over the years due to broken hinges.
8. Gorgeous die cast and machined FULL aluminum case and lid. No plastic to be seen anywhere.
9. PRICE: $900 at Best-Buy in Ontario, fully $200 cheaper than any comparable laptop at this time, and those others are lucky to have 3 USB3 ports (most only have two with an additional UBS2)

The only complaints I have are:

1. WiFi... obviously
2. Keyboard is mediocre at best.
3. Mundane budget 5400RPM hard drive.

What this all boils down to is that this is the the best price/performance business class laptop on the market right now, although the faulty WiFi obviously spoils it. Actually, I could replace the WiFi adapter with something better (preferably Atheros, I'm not big on Intel or Broadcom) and still pay less in total than buying a similar Lenovo or HP with slightly inferior specs. Replacement laptop WiFi adapters can be easily had for $10.

My old laptop has a great Atheros card I'll probably swap into the Inspiron, and also a sweet 7200RPM 750GB hybrid hard drive that is much better than the 1TB 5400RPM budget drive in the Dell, so I'll put that in too. Just wish the WiFi adapter that came with it wasn't garbage. I've had trouble with Intel WiFi parts in the past, I wish Dell had gone for Atheros.

ok so two days back i received my new replacement laptop.. and i have the exact same wifi issue on this as well!!

tried everything possible the last two day...s nothing seems to set this alright..

updated the network drivers from the dell website.. later found a newer version of the driver on the intel website and installed that as well..

but nothing seems to work..

wifi works absolutely fine if i place the laptop close to the router.. if i move even a room away it stops working.. so i dont think it is a issue with the router.. other devices works even on the third floor of this building, but this laptop cannot even detect the hotspot on the third floor. when connected to ethernet, it works perfect...

like PhoenixRevealed said...it is one of the best possible model of laptop out there.. but what's the point if it doesn't work like its supposed to work...

it's been 36 days since i paid USD1450 for a laptop and till now i have not received a working machine!! i had to wait 29 days after i reported the issue with Dell to get my laptop replaced.. now i'm going to contact the dell customer service again..lets see how long i'll have to wait this time for them to do something to fix this issue!!

I just contacted the Dell support... Was on call for 1 hour 52 minutes..

he connected himself to my laptop through dell connect and tried changing as many settings possible on the network card and the router...tried installing different versions of the network driver but nothing seems to work...he's told me that he has arranged a call back for tomorrow from a senior engineer...

so now the wait begins all over again!

After purchasing a Dell laptop for my son, I had to call for repair after it would not turn on or off w/o removing the batt  (within the year). They sent a maintenance man to my house to fix it and he brought the wrong part. After I sent it back to Dell for repair, I received a laptop back that did everything but get online! The windows 8 program worked like a charm... Till I tried to search online (right after warranty was up)... It showed that I had full strength of the wifi, but nothing else... Everytime I tried to get online... Nothing...I called Dell help line and was told after a long conversation, "it will cost $230 for a year of support"??????I will NEVER BUY A  DELL AGAIN!!! POS in my mind. Why sell something that you cannot or will not support or stand by.????

ok.. so I waited the whole day yesterday for the "call back" and I didn't receive any... so I called back the dell tech support today.. again the same old procedure started and the rep connected to my laptop and saw the issue...after about half an hour of fiddling with the settings he put me on hold for a while and then he says..."we are only responsible with the connection between the router and laptop, the speed is not our concern"..

I clearly showed them when the laptop is close to the router it works perfect it shows a speed of 150mbps..and the moment I step just one cabin away the speed drops to 13mbps and then I cant even access my mail..it takes about 7 minutes for the google homepage to load... at the same time other laptops and phones here works perfectly fine even when I go to the ground floor or the second floor...

when I showed this to them, what they say is that "they do not want to know about other systems and that this laptop can work only this way"..

which means that if I need to access internet through wifi I need to make sure that I am right next to the router!!! how bizarre does that sound!!!???

Please.. if there is any responsible Dell rep here.. kindly help!!

From what I searched on the web, probably the wireless card installed in your laptop is not the one which was advertised. It happened with some people and I think it is my problem too. The wireless card should support dual band, but after doing the Command Prompt I didn`t find this dual band.

I just tried to call the support, but after 20 minutes holding the line I gave up. I`ll try tomorrow again

Hello Andreschadeck..

I have checked the model of the network card on the laptop.. It shows "Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-N 7260"..

I tried contacting the dell support so many times, they are not willing to replace the system since they have already replaced it once. But this system also have the same issue. And they said that there's nothing more that they can do.

Finally saturday when i called them, they've told me that they will replace the network card from "Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-N 7260" model to some other older model. They have not even told me which model they are going to replace to. 

it's terrible that a brand new system is faulty and all they can do is replace a part for it. I have already waited 45+ days after payment and i need the laptop urgently as all my works are lagging behind because of the absence of my personal laptop. Therefore i have agreed to their proposal.

So finally if this gets solved by replacing the network card to some older model, i will not be getting what dell has advertised and printed on the invoice of this laptop and what i have paid for but instead i'll have to adjust with whatever they give me.

looks like i have no other option!

Having been through all of this myself I feel your pain.

It appears that you may be past the return date, if not then I would just return the machine.

If you are, and the card replacement does not fix the problem then if I were in your situation I would try a windows 8.1 compliant USB wifi adapter and disable the built in one.

The answers you get from Dell support can be very hit and miss depending on what individual you get put through to.

They can be very long winded, no such thing as a quick call except the time the one agent hung up on me when I asked him to read my case file before continuing to ask me questions I has answered multiple times before.