popping/skipping of ripped files

Vista has an old version of the Broadcom drivers. Dell has a slightly newer, and renamed, version. The version that I keep repeating, 4.102.15.61, is the newest that I have found, both in date and in version number.

That isn't to say that it's better in any way... But, it could make a difference if, between the Dell version and this newest version, they patched something major like a security flaw. And, the other reason that I keep propagating it is because I have it installed, and I know that it works and that it has the option to disable 802.11n.

Either way, mindouglas, you probably have the old version that comes with Windows Vista, so install the newest version that I linked to or the newest version that Dell provides, and then you should see the option.

sorry, I should have mentioned I have the broadcom, it says 1500 on the PO, but I got a broadcom 802.11n card. there is no disable option

I believe the Dell 1390 is only 802.11 b/g. That's the reason why there is no disable 802.11a because your card can't do 802.11a. However this raises the question as why you are getting the audio problems with a card that doesn't do 802.11a. Curious.

Disabling the 802.11a band worked for me. I have E1505 with 1500 wireless card and integrated sound. Thank you Gina, Ricky, poochkie, et al.

Gina,
I upgraded from XP pro to Vista Business. The Dell Upgrade Advisor disabled the wireless. Vista installed the generic driver, which worked for the wireless, but the sound crackled. Like others here, I tried many combinations of drivers for the wireless card and sound. Nothing worked except disabling the a band.

mindouglas:
No, the same does NOT apply to the 1500! I have the 1500, and I am the one that wrote out those instructions up there FOR the 1500, and I have disabled 802.11a ON my 1500, and now my audio works great!

Have you tried the instructions?

Sorry to get kinda mad but I clearly stated, multiple times, that I have the Dell Wireless Draft-N 1500 adapter. Try checking your driver version and updating it.

~Ricky


More humans less robots!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/

Yes, it is Broadcom. And it is a 1500.

We have the same card. Now check your driver version, here are instructions:

Open the start menu, type "Device Manager" (to search for it) and then click to open it. The security warning will pop up, so click Continue. Now expand the Network adapters group. You should see a device, probably Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter or something similar. Right-click this device and click properties. Now go to the Driver tab.

If, in that tab, the version is not "4.102.15.61" and the driver provider is not "Broadcom" and the date is not "12/19/2006" then you need to update the driver, and that is probably the reason you do not have the option to disable 802.11a.

PLEASE follow these extra-simple instructions to check the version.

I'd just like to chip in with the fact that I am having problems with my new Inspiron 640m, Vista Home Premium, regarding popping/skipping audio when playing music or games. I have an Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 wireless card using the Intel drivers, which seems to indicate that this problem is not specific to people with the Dell wireless cards. Disabling "enhancements" in sound properties seems to have reduced, but not entirely eliminated the problem.

On it, I'm about to test that and will report back in a few minutes.

Ok, I'm happy for all of you that are finding solutions with your 1500n WLAN mini cards, but I don't think this is the root issue for all of us. I now have 2 WLAN mini cards in my possession: The Dell 1500n Broadcom card and the Intel 3945 internal WLAN card. I now have the Intel card in my m1710 and I get the exact same popping and crackling noises when playing music or games. So, I'm not convinced that it's a problem strictly confined to the 1500n card. I'm still experimenting but at the moment I am using Intel's latest drivers for the 3945 and am about to switch to the Dell drivers to see if that makes any difference which I doubt at this point. Also, I've tried all other suggestions such as disabling enhanced effects, disabling 802.11a, changing BSS attributes, and experimenting with various other sound and driver settings, all to no avail. It's a persistent crackling/popping sound in all my games and music/video playback. Now with that being said, I disabled the 1500n Broadcom card last night and was able to watch a movie without nearly as much popping, so I'm suspicious that it has something to do with the WLAN card, but at this point I don't think it's a specific problem with the 1500n card alone because I can completely recreate the issue on the Intel card.

Message Edited by Groove75 on 03-30-2007 04:18 PM

Wow, really? I didn't think Intel users were having problems... DEFINITELY try the drivers from Dell, they should work.

As far as the 1500, all I can tell you is to read the last couple pages to disable 802.11a and you should be fine, or try disabling all enhancements. Either way, instructions have been repeated in the last few pages.

ah, so instead of insulting me you could of just told me to upgrade my driver.

Now, regardless of whether quickset helps or not, I need to still say that I had a very similar problem with an Alienware m9700 computer running Windows XP with Realtek B/G internal wireless WITH sigmatel onboard sound. Naturally, a completely different hardware and even software profile. I can't recall if the distortions were identical but I know it was a very similar issue in my case.

Personally, I'm not convinced that it's not a sigmatel issue but who knows.