D620 Vista Wireless Keeps Dropping Connection

Question

I have gone through and seen several similar posts, but nothing appears to be exactly the same...so here goes.  I have a Dell Latitude D620 with the Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 ABG internal wireless card running Windows Vista Ultimate edition connecting to several different wireless networks using different brands/configurations of AP's (some at work, hotels, Starbucks, home, etc.).  When I bought the laptop it was just before Dell was shipping Vista so it arrived with XP Professional.  Under XP the wireless worked flawlessly on all networks.  When Vista was released I hit the store, picked-up a copy, formatted my hard drive and did a clean install.  I had every driver on the Dell website on a USB thumb drive, so I made sure everything was installed correctly.  Everything came up and sort of worked.  The laptop will not get a DHCP address from about half the AP's out there.  Dell recently released an updated driver that did not fix this - BUT the Intel driver direct from the Intel site does fix this.  The main problem I have is that the laptop will drop connection.  It doesn't matter if I am actively surfing the net or it is in screensaver mode - at completely random intervals the network icon will go to Local Access only, and then pop up the yellow triangle.  When it does this it takes 10-15 minutes for the Manage Network Connections screen to even open and when it does it shows that the wireless adaptor is Disabled.  When I go to re-enable it, it displays the pop-up, but never does it.  The ONLY solution is to reboot, which always works perfectly.  Other then Office 2007 and Symantec Anti-Virus I do not have anything else installed.  Sometimes the laptop will work for hours - sometimes I am rebooting 2-3 times an hour.  For fun I took another hard drive and stuck it in and applied the ghost image of the XP Pro machine, thinking my hardware had gone bad.  Nope - works perfectly.  So I did another clean install of Vista.  Same issue.  It is not hardware related and it is not related to the AP's (have many XP and Linux machines connecting through them with no problem at home - and the others clearly are working for other people).   Just a brief history on trying to get support for this...well...long story short, I really wanted Vista (don't ask).  I paid extra for the 4-year tech support option/4-year complete care and specifically asked my salesperson if upgrading to VIsta would be an issue.  I was told no, it wouldn't be.  The sticker on the keyboard even says  Vista Capable.  Well, I tried to call Dell about this issue and was quickly told that since I upgraded they have no obligation or intention of even trying to help me.  Guess I threw that extra money I paid down the drain...   So before I eBay this laptop and buy a Leveno, anyone have any possible fixes for the problem?  I would greatly appreciate it - and willing to try just about anything to get it to work.

volcano11 · Answer

I really am not hear to read rants.  Perhaps if you looked a bit you would have found this thread:   http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_wireless&thread.id=36018   Sorry I can't be of much help with an untested new version of Windows.   Steve

Upstate_Chris · Answer

volcano11 - Thanks for the info.  I did just read that entire thread.  Sadly (like so many other Dell issues) the apparent 'fix' is either throw away the card and buy a different one or go through some pain to remove all traces of the Dell driver and install the Windows driver that has less features.  In either case I am at a loss as to why I paid extra for the supposedly 'better' card.  Neither of these options is really a solution.  Oh, BTW - that second link you posted is THIS thread.  :-)

volcano11 · Answer

Did you look at the following ridicuously long thread and read the posts near the end-   http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_wireless&thread.id=28391   or the following:   http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=si_wireless&thread.id=37508   Steve

Upstate_Chris · Answer

While those threads may in fact bring up some very valid points, they, unfortunately, do no thelp me:   1) Re-seat the card has been done 2) Tried Windows, Dell and Intel drivers (including 11.11.11).  3) The 'Use the Windows Vista Drivers' solution is a poor band-aid.  These drivers DO fix the random turn off problem, but have several of their own issues (like with hibernation blowing away the WLAN settings, lacking all the features of the native drivers, etc.) 4) 'It is the AP' does not make sense - since re-booting my laptop does not do anything to the AP, not to mention that I have the issue in may places on many AP's 5) Dell does appear to be offering, in limited cases and limited help desk locations, a Broadcom replacement card for the Intel card.  This card has BG only (not ABG as is the Intel) and is widely considered to be a step down in quality.  It is also half the price, but no other compensation is being offered - seems like the 'right thing' to do would be replace it with an Intel 4965 (slight upgrade).  In no other industry could someone get away with a free 'downgrade' to resolve a problem.   If you read both of those long threads carefully it is clear that the ONLY people that actually were able to resove the issue and not loose functionality were those that, out of their own pocket, bought another wireless card.  Everyone else still has the same problem or a temporary limit functionality band-aid in place.  Since it is clear (by Dell_Gina's involvement) that this has been a known issue for months and is still unresolved, it is fair to say that Dell is playing the numbers game here.  Dont get me wrong, Dell usually makes a great product - and no other vendor is without issues.  But dealing with thousands of Dell workstations and hundred of Dell servers daily I can tell you - their support is horrible and when there is a wide spread problem (bad batch of hard drives, bad driver, etc. - which happens often, and may or may not even be Dell's fault) it always takes threatening to not buy from them again to get any type of real support.  Unfortunately this is my personal laptop so I cannot use my company leverage in this case.  I just ordered a new Intel card out of my own pocket.  My time is worth more then the card costs.  So I consider this issue resolved.   As far as a 'rant', since there are at least a couple other threads, each with 10+ pages of posts with people having the same problem it is clearly a valid issue - for months.  If stating that the manufacturer must realize that it is a valid issue and has not addressed it is a rant, then sorry about that.  I just had this crazy idea that if a few hundred people complain about the exact same problem it should be templated in Remedy (or whatever held desk solution Dell uses) and the end user should not have to spend a month swapping identical, flawed cards, adjusting power settings, etc. that are known not to work - and that is if Dell will even help them.  I guess to make you happy, let me step back and bow down and worship to all that is Dell.   Problem solved - case closed - solution: Get out your credit card and buy a replacement card.  You will be happy and use much less asprin and cell minutes.

Gina Q · Answer

Upstate_Chris,   As indicated in the other threads this has been escalated. Please look at your Private Messages at the top of the board.

Siavash · Answer

Why Dell aupport staff have not been notified about this problem. It is very frustrating to deal with support staff that know about the problem but have to follow a 'script'! Is that really the best Dell can do?

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

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