Dell Draft N Wireless Problems

Question

Hello, I finally bought my new Inspiron E1505 with the Dell Draft N Internal Wireless that said it supports a/b/g wireless routers.  For some reason I cannot connect to the internet.  Whenever I search for wireless networks with both Windows and the Dell Draft it says nothing is in found.  Someone else in the household has a Dell Inspiron E1405 with Intel PRO Wireless 3945 which supports a/b and receives a wireless connection from our home router perfectly.  I called Dell and they wanted me to pay $240 for a year subscription for wireless setup but I thought that would be pretty useless since it would only be for that time.  I'm very upset now b/c I've been through several Dell reps and they all will not or cannot help me.  Any information or advice would be helpful!  Oh yeah, they router at our house is a 'b' router. Thanks, MelVel1985

gm212 · Answer

Could just be that the wireless radio is turned off... I think it's function+F2 to turn it on/off but not sure.

MelVel1985 · Answer

The radio is on and actually i can sometimes get a signal but it doesn't let it connect and then goes away.  I always get a limited or no connectivity.  I tried moving the system closer to the router and it didn't get any better.  The other laptop works perfectly with the router though so I don't know what is going on.  The Dell Wireless card is on in the device drivers menu and it says it's working fine.

ErikTheViking · Answer

I'm having the same problem!  I even reinstalled the OS and then just installed the Wireless adapter so that I could use Windows to configure my wireless, but for some reason it still keeps dropping my wireless and even when it is connected it's really slow.  I've tried changing some of the options under the Dell WLAN Wireless Adapter in the 'Hardware Devices' list, but with no luck yet.

ErikTheViking · Answer

HOORAY!!!

I did 2 things to fix this problem, not sure which one worked, but doing both of them seems to be doing good.

1) Install the Dell WLAN Utility and then check all 3 buttons on the main page and select "Add" then "Advanced" and type in all of the information needed. Also, go into Start->Network Connections and right-click on the Wireless Connection and select "Properties" Go to the "Advanced" section of your wireless and select the 2nd option and then check the box at the bottom.

2) http://www.station-drivers.com/page/broadcom.htm

Go to that webpage and down at the bottom you will see a list of drivers under "Wireless 802.11b & 802.11g". Download the one at the top and then everything should be ok! That is the latest driver for the Wireless adapter that Dell is using from Broadcom.

80211soup · Answer

What brand/model is your router?

MelVel1985 · Answer

It's a D-link 2.4 GHz Wireless Broadband Router. Like I said, it works perfectly fine with the other computer I have with the Intel Pro wireless card I got from Dell so I don't know the problem with this one. The boxes from the other reply are checked in the Dell WLAN Utility and I'm trying to download the drivers from that site but since the slow wireless connection I'm having trouble getting through. Whenever I unplug the wireless and plug in the cord for internet, it cannot find a connection either.

80211soup · Answer

Okay so it's a D-Link, but what is the model number? I'm assuming it has the latest firmware?

There is also an AP Compatibility Mode setting in the Advanced Properties of the adapter. You might try setting this to "Broader Compatibility" and see if you can connect.

Don't download the drivers mentioned in the other post, they are older drivers and do not support the Dell Wireless 1500 card.

MelVel1985 · Answer

I'm not sure if it has the lastest firmware. Can I get the downloads for that on the D-Link site? Also would I look under harware devices to find the AP Compatibility Mode setting? I can connect while I'm up very close to the router but its slow and I have to refresh the page many times before I can get to the site. I cannot however get a connection whenever I unplug the cable from the router and put it into my computer for internet. That's kind of strange! I did download those drivers and it did not help my wireless problem. Will those download hurt my connection? How do I get ride of them?

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Dell Draft N Wireless Problems

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