Gradually Degrading Performance using True Mobile 1400

Update -

So last night I started timing these things... 1 session lasted 16 minutes before the wireless NIC stopped responding ("the remote server could not be found" is the error Opera gives me. After a reboot I had a session that went uninterupted for 1.5 hours.

Any other info I should gather?

Thx-

Lee

I have exactly these symptoms at home on my D800/TrueMobile 1300 and a Belkin 54g WAP. I get a wireless connection and everything works great for a while - between 10 mins and 120 mins - but then I begin to notice a severe degradation in internet speed. Pages load slower and slower and then just stop. Then the connection is dropped. Re-booting (even multiple times) does not reliably re-establish the connection. I just have to wait until it chooses to come back. Wired connection to the router re-establishes full speed in the mean time.

I have re-installed the drivers, but the latest on the Dell website were just the same ones the machine came with. I've turned off the power to the phone and the microwave but that hasn't made any difference. There is only one other computer on the network (wired) and turning that off doesn't make any difference.

Reviewing these forums, it looks like there are 5 things I need to try:

- Set PLCP to long

- Uncheck "enable authentication for IEEE 802.x"

- Disable Bluetooth (but I want both simultaneously - and thought I could have them)

- Force speed to 2mbps (but I have a 54mbps WAP - why should I do this?)

- Change channels from default 11 (I live in city centre so interference is a possibility).

I don't hold out much hope with any of these - does anyone have any better solutions?

Thanks,

KC

I think I've fixed my problem - I changed the IBSS channel number from 11 (default) to 3. Since then, everything has worked flawlessly. None of the other changes I've seen recommended made things noticably better.

KC

I tried the IBSS channel change to 3 as well as the other changes mentioned and I'm still getting a dropped connection intermittently. It's rather strange... I can be docked and on the local network and the wireless card still stays activated, which I expect. What's funny though is that while docked and 2 feet above the AP the wireless connection will drop (I get the message that no networks are available) and then reconnect a little later. I don't have to muck with it since I'm on the local network, but it still makes me reluctant to undock and go mobile more.

It's just a pain when there's no reliable way for me to ensure connectivity and some way to even restore connectivity if it does drop off.

I can't believe I'm the only person dealing with this. Anyone else? I keep waiting for this to get fixed through a new driver from dell or the like...

Dream a little dream...

Lee

Getting the same problems on an Inspiron 5100, With the TrueNobile 1300. Changing channels is no help at all.

See

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_network&message.id=7148

I've got an Inspiron 8500 with Truemobile 1300 and I'm getting the same severe connectivity problems as you're describing.

I'm just using a Belkin 54g PCI card at the other end.

A few things I've noticed with the Truemobile 1300 drivers is that if you change the Channel number in WinXP hardware device manager it still shows channel 11 on the "Dell TrueMobile WLAN Card Utility". 

I've also installed the Truemobile 1300 drivers on my desktop PC with the belkin 54g card in it and it still works! (well it is the same chipset so I had to try it ;-) )

*ANY* attempts to enable WEP results in NO connectivity whatsoever (although the wirless connection does appear I can't connect to the remote machine).

I'm not sure if this helps anyone out there?  Something I might try is to remove the truemobile drivers on the laptop and use the belkin ones instead, although I doubt that'll make much difference either since they so seem to be identical drivers.

 

I'm grateful to learn that I'm not alone.  I have a brand new Inspiron 5100 with the Truemobile 1300.  I sat my laptop next to the router and had an excellent signal that for no reason began to degrade in speed, then cut out all together.  Then, like magic, would reappear at full strength, 11mbps.  I have tried all of the recommendations in this forum.

What really bugs me is that I then stick a Truemobile 1100 external wireless card into the 5100 after disabling the 1300 and the dumb thing works PERFECTLY!!!

Are there just defective 1300's out there?

Can anyone from Dell comment on this please?

 

Thanks!

 

I too had the same problem with the Truemobile 1300. On advice from someone on one of these forums, I am using the Linksys WPC54G driver, and it works like a champ, as well as upon bootup, seeing the router almost instantly. Dell needs to get these drivers for the 1300 ironed out!!!

Thank you so much for the info.  I downloaded the driver you mentioned from Linksys, extracted it and ran the setup program.  Unfortunately, even running the Linksys utility, I keep seeing the dumb network flipping in and out of view every few seconds.  I even went to the config panel for the Truemobile 1300 and updated the driver manually without good results.  I uninstalled the Truemobile 1300 utility as well and rebooted several times.

Any more advice?  Sure appreciate it!

 

 

Windows XP can be finicky at time. I have found that if you enable SSID broadcasts on the access point/router, and enable WEB you'll have less chance of it dropping signal. You can also disable the power management for the TM 1300.

Message Edited by device manager on 09-07-2003 02:56 AM

...but I've done all that, and I still see this wacky degredation of speed and eventually dropping of signal.  Then, sitting in the same spot, I'll put in the external 1100 truemobile card and I get reliable 11mbps connection at all times.

 

Did you uninstall the the truemobile utility? You must do that first. Otherwise, it will conflict with the Linksys WLAN utility. It has been more than 24 hours now without a problem using the Linksys driver. I am using channel 6.

 

I have the True Mobile 1400 a/b/g card in my Inspiron 5150 and I have been experiencing the same problems with degrading performance as well. I frequently move from place to place with a good variety of access points, and have experienced the same problems in each environment. In some environments, my card preformed better, however, I always had the same results.. failure. I originally thought that the problem was related to my software installation and/or setup within WindowsXP. I have recently upgraded my HDD and in doing so, reinstalled windows cleanly. I have been experiencing the same problems after my reinstall as I was with the original, Dell installation. I called up Dell and asked to have the card replaced, however I'm waiting on a tech to come out to replace my motherboard (I'm not having much luck lately)... anyways, the second support tech told me to wait until my motherboard was replaced to see if that corrects my problem. Now that I see that other systems have been experiencing the same problems, I don't think I even want the 1400 anymore. That actually leads me to a question. Does anyone have the 1450, and actually know what the difference is? The support techs I spoke with did research an answer but, unfortunately, none were of any help.