Inspiron 17R SE wireless connectivity issues

Question

I have been experiencing quite a bit of wireless problems with my Inspiron 17R SE. Only about half the time can I connect to my router and even then it only stays connected for a couple hours. It seems intermittent and the problem will go away for a week or so, but right now it is back in full force. Typically it will either connect and say that there is limited connectivity or it won't connect at all. Resetting the adapter via the Windows 7 troubleshooter only fixes it about half the time.

The thing is that the wireless and everything else works just fine on my Ubuntu partition, which makes me think that my driver is a bit wonky. I have tried downloading the one directly from Dell, and that has come to no avail. I have even tried using the Dell software support suite, and that hasn't found anything wrong either.

All my (and my roommates) devices work just fine with the wireless, with us using a mixture of Android/Apple tables and Windows 7/OSX.

I'm currently running Windows 7 on my non-working partition. Any help would be appreciated.

PudgyOne · Answer

BaconBrownies,

What virus program and firewall are you using?

Can you run Finding System Information REMOVE YOUR PRODUCT ID and REGISTERED OWNER, if using XP, run an ipconfig /all log and post it back here.

Rick

BaconBrownies · Answer

Also, I'm using avg free and Windows firewall.

BaconBrownies · Answer

Host Name: MONGO

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

OS Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation

OS Configuration: Standalone Workstation

OS Build Type: Multiprocessor Free

Registered Organization: Windows User

Original Install Date: 9/27/2012, 2:36:43 PM

System Boot Time: 3/25/2013, 10:33:35 AM

System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

System Model: Inspiron 7720

System Type: x64-based PC

Processor(s): 1 Processor(s) Installed.

[01]: Intel64 Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~2501 Mhz

BIOS Version: Dell Inc. A13, 3/11/2013

Windows Directory: C:\Windows

System Directory: C:\Windows\system32

Boot Device: \Device\HarddiskVolume2

System Locale: en-us;English (United States)

Input Locale: en-us;English (United States)

Time Zone: (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

Total Physical Memory: 8,049 MB

Available Physical Memory: 5,654 MB

Virtual Memory: Max Size: 16,096 MB

Virtual Memory: Available: 13,464 MB

Virtual Memory: In Use: 2,632 MB

Page File Location(s): C:\pagefile.sys

Domain: WORKGROUP

Logon Server: \\MONGO

Hotfix(s): 144 Hotfix(s) Installed.

[01]: KB2764913

[02]: KB2764916

[03]: KB2718695

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Network Card(s): 4 NIC(s) Installed.

[01]: Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 2230

Connection Name: Wireless Network Connection

DHCP Enabled: Yes

DHCP Server: 192.168.1.1

IP address(es)

[01]: 192.168.1.3

[02]: fe80::a0fb:22d5:1e0:e341

[02]: Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller

Connection Name: Local Area Connection

Status: Media disconnected

[03]: Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)

Connection Name: Bluetooth Network Connection

Status: Media disconnected

[04]: Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter

Connection Name: Wireless Network Connection 2

Status: Media disconnected

PudgyOne · Answer

BaconBrownies,

Go to Drivers & Downloads enter your service tag number, then select your operating system. Under Network, download and install the latest drivers.

Try these tweaks....

Start, control panel, device manager. Click on Network and then right click on your wireless adapter, left click properties, power management. Uncheck the box, allow computer to turn off this device to save power.

(I have no confirmation on this but saw this in another thread) Disable Bluetooth on the Centrino 2230 and also set Bluetooth(R) AMP: Disabled.

Go to the power options, and changed the Wireless Adapter Setting, from Maximum Power Setting to Maximum Performance.

Rick

BaconBrownies · Answer

I tried everything last night and still got hit with the limited or no connectivity, so I reset the adapter and it worked fine for the rest of the night.

I missed the Bluetooth part though, I'll make sure to report my result with the disabling of it.

BaconBrownies · Answer

It's still happening. I had to reset my modem and router just to connect back to the internet even though it was working perfectly on my Nexus 7.

PudgyOne · Answer

BaconBrownies,   Another member in another forum dropped their security from WPA2 to WPA-PSK(TKIP) Security(Personal) and did not experience the sporadic connections.     Rick

watsonb · Answer

Another poster had the same issue.

en.community.dell.com/.../20348923.aspx

Here is the Dell provided answer that seems to have fixed that users issue. I have been having the same issue here and there and will try it too tonight.

Hi,

In case of Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230, please click on the link below to download and install the wireless drivers.

http://intel.ly/10isVmr

You may also download and install the relevant drivers from the Dell Support Website.

http://dell.to/Wvg2wH

Hope this helps resolve the issue.

Let me know if further help is needed.

Thanks and regards,

Babita S

#iworkforDell

For easy access to drivers, manuals and product updates, please visit our Support Site .

BaconBrownies · Answer

As I posted above, it was not a driver issue. I tried reinstalling them both from Windows and from the Dell website. I recently changed out my router and everything has been working for about a week.

I am thinking that, for whatever reason, my old router was specifically messing up my connection. I am not sure if it is completely fixed, but I haven't been having any issues after I did this.

Totalnewb · Answer

I have the same issue. I spent a combined total of 12 hrs with dell reps, several miss transfers and did refreshes on the laptop.

They updated drivers, did router configs, even checked software and all the things this thread has talked about. The end result, my laptop is being shipped back to dell for hrdware repair and software updates and potentially and reboot of the entire system and not a refresh,

rswapp · Answer

There is a inherent flaw in the device that causes it to drop connection, updating the device driver doesn't fix the problem. The wireless lan adapter is a POS from the get go. Using a usb wireless lan device works like a charm. I've seen all kinds of so called cures like rebooting your router, why do you want to do something like that when all of your other wireless devices work fine. I ended up uninstalling the wireless lan adapter and then did a clean install of the device driver and it's worked fine. Thank goodness I've held out so long with XP Pro, I've hated even thinking about going to 7 pro glad I skipped Fester(Vista) and glad I stayed away from 8.1 which really stinks. I wish I could blow this thing (17R) out and install XP but no luck in that because of driver unavailability. I hate Microsoft worth a passion. Time to fire up the old Linux box again, it's never died just keeps on running.

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Inspiron 17R SE wireless connectivity issues

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