New Dell Inspiron 1764: Issues with low signal connecting to wireless networks.

I have a brand new Dell Inspiron 1764 laptop that I received on the 25th of June. It is "replacing" a Dell Inspiron 9100 that has gotten to be too slow and bulky for my needs. For support purposes, both laptops are running on Windows 7.

Overall, I love my new Inspiron 1764. However, I have noticed seriously degraded connection/signal strength with the wireless card (Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-card) compared to my Inspiron 9100 (Dell Wireless 1350 WLAN Mini-PCI card).

In areas of my house that my 9100 can get full signal strength (5 bars), my new 1764 is getting 2 or fewer bars. This behavior is also not limited to only my house, as I have tested it at my job and in an area less than 10 feet away from the wireless router, I have "Internet connectivity problems".

I tried twice this morning to speak with Dell support. The first person I spoke to tried to be helpful and at least initiated a DellConnect session with me so that they could check some of my settings and such (however, why they went twice into my sharing settings I could not determine since they have absolutely nothing to do with signal strength.)

Unfortunately, I was disconnected from the session when I went to an area that had less signal than right next to my wireless router.

I then got back on chat support with Dell and received another technician to speak with. I explained my problem, told them that I was in a DellConnect session with the other technician, and they looked up my support contract.

They then told me that my warranty does not cover software issues and referred me to the software department and told me it would be an extra charge. I told them that I did not believe it to be a software issue in any way, shape, or form. They told me that it must be a setting issue. I have since spent several hours scouring the internet forums on Dell and other websites checking people who have had similar issues. Some of their issues were admittedly from software settings, but I have still yet to find anything that indicates to me that I have an incorrect software setting.

As of this writing, I am standing in my kitchen, typing on my Inspiron 9100 with a full 5 bars, while my Inspiron 1764 sits next to me with a measly 2 bars, and I am literally standing 7 feet above the room that houses my Linksys WRTU54G-TM router.

Personally, I suspect a faulty wireless card, but how do I convince Dell to hear my case and replace it rather than trying to bilk me for unneeded software support?