WIFI problems on Dell xps 15 L521X

Hello Enochpc,

Even if it doesn't affect ALL the laptops, they have to fix the majority (all os uf). I hope your new machine to work properly regarding wifi.

Otherwise I would appreciate if you can provide us your experience on Safe Mode.

I think this way we could make easier the global fix to our headaches.

I just want to re-iterate that it works fine for me. I got my laptop last tuesday. It worked fine out of the box. I put forward the aluminium shell faraday cage theory. So it cant be that. It has to be in the specs. I have the i7 processors. I ll cut and paste my specs when i get back to my computer. This might cery well have been fixed on newer laptops like mine. Can someone from dell confirm this or are you here just to say "thank you for your comment" ??

Thanks Enochpc, this is an evidence that wireless drivers are not working as they should. Remember to always test downloading anything. I always put some big size file to download and start walking away slowly to note the difference.

Hello gangloff, it's good to know about ppl who have their wifi working at l521x, I really appreciate you are spending this time to provide this info.

Can you tell me when you come back with all the specs: did you executed the Windows Update or updated something on the OS previously?

So tried ubuntu, was in the 1mbit to 2mbit range.  Still there is hope that windows can get decent range and speeds if it can do it in safe mode

So tried the safe mode route, I was getting 7mbit on safe mode and .2 mbit on regular.  Quite a difference.  Definitely seems to be affected by drivers, Dell seems to think it's graphics.  New driver posted on downloads page today for HD 4000 graphics, but won't download.  It's newer than the intel driver they loaded on my machine yesterday.  Hopefully th.e link comes up so I can try it.  Next stop, Ubuntu.

If you test on Linux, you have to disable the N mode like I did, because the N mode is not yet well supported by the Linux kernel.

I thought I would point out that I have the corei5 processor in my machine. 6gb ram, 500gb hd with 32gb msata, 630m geforce.

Unfortunately tonight is pretty well booked, won't likely get to play much.  I might try the change of the wifi settings on Ubuntu tomorrow.

So I just checked my Dell account and my replacement is delivering today!   So I will post my results as soon as possible.

UmbertoD  I actually prefer to test multiple times from a spot I know I will be using the machine a lot, like our home office.  I know my old laptop gets full bandwidth from that spot, so any changes from that spot show that the changes are making the difference, not distance.  Can't do much about random interference, but that's why I try multiple tests.

I hope your new l521x wifi's works perfectly, we would like to know how it goes.

Indeed, one of my tests are connecting from my room, where I get not-so-weak-but-enought signal with older laptops.

I've i7 processor, 8gb ram version.

UmbertoD: the above config worked out of the box. I took the laptop out of the box, plugged it into the wall, tried wifi and there were no issues (I didn't do any windows updates, no driver updates, nothing). Of course, since then, I've done updates, gone to windows ultimate, etc. But out of the box, it was working fine and is still working fine one week later. I hope this helps!

Likewise, i compared the 15 with my returned studio xps 1645, the link speeds matched except when i went to the furthest room in the house upstairs, the studio got better range while the 15 got none and outside, the studio saw 11 wifi's while the 15 saw 4...

the linkspeed in my room, 20 feet from router through 2 walls, is about 180 . still, it should better than that...

i have a linksys e4200 and am connected to a 5ghz N only wifi connection. link speed 10 feet away is 300 stable

the only thing, my battery only lasts 2.5 hours on power saver with the lid closed and music playing :S

my video card not working due to the a09 bios update(dell sending new mobo)

my webcam suddenly went really bad and is now low quality

the touch pas is soooo messed up.

i have the same config as the abover poster and also upgraded to the ult 64bit windows 7

OK, here is my config which works just fine (WIFI works fine). Note: my router is an Apple Airport Extreme (802.11a/g/n)

I'm posting from my XPS15 right now and I have 5 solid bars to the Apple router and 130Mbps and the XPS15 is 13 feet away from the router right now (WIFI connection, nothing wired).

So, this is essentially what I've been getting with my previous generation XPS15 (the non-aluminium version, the one with the leather on it, not sure what dell was thinking putting leather on laptops but that's another story). So, same results are before, all works fine with my XPS15!

Reminder, I got this dell through dell CANADA one week ago. I have the impression that sometimes dell canada sells us the old stuff from the USA (which is why I thought I was going to have this wifi issue FOR SURE); for example: sometimes it's pricier in Canada even though the $CDN is mostly on par with the $USD and yet they sell it for more but without actually using the same specs: ex: at the same price, in Canada they sell the i5 version while in the us, for the same price, they have the i7 processor!! but that's been happening less and less now. Another example is that we don't have the XPS15 with the 512SSD and 16GB of ram available at all in Canada. But in this case, it seems like I received one of the newer version that don't have the WIFI issue. Funny thing is that the laptops actually come from warehouses in the USA (probably the same that contain the XPS15s shipped to USA addresses), ah those marketing folks, why can't they align the whole north american market with the same products (well, maybe to get rid of the old stuff on us canadians, anyway that's my current theory).

Ok, I diverged, this is the spec I have, and it works fine, compare with yours, I hope this helps!

Ah yes, like I said, I think we need to squash my aluminium sheel theory [where the shell shields the wifi signals] because if it works fine for me, then it's not the aluminium shell that is causing the issue for others. So I just thought of another theory: I wonder if it has to do with the processor or some parts of the laptop that might be creating EMFs that interfere with the wifi signal?? Just a theory, but if we figure out that different XPS15 configs work/don't work (or graphics cards, etc.) then we can figure out which part is faulty. I mean, these different parts/processors/cards run at different frequencies and if something is not shielded correctly... Far fetched I know but we're trying to debug this issue, right? [because it doesn't look like DELL is doing that debugging).

Pierre

My config:

225-2991 XPS 15 1 1,599.99 1,599.99
312-1338 65 WHr 9-cell Battery 1
318-1493 Waves MaxxAudio 4.0 1
318-2090 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3612QM processor (6M Cache, up to 3.1 GHz - TPM) 1
318-2092 Slot Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD) 1
319-0065 8GB, DDR3, 1600MHz 1
320-3536 Silver Anodized Aluminum and 15.6" FHD 1080p Truelife WLED Display and Skype-Certified HD Webcam 1
320-3538 NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM 1
331-1894 Power cord, 125V, 3.2 feet, US 1
331-3872 Documentation, DAO1 1
331-7186 Placement XPS 1
331-7187 Badge 1
331-7262 English Keyboard, 80 Key, L521X 1
331-7266 Shipping Material, Clear 1
342-4471 750GB 7200 HDD with 32GB mSATA 1
410-0548 Adobe Acrobat Reader 1
410-0579 McAfee 11, 15 Month, Fast Track 1
412-0148 No ISP requested 1
421-4550 Power DVD 9.6, 3D 1
421-5780 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, No Media 1
421-7642 Dell SRV Software for Intel Centrino Adv-N 6235 1
421-7643 Wireless Display Application and Driver 1
421-7650 Platform Quickset 1
421-7993 Additional Software 1
421-8801 Microsoft Office trial 1
430-4721 Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 and Bluetooth 4.0 1
951-6730 Accidental Damage Service, 1 Year 1
954-1900 Premium Phone Support, Initial Year 1
993-8904 Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year 1
993-8944 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year 1
310-4386 No Palmrest Label Included 1
331-6816 MOD,LBL,BLNK,3-5X10,INS,VOS,XP 1
412-0358 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement 1
421-4045 LoJack Theft Recovery Software for Laptops, 1 Year, Digital Delivery 1
421-7587 No Adobe Elements Software Requested 1
467-7771 Thanks for choosing Dell! 1
469-2120 ENERGY STAR qualified/EPEAT registered 1
469-2152 No SSD SW required 1
469-2486 CFI Not Included 1
730-2487 Thank You for Choosing Dell 1
950-9797 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3 1
991-1179 LoJack Theft Recovery Service,XPS - 1 Year DHS 1

Hello everyone.

I am probably going to get a 15 in a couple days, so i am really interested in finding a solution in case i get a not proper working unit as well.

I've been reading all your posts and called DELL Germany today to find out if they know a solution - they're not even aware of the problem..

I tell you about my experience if / when i get my computer.

Yeah, from my multiple calls to dell, half the staff knows one thing, the other half know something else and the rest dont know anything...