Wireless adaptor issues?

Question

I bought the Dell XPS 15 and received it today in the post. I am already having huge difficulties with the wireless adaptor. I turn the laptop on, and within 15 minutes without fail (regardless of if I'm using the internet or not) the wireless adaptor light turns off and I lose my internet connection. It then simply shows as "Limited connectivity". The built in wireless adaptor is the Intel Centrino Wireless N 1030. The only way I am able to reactivate the wireless again is by rebooting the computer, which is highly frustrating as you can imagine.

I have trawled through the power management options and set these all to high performance, I have gone into Device Manager and gone through every Network adaptor device listed (even the hidden ones) to ensure that within their power management properties, the box titled "Turn off to save power" is UNCHECKED. I have also attempted to update the drivers for all the adaptors as much as possible by going through each of them and clicking update driver, as well as downloading a driver straight from the Intel site for the adaptor which showed as "latest".

Is there anything else I can try and do to fix this problem? I wasn't expecting to have such a fundamental issue on the same day as receiving the brand new laptop.

Thanks in advance,

Leigh

PudgyOne · Answer

Leigh,   Did you also try... Power Save Polling (PSP) causes connection issues with some access points     Rick

LeighMarco · Answer

Rick,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately this didn't seem to resolve the problem. I have just updated the firmware on my router and I can confirm that all the other information matches what is in that advice. Still got a problem with it. I've never had this problem before with connecting to the router (I had my old laptop for 5 years, and there is another laptop that uses the wireless along with my PS3 and my phone). I don't understand why the laptop insists on shutting off the wireless by itself. The actual light that indicates when the wireless adaptor is on or off switches off along with the wireless. However, it would appear that this happens largely when I'm using the internet. An example of this is that I connected to IRC earlier today and left it alone for an hour, no disconnection by the time I came back but then loaded youtube and within 5-10 mins it had turned itself off.

If there's any further suggestions, I'd be grateful to get this fixed. I've seen a couple of things floating around online which suggest that it's a common issue with this laptop and indication that it's a confliction between bluetooth and the wireless adaptor.

Leigh

PudgyOne · Answer

Leigh,

Download the System Information Tool If using Vista/Windows 7, the tool needs extracted. Once extracted, right click on sysinfo and run as administrator. Allow this past your virus program and post the information back here.

If using XP, double click on the tool, then double click on sysinfo.

Rick

LeighMarco · Answer

Incidentally, when I say 'wireless' and 'wireless light', I'm referring to the laptop's wireless light and the laptop's wireless connection. Router all seems fine to be honest.

LeighMarco · Answer

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium

OS Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation

Original Install Date: 25/04/2012, 18:08:29

System Boot Time: 26/04/2012, 11:55:58

System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.

System Model: Dell System XPS L502X

System Type: x64-based PC

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

BIOS Version: Dell Inc. A10, 20/02/2012

System Locale: en-gb;English (United Kingdom)

Input Locale: en-gb;English (United Kingdom)

Time Zone: (UTC) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Leigh-PC

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 1030

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 4C-EB-42-40-9C-50

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::c459:7826:8b17:6fc3%13(Preferred)

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.9(Preferred)

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 26 April 2012 11:56:19

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 27 April 2012 11:56:19

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 239921986

DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-17-0C-2E-43-84-8F-69-C9-5B-98

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 84-8F-69-C9-5B-98

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{3755AB68-D4CA-4E89-9D43-381A21CAA436}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{24F41BC1-0CB0-4A7B-9B8B-FF26686CBFCC}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:5ef5:79fb:3c75:376e:a3f8:fb87(Preferred)

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3c75:376e:a3f8:fb87%18(Preferred)

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::

NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

LeighMarco · Answer

That's while internet is working of course. I'm actually posting to you on it which is nice :p

PudgyOne · Answer

Leigh,

Start, control panel, device manager, network, double click on Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 1030.

Click on power management. Uncheck the box, allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

Click on advanced. Look and see if this adapter has antenna diversity. It may or may not. If it does, change the Antenna Diversity from auto to Aux.

The Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 1030 works on the 2.4GHz frequency only.

What is the make and model of your wireless router? What type of security? What channel?

Also what virus program are you using?

Rick

LeighMarco · Answer

1) I'd already unselected that box, didn't fix it.

2) It doesn't appear to have Antenna Diversity

3) The wireless router is a Netgear DG834G. It has Trend Micro Security Services but that's disabled. It's set to channel 1.

4) I'm not actually using any anti virus at the moment, haven't installed McAffee yet.

Left my laptop alone for half hour today while it was on, came back and the screen had gone black and wouldn't wake up. I have a hunch that this laptop is glitched to hell and I think I need to return it and get a replacement to see if it was just a bit of faulty hardware or something.

PudgyOne · Answer

Leigh,

If the wireless router was not setup, that could be some of the issues.

Try using these Recommended Wireless Router Settings I use channel 11. I would make a new SSID to make connecting easier.

Your system is under warranty, so you can contact Dell Tech support and tell them you're having problems staying connected.

Rick

Networking, Internet, & Bluetooth

Wireless adaptor issues?

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