Intermittent WIFI connection?

That is all clear

Update -  I received the USB with a fresh copy of the Windows operating system and installed it.  The wifi now works, but only while sitting in the room where the router is located.  If I move the tablet into the kitchen, about 10 meters away, the WIFI works intermittently or not at all.  I called Dell Support last night and the technician said that it is normal to have WIFI reception work well only in the room in which the router is located.  Sorry, but that is not a reasonable performance - if I wanted a computer that only accesses the internet in 1 room I would have purchased a desk top computer.  I've had this new tablet for less than one week and it is extremely disappointing. Any advice?

Brian,

I have tested my "solution" for 10 days now and in those 10 days NEVER had a problem with limited wifi!

However, because I really need my wifi while travelling in China I did 2 tests in one:

1. Turn off Windows Update notifications

2. Always turn off wifi before shutting down the tablet or before putting it in Sleep mode.

Now the question is: Is the problem solved by solution 1, solution 2, or the combination? I will leave wifi on for another week or so to see what's happening.

drftr

I purchased a refurbished Dell Venue Pro 11 (5130) in April 2014 from the Dell Home and Home Office Outlet store.

I have had issues with the WiFi dying, but kept the tablet because I got such a "good deal" and thinking Dell would release a driver update that would fix the issue. That has not happened.

Issue:  While actively surfing the web or playing YouTube and Hulu videos or playing the online game Hearthstone I lose the internet connection because the WiFi adapter dies.  I click the WiFi icon in the system tray and there are no networks found.  Usually I see approx. 9 available WiFi networks, my WiFi plus my neighbors' WiFi networks.

After clicking the WiFi icon in the system tray, I attempt to toggle the WiFi off and on, but the toggle will not move.  The toggle remains in the "On" position.  I've tested the toggle when I do have a WiFi connection and the toggle will work.  It's only when I lose WiFi connectivity that the WiFi Off\On toggle will not work.

Sometimes I can start Internet Explorer and click the "Fix connection problems" button and that will successfully reset the WiFi adapter.  But usually I need to reboot the tablet in order to restore WiFi connectivity.  WiFi connectivity usually only lasts for around 10 minutes before I lose it again.  I have two other computers and a cell phone on WiFi and they all work fine and again when i lose network connectivity I click the WiFi icon in the system tray and there are zero WiFi networks available.  Usually there are 9.

Attempts to Fix:

1) I've gone into device manager and uninstalled the Dell Wireless 1538 802.11 a/g/n adapter, rebooted the tablet and installed the WiFi adapter with the latest driver from Dell.  Note that the adapter manufacturer is "Qualcomm Atheros".  I've tried this with the last two drivers released by Dell.

2)  I came across a Microsoft forum discussion regarding an issue with Microsoft updates and WiFi connectivity with Dell Venue Pro tablets.  I uninstalled Microsoft Updates "KB 2887595" and "KB 2903939" and ran Windows update. This had no affect.  Here is the link to the discussion:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-networking/dell-venue-pro-loses-wireless-connection-after/bc8a1426-fdb8-466d-b074-c80a06e70d76

3) Installed latest BIOS and drivers from Dell.

Dell Wireless 1538 driver date: 6/4/2014, version 3.7.2.59655, by Qualcomm Atheros.

BIOS Release Date 6/30/2014, version A08.

Since you asked for it here is my router information, but I'm sure the issue is not related to the router since my WiFi goes completely dead and cannot see any WiFi connections within my neighborhood.

D-Link DIR-850L; Hardware version:  A1; Firmware version: 1.07

I was going to to replace the WiFi adapter in the tablet, but apparently that can only be done on the higher end Venue tablets with the Intel i series CPU.

I too have tried all the solutions I could find on the Dell forums. None of them helped. Also tried the suggestion by 'drftr', mentioned above and disabled all Window updates. This also made no difference. After 5 month of trying to get this tablet to work properly I have now officially given up, This weekend I sent a message to Dell asking for a refund, with a reference to all the forum posts.

I assume that this will be the beginning of yet another frustrating process, with them refusing a refund and saying that I should send in my device for it to be repaired, only to have it returned 3 or 4 weeks later with a message that it should now work fine, which it will not do.

That is because it will sometimes run fine for a whole hour or even more, so just random testing may not reveal any problems. That makes this issue so hard to deal with. It is unpredictable and apparently also related to circumstances like yes or no external power, specific modems? If it was obvious it would have been solved already. However that should not be my problem. What I'm afraid of is that the repair service will just say that there IS no problem. Let's wait and see....

So... After scanning the computer and restarting my wif connection was back again, only to disappear within 5 or so minutes. Yep, you guessed it: Another Windows notification with a white flag: "Check for solutions to unreported problems".

I have to add that the connection automatically was restored within 3 or so minutes, but it's 100% sure that I immediately lost connectivity when the white flag appeared. See what you can do with this info. I'll keep trying and posting, hoping that it's helpful for someone.

drftr

Sorry to see it didn't work for you...

I actually did the opposite from what I said I would do so I turned on Windows update yesterday. Having had no problem at all for 10 days, 10 minutes ago I suddenly HAD a limited wifi connection. I looked a the status bar and saw the white flag with 2 Windows messages: It's really recommended that I change my Windows Update settings (I've put it on sending m a notification but no auto update) and Windows Defender needs to scan my computer.

Can't believe it: 10 days no problem, I turn Windows Update on again, and on the very first day it's bingo again. I'll keep the settings the same and give it another week to see if it happens again.

drftr

I received the predictable reply from Dell. They will not give me refund but will 'repair' the device. It is so frustrating to have to go through this official procedure with a guaranteed negative outcome. The problem is that there are no drivers available that work. The opening post in this thread by Brian is a clear admittance. Dell acknowledges that there is a driver issue and that they don't (yet) know how to solve it.  2,5 month down the road there still is no solution.

Why oh why do they insist on repairing a device when without drivers it can't be repaired??? 

@Brian: please can you help me out here? How can I convince Dell Tech support that without new drivers there is nothing to be repaired? This procedure only adds to the frustration. Having a buggy device is still better than not having it at all for a few weeks for no other reason than to satisfy pointless procedures....

I notice the new A09 BIOS mentions WiFi, wonder if it will make any difference to this problem?

I've noticed an immediate difference on my venue 8 - it connects to my BlackBerry hot spot now and not just after restarting the tablet. 

Can turn wifi on/off on the tablet and hot spot on/off on the phone and they pair up. Sometimes a bit slower than other times but much better than what it was

A09 is definitely worth a try imo.

I just tested the A09 Firmware

Before on 2.4 GHz:

52/11 Mbps

After:

80/11 Mbps

Not tested before on 5 ghz.

But after : 108/12 Mbps

I hope my time-outs when doing a ping -t are also gone....

Another update about the new a09-firmware.

On 5 ghz : no time-outs with a ping -t to 8.8.8.8

on 2.4 GHz : several time-outs still to 8.8.8.8

Speed is working ok on both bands.

Anybody with the same experience?

Thx

No time-outs here during nearly a minute of pinging 8.8.8.8 on 2.4 GHz. Interesting :-) 

After each update from Dell and each forum suggestion I have thought: this might be the one... and every time that was followed by a disappointment so I don't have my hopes up high yet, but this is an encouraging sign. I'll hold of the shipment to the service center for a few days....

The WiFi speed was just one of the issues plaguing this machine. Let's see if any of the other problems have been fixed. Haven't had a proper chance to test that.

Hello, my tablet is completely unable to access the internet - the problems I had last month have returned.

The wifi was working better for a few days after I purchased a Linksys Wifi N300 Range extender to see if the problem was an incompatability with my wifi router.  The extender helped, but only for a few days.

For the past week I cannot connect to wifi using the Dell 7130 Tablet while all other computers in my house are connecting very fast.

Sometimes the browser shows the URL but nothing loads.  Other times the browser says "Unable to Connect to the Internet" And the connection diagnosis is of no use. At all times the connection is shown to my router.

In the past week I have refreshed Windows;

I have updated to the latest bios and the latest wifi network driver;

I have updated Windows and confirmed that I do not have the problematic updates installed, like these:

kb2887595

Kb2903939

Kb2883200

I have restarted the tablet many times;

I have removed the battery and restarted it. 

None of my efforts have been successful!

Unfortunately I have to report that the Bios update has not resolved the various sleep issues, dropping Bluetooth and locked system. I will go through with sending the machine back to Dell. I have no confidence what so ever in their ability to repair the device (if working drivers are not available there is nothing the repair guys can do), but getting a refund is not yet an option. So I am preparing myself mentally to deal with the "it is repaired - no it isn't - it is repaired yet again - no still isn't" cycle that lays ahead in the coming months.... This really is the last Dell device I have ever bought