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DarkFame

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DarkFame

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August 6th, 2008 17:00

Unstable wireless connection (especially on battery)

My XPS 1530 has issues with the wireless connection. It looses connection for a few seconds here and there, and it seems like it's more frequent when running on batteries. I'm using the latest driver provided by Dell (11.1.1.22) on Vista 32-bit. Anyone else had this problem? Any solutions? I suspect it's a driver issue. The laptop is close to the access point (full signal strength). Upgrading to the driver provided with Windows Update did not help (it actually made it worse).
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    Eambo

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    Posted August 6th, 2008 19:00

    Is it definitely the laptop - do you have any other wireless devices with any issues? You could try changing the wireless channel to see if the strength gets any better - also being right beside the access point isn't always the best - make sure there's a bit of space between it. Try fiddling with the router settings first before assuming it's the laptop, it may just be a channel issue.
  • K1

    kstate.1980

    35 Posts

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    Posted August 6th, 2008 19:00

    We run our XPS 1530 exclusively on wireless and it very rarely drops the connection. 
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    kirkd

    6 Operator

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    5241 Posts

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    Posted August 6th, 2008 19:00

    Try resetting the wireless channel. Other wireless equipment can interfer. Channels 1,6 and 11 are the best to try.
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    stefanrp97

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    Posted August 6th, 2008 20:00

    More than likely it's Windows. I suggest updating to the latest driver for your wireless card. Perform a manual defragmentation of your hard drive. Then open a command prompt window running with administrator rights and type the command SFC /SCANNOW

     

    This will try and repair any Windows files that could be corrupted.

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    DarkFame

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    Posted August 10th, 2008 18:00

    I'm quite sure it's a driver issue as the connection seems much more stable when the laptop is on AC power. Which driver are you using?
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    DarkFame

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    Posted August 11th, 2008 20:00

    I'm quite sure I've found the solution to my own problem. When I did futher testing I noticed the wireless never dropped on AC power, only on battery.

     

    According to Intel some APs are not compatible with their PSP (Power Saving Polling), and there are two possible solution. Get a firmware upgrade for your AP which corrects the problem (if available) or put your wireless adapter in CAM (Continously Aware Mode).

     

    Link: http://support.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-006205.htm

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