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

Open the Dell WLAN Wireless Utility (type it in the Start box) to see if you are connecting to your own wireless network. You could be connecting to a neighbor's unsecured network instead of your own. Check everything to verify your settings--channel, passwords, available networks etc. The Win 7 Network and Sharing Center can help verify the settings. You should have used the Network Connection Wizard to set up your connection.

Thank you for your reply, Mary, but no, this is not a solution to my issue. For one thing, I know that I am connecting to my own network since I have a unique SSID, and I have WPA-PSK security with TKIP set up on my router. Also, the wireless network I connect to at work is the only wireless network within range. I did verify during the course of troubleshooting that I am connecting only to my own network. In fact, on my previous laptop, I used to be able to see my neighbor's networks. With this one, I am not. That is how poor the range and reception on this laptop is.

I probably should have mentioned before that I am a computer technician by trade and training. As I did mention, I looked at various forums for several hours for known issues relating to my problem. I do not use the Dell WLAN utility as it is useless bloatware. The Windows wireless serves my purposes just fine.

One other thing that has come to my mind as a possibility is that rather than a faulty card, it is possible that the antenna are not fully attached within the system to the card, or even that a connection may have come loose during shipping. I will take a look at Dell's resources online to determine how to access the network card on this model and see. If this does not resolve my issue, then I will be contacting Dell's Customer Service for a resolution to my problem since it has only been approximately a week since I received this laptop.

I'm having the exact same problem with my brand new Dell Inspiron 1440.  I've tried everything, and also rejected the "it's your software, so can you pay us $120 for a one time 'fix.'"  Has your problem been solved?  I'm taking the CA Bar in a week and need to be able to connect to the internet to upload my exam answers.  Any help would be very very appreciated.

I'm having the same problem with my new Inspiron 1564.   Wireless signal degrades unless within 10 feet of router.    I also bought a new Inspiron 1545 for another family member at the same time.   When I put them side by side the wireless signal on the 1545 is twice as strong as the more expensive 1564.    Both have the same 1397 minicard.   I used the wireless utility to check the settings and they are identical except for the MAC address.    I tried updating the router's firmware and resetting factory defaults to no avail.    I'm at my wit's end!   Can anyone help? 

Alright, y'all, I have gone through a bunch of different things trying to get my issue fixed. I seem to have found an at least "partial" solution.

First, let me say that Dell has been absolutely no help in this process, even though I have talked to a couple of representatives whom I believe were honestly trying their best to help me. After going through so many attempts to get help, I finally gave up and decided to go my own route.

On an unrelated note, I had some issues with my Windows installation which were probably due to malware I picked up somewhere along the line. To me this was not a big deal, since I don't keep much as far as data on my laptop. This led me to reload Windows and start reloading my drivers and software. Now here is where I figured out my "partial" solution.

You see, when I reloaded Windows, I didn't reinstall all my drivers immediately, partially due to the fact that most drivers require a reboot after installation, so it is a time-consuming process to say the least. However, I noticed that Windows 7's default wireless network driver loaded and I was able to access the internet, through my wireless network, so I wasn't immediately concerned with upgrading the wireless driver. I proceeded to upgrade my other drivers, and install the minimum personal software that I require (Mozilla Firefox, and OpenOffice.org) During the process, I took my laptop upstairs so I could watch some TV while I was loading software.

My router is downstairs in my office and previously when I noticed how low my signal was on this laptop, it had dropped from 5 bars to 1 just in the process of moving from my office to the kitchen which is literally on top of the office. This time, my signal dropped from 5 to 3 bars when going past the kitchen and into the living room. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

I rebooted the laptop during the process of installing software, but the wireless signal still remained at 3 bars. I tested my internet connection, and while it was admittedly slow, it was an improvement over getting a message that the web page could not be found which is the message I received when the signal only showed 1 bar.

This got me thinking, and I went ahead and installed the Dell Wireless driver and software, rebooted the system, and guess what? Bam, 1 bar. I had to walk back downstairs to the doorway of my office for the signal to increase beyond 2 bars, and at that point it shot back up to 5 bars.

So, I walked back upstairs to the couch, sat with my laptop in hand, and started my own version of trial and error diagnostics. I rolled the driver back to the Windows default driver, rebooted the system, and checked my signal. Back up to 3 bars. Okay, so far so good. Try the Dell driver again and reboot. Back down to 1 bar again. Rolled back again, rebooted, 3 bars. Okay, I decide to try the updated Broadcom driver from Windows Update, since I'm feeling daring now. I download and install it, reboot, and 1 bar again.

Oh, and something I forgot to mention previously... with the Windows default driver, I can see several other wireless networks in range (neighbors' networks), but when I load either Dell's or Broadcom's driver, the only network visible is mine.

So I reverted back to Windows driver again, and have not had any significant issues with my wireless signal since then.

Now here's what I find funny. Dell tells me it's a software issue and they can fix it for an extra charge. I think to myself that this doesn't seem like a software issue, at least not as far as a setting. Turns out that Dell and I are both right. It's not a setting issue, but it does appear to be a software issue in the vein of faulty drivers.

Hope this novel helps someone else to avoid some of the issues I've encountered in the process of fixing this issue that has existed with this laptop since the first day I got it, and this laptop is less than 2 months old.

Oh, and for those of you curious as to the exact driver information for the Windows default wireless driver I'm referring to, Device Manager shows driver version is 4.176.75.21, driver date 10/1/2008, Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card.

I'm desperate to try this.  How do I go about finding the Windows default wireless driver to which you refer above and how to I switch from the current Broadcom driver?    Sorry for the "drivers for dummies" question but I'm absolutely  "non-techie".

Not a problem, LON. It should be fairly simple. Pull up your Start menu and right-click on Computer. Choose Manage from the menu. You will probably have to click "Allow access" or something similar in the UAC (User Account Control) box that will pop up. I don't remember the exact verbage as I disable UAC at the earliest opportunity on my computers.

This should bring up the window for "Computer Management". In the left pane, you should see "Device Manager". Click on it and the right pane will change. Double-click on Network Adapters and right-click your Dell Wireless 1397... and choose Properties.

In the Properties dialog box, choose the tab for Driver. Take note of the information on this screen. The Driver Provider, the Driver Date, and Driver Version. You may want to write these down somewhere, just in case.

Mine shows:

Driver Provider: Microsoft, Driver Date: 10/1/2008, Driver Version: 4.176.75.21

Below this information, you will see several buttons. The one you are looking for is "Roll Back Driver". Hopefully this is not "greyed out" and you can simply click the button. Windows will probably pop up another UAC window, choose accept or allow and Windows should do its thing. You will probably be prompted for a reboot. Go ahead and do so.

When the system reboots, return to Device Manager and check the driver version and provider. If it is the same info as I have above, you should be good to go. If it is something different/newer, then see if it will allow you to Roll Back again. If not, you may need to try "Uninstall", but this would lead to a more complicated process in which you would probably have to "update" the driver yourself.

Let me know if rolling back works for you.

I had no problem with the above steps until I got to "Roll Back Driver" which, unfortunately, IS "greyed out".    I presume this means going the uninstall route?   Is there somewhere on Microsoft.com that I can go to download the driver you are using or another suitable default driver which I could then "update" myself?   

I just went through the same issue with Dell and amazingly, happen to have the exact same router, but the router is not the problem. The laptop worked great in the same room and the next, but not past that range, and my older dell laptop worked all over the house with no range issues on the same router. You can put them on the same desk upstairs and the old one connects fine, the new one times out. I went through more than an hour with dell customer support to update the drivers, BIOS and other software tweeks until they gave up and sent out a tech with a new wireless card. The tech replaced the wireless card and that did not fix the problem, range still an issue. Dell tech support told him, it wasn't a hardware issue and I need to contact my DSL provider or Lynksys(basicall go pound sand). I asked if Dell could provide  me with a slide-in wireless card to see if that solved the problem and Dell said no to the request. The tech was shocked that Dell was leaving me high and dry, and I asked him to explain where the antenna wires that connect to the wireless card go. The wires go around the LCD display and in the top left of the frame around the display, they are connected to what looks like foil tape strips, that connect to a foil(metal) sheet behind the entire LCD which is the antenna. The tech happened to have access to the exact same LCD housing and antenna,  and was willing to try to replace mine with the new one to see if it helped. Right off the bat we saw a difference between my existing one and the new one. Mine had a single foil strip connecting the two wire leads together and that attached to the sheet antenna. the new one had two separate strips of foil that connected individually to the sheet antenna. After reassembly, the wireless connection problem is gone, it connects with no problem in the rooms that it did not work in before, and rooms even farther away. This was the first time I had a problem with Dell customer support. If the tech not fixed the issue, I would be forcing Dell to take this one back and not drop the issue until it would be resolved. If your call is going to support in India, you can try this trick, call the Dell PC ordering phone number and tell them yopu aren't happy with support from India and  to put you through to customer support in the US, and they will.

Good Luck, I hope this sheds some light on the problem and a possible solution.

wow thats progress! now if only there was a way for DELL to realize that they need to do a recall so I don't have to waste 48 hours of my life to get this problem fixed! 

Is this something a "do it yourselfer" could fix? What is involved, do you need new parts? 

I have been spinning my wheels with DELL over this issue for some time now and would rather try to fix it myself honestly. 

thank you for posting the fix!

I am Electrical Engineer(building power systems, not electronics) and I would be very hesitant to try what the tech did myself. He was a trained laptop tech. for multiple brands, and taking it apart was tough going at times, because a lot of the parts snap together and are hard to come apart without damaging or breaking. There were also some added screws (under the dvd drive, had to remove drive first) since the last time he took this model apart. Plus, if you could order the part, you can't be sure it is the upgraded one. Dell sold this defect and they should pay to fix it, including parts and labor.

If you want to try, this is what I remember:

He removed the trim around the keyboard(difficult) and the keyboard, and the trim between the keyboard and the LCD screen. He got to the wireless card and disconnected the (2) leads that are routed to the LCD side of the laptop. He cracked open the LCD housing by prying apart the (2) halves. He disconnected the LCD and put it aside. The new part needed is the top of the laptop with the Dell logo on it, and it also has a metal hinge mechanism built onto it at the bottom, and the plate antenna with (2)leads is on it as well. He unscrewed the hinge mechanism of the old part from the CPU side of the laptop and screwed the new one's hinges into place. He then routed the (2) new leads to the wireless card, reconnected the LCD, and then reassembeled the trims and keyboard. I think he had about a dozen screws off during the process.

If you are comfortable taking apart laptops to that extent, you may be able to do it.

I got the tech's name and phone number that did my computer(he lives in the Northern New England Area), If you are interested in his contact information let me know. He may be able to fix your problem at a reasonable price. I don't want to post his contact info. on the web, so one of us may need to set up a throwaway web based email address to transfer the information.

Also I heard Dell sells insurance plans that cover all possible damages to your laptop. If you or anyone reading this post purchased the added coverage, and this particular part somehow broke or cracked, etc, it would be replaced by Dell which may fix your range problem.