Thank you for this post. I have been communicating with ShonkyCH from a different forum (attached at the end of this post) to try and get this resolved. Like ShonkyCH, I too had the Centrino 6230 replaced. In my case, the WiFi card was replaced WITH A NEWER REVISION of the same card. Unfortunately, the problem persists so I am stuck with this issue until it's potentially resolved with a driver update.
I have also contacted a Dell rep ("Terry-B") on the Dell Forums who put in the request for my repair. He said that engineering believes that Windows 7 doesn't protect real-time audio, which is the primary cause for the crackling audio. ShonkyCH and I believe otherwise. We believe that this is either a software or design issue with the 15z.
I am going to ask Terry-B if Dell plans on releasing a new driver anytime soon. At the moment, they have not made any mention of this.
iAMjason, thanks for your reply. I have actually been monitoring the thread over on the Notebook Review Forum which lead me to do an in depth write up on the latency issue on these forums for document purposes and to make sure Dell were aware of this issue as I was truly shocked the wireless card has such massive latency spikes as shown above.
Its interesting to find out that a newer revision of the Centrino N card still has the same problem, this find may lend credibility to the fact that this is a driver issue. I haven't searched extensively but I haven't seen this problem reported on any non Dell laptop, so I don't think its a general hardware problem, but I can't be sure without any official word from Dell/Intel.
Linking Terry-B to the thread over at the Notebook Review Forums and possibly this one should help you get somewhere, as we have plenty of evidence of the underlying problem and many XPS 15z user testimonials that cite the Wireless card as the problem.
Really I'm very frustrate with dell now this they called premium product wow premium my foot. Even you call dell support the first they are going to say you are the first customer who reporting this even they blame it's your router, Please don't call your self engineer holding a degree and when it's come to knowledge you engineer goes fiss..
Terry-B has responded to my message regarding this issue. He acknowledges that there is a problem and has brought it to the attention of Dell's engineering team (though, I'm not exactly sure if that will result in anything significant). I will attach the conversation below for those monitoring this thread.
MY MESSAGE:
If Engineering is taking that stance, will they continue looking into this issue? I respect their answer, but if this problem is caused by Windows 7, couldn't this problem be replicated by EVERYONE who uses the 15z out-of-the-box? I know several other people with identical 15z's and have never heard the crackling audio from the day they got it.
Recently, another thread concerning this issue has been created on the Dell Forum. We believe that a driver update to the Centrino 6230 card can potentially resolve this issue. On behalf of myself and others who are still experiencing this issue, we would GREATLY appreciate if this forum was forwarded to Engineering. I have attached the link to the forum below.
Yeah that is a great post. I know some of the guys from engineering are taking a look at it. They still have not changed their stance on it yet and I have escalated this a couple of times. I will keep pointing out to them how disatisfied you all are. I wish that I had more for you now.
Regarding new drivers, there have been multiple drivers for the Centrino 6230 card since the XPS 15z has been released and I certainly suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the latest driver if you have not already done so.
I also know that Intel is working hand in hand with Dell regarding drivers for their centrino products and I expect new drivers are on their way although I have no ETA.
If these drivers are going to help with possible DPS latency issues I can't say. Engineering are aware of these posts.
iAMjason thanks for posting your communication with Terry-B. I'm glad that engineering are looking into this, with all due respect to engineering however, saying this is a Windows 7 problem is slightly insulting.
If it was a general Windows 7 problem then the latency would also be spiking with the Ethernet NIC as well, but it doesn't.
Of course I accept that there are many factors in problems like this but I strongly believe Dell have to accept the Centrino 6230 N has problems in the XPS 15z. Like you mentioned in your message, many of us will testify to it.
Its nice to see something official from Dell however on this issue, it would be nice to be able to communicate with engineering about it but if Terry B can liaise with them and keep us updated, I'd be satisfied knowing that Dell are actively investigating the issue.
Yes James I know but why these dell support guys still updating the driver and blaming the fault in our router. You know I replaced my router once it's headache for me, at-least they give us the correct and genuine answer. have a look
Its definitely a issue with the centrino card itself in the xps 15z and not any router issue. I have several wireless devices in my home and all have great performance including my xps 15z, its just its latency spikes become a problem under moderate/heavy network traffic. Sadly Dell phone support won't be able to help you much as they will just ask you to try generic fixes like reinstall the driver or adjust settings on your router. Ultimately it is up to engineering to fix this problem.
@James Hi, Today dell send me 6200 instead of 6230 and unfortunately this card carries his genetic issue. I think whole 6000 series have this issue or may be Dell bad design. I hope you read that crappy design article which I posted earlier.
Guys, thanks a lot and even I have this issue and the only difference I have XPS 15 and not 15z and the problem started after few months of purchasing the laptop. (I bought it roughly January 2011). But one quick question, was the problem solved when you connect to Internet wired and disable your wireless adapter? Sorry to post here perhaps if you thought I was wrong to do so. But an answer would be highly appreciable. Cheers, Shiva
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
January 31st, 2012 07:00
Updated thread with more information and a how to on checking the latency
blex75
1 Rookie
•
5 Posts
0
February 1st, 2012 11:00
hello .
I have this problem on mij xps15 . when i copy files to mij other laptop on the network its inpossible to play mij music .
even when i browse mij laptop or checking the internet the sound crackels an sometimes it's completley miss formed while i open a folder in mij
music library .
the best thing to do is to send mij laptop back to dell ? its only 1 month old .
iAMjason
9 Posts
0
February 1st, 2012 17:00
James2k,
Thank you for this post. I have been communicating with ShonkyCH from a different forum (attached at the end of this post) to try and get this resolved. Like ShonkyCH, I too had the Centrino 6230 replaced. In my case, the WiFi card was replaced WITH A NEWER REVISION of the same card. Unfortunately, the problem persists so I am stuck with this issue until it's potentially resolved with a driver update.
I have also contacted a Dell rep ("Terry-B") on the Dell Forums who put in the request for my repair. He said that engineering believes that Windows 7 doesn't protect real-time audio, which is the primary cause for the crackling audio. ShonkyCH and I believe otherwise. We believe that this is either a software or design issue with the 15z.
I am going to ask Terry-B if Dell plans on releasing a new driver anytime soon. At the moment, they have not made any mention of this.
The forum:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/624891-xps-15z-crackling-audio-network-traffic.html
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 2nd, 2012 01:00
iAMjason, thanks for your reply. I have actually been monitoring the thread over on the Notebook Review Forum which lead me to do an in depth write up on the latency issue on these forums for document purposes and to make sure Dell were aware of this issue as I was truly shocked the wireless card has such massive latency spikes as shown above.
Its interesting to find out that a newer revision of the Centrino N card still has the same problem, this find may lend credibility to the fact that this is a driver issue. I haven't searched extensively but I haven't seen this problem reported on any non Dell laptop, so I don't think its a general hardware problem, but I can't be sure without any official word from Dell/Intel.
Linking Terry-B to the thread over at the Notebook Review Forums and possibly this one should help you get somewhere, as we have plenty of evidence of the underlying problem and many XPS 15z user testimonials that cite the Wireless card as the problem.
Good Luck!
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 4th, 2012 05:00
Looks like there is a BIOS update (A09) released on the 2nd Feb for XPS 15z
Couldn't find any changelog as to what it adjusts/fixes, but its out there for anyone interested.
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 01:00
Just a note: The BIOS update did not change anything regarding the latency issue.
BRAHMOS-IN
20 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 03:00
No, it's not.
Really I'm very frustrate with dell now this they called premium product wow premium my foot. Even you call dell support the first they are going to say you are the first customer who reporting this even they blame it's your router, Please don't call your self engineer holding a degree and when it's come to knowledge you engineer goes fiss..
Time to file online petition.
iAMjason
9 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 11:00
James2k,
Terry-B has responded to my message regarding this issue. He acknowledges that there is a problem and has brought it to the attention of Dell's engineering team (though, I'm not exactly sure if that will result in anything significant). I will attach the conversation below for those monitoring this thread.
MY MESSAGE:
If Engineering is taking that stance, will they continue looking into this issue? I respect their answer, but if this problem is caused by Windows 7, couldn't this problem be replicated by EVERYONE who uses the 15z out-of-the-box? I know several other people with identical 15z's and have never heard the crackling audio from the day they got it.
Recently, another thread concerning this issue has been created on the Dell Forum. We believe that a driver update to the Centrino 6230 card can potentially resolve this issue. On behalf of myself and others who are still experiencing this issue, we would GREATLY appreciate if this forum was forwarded to Engineering. I have attached the link to the forum below.
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3517/t/19433397.aspx
Thank you
TERRY-B'S RESPONSE:
Yeah that is a great post. I know some of the guys from engineering are taking a look at it. They still have not changed their stance on it yet and I have escalated this a couple of times. I will keep pointing out to them how disatisfied you all are. I wish that I had more for you now.
Regarding new drivers, there have been multiple drivers for the Centrino 6230 card since the XPS 15z has been released and I certainly suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the latest driver if you have not already done so.
I also know that Intel is working hand in hand with Dell regarding drivers for their centrino products and I expect new drivers are on their way although I have no ETA.
If these drivers are going to help with possible DPS latency issues I can't say. Engineering are aware of these posts.
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 12:00
@BRAHMOS-IN
No driver will fix this issue, trust me we've tried them all. Save yourself the frustration and keep watching this thread for updates.
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 12:00
iAMjason thanks for posting your communication with Terry-B. I'm glad that engineering are looking into this, with all due respect to engineering however, saying this is a Windows 7 problem is slightly insulting.
If it was a general Windows 7 problem then the latency would also be spiking with the Ethernet NIC as well, but it doesn't.
Of course I accept that there are many factors in problems like this but I strongly believe Dell have to accept the Centrino 6230 N has problems in the XPS 15z. Like you mentioned in your message, many of us will testify to it.
Its nice to see something official from Dell however on this issue, it would be nice to be able to communicate with engineering about it but if Terry B can liaise with them and keep us updated, I'd be satisfied knowing that Dell are actively investigating the issue.
BRAHMOS-IN
20 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 12:00
Today Dell support guy updated new driver on my system and after updating it's worst now.
BRAHMOS-IN
20 Posts
0
February 5th, 2012 21:00
Yes James I know but why these dell support guys still updating the driver and blaming the fault in our router. You know I replaced my router once it's headache for me, at-least they give us the correct and genuine answer. have a look
www.smallnetbuilder.com/.../31619-crappy-wireless-performance-it-could-be-your-laptop
James2k
2 Intern
•
278 Posts
0
February 6th, 2012 00:00
BRAHMOS-IN
20 Posts
0
February 6th, 2012 10:00
@James Hi, Today dell send me 6200 instead of 6230 and unfortunately this card carries his genetic issue. I think whole 6000 series have this issue or may be Dell bad design. I hope you read that crappy design article which I posted earlier.
shiva.sadhashiv
4 Posts
0
February 6th, 2012 10:00
Guys, thanks a lot and even I have this issue and the only difference I have XPS 15 and not 15z and the problem started after few months of purchasing the laptop. (I bought it roughly January 2011). But one quick question, was the problem solved when you connect to Internet wired and disable your wireless adapter? Sorry to post here perhaps if you thought I was wrong to do so. But an answer would be highly appreciable. Cheers, Shiva