My research concluded that the location of the antennas in the base of the chassis would prevent any solution from just changing the WLAN card or the drivers. I had purchased the laptop at Costco so I was able to return it for full credit and ended up buying a Lenovo.
Call Dell support and they'll come replace your motherboard, wifi card, and antenna. I think the first batch they shipped were garbage. Since they replaced mine, I've had no problems.
Unfortunately, I didn't read any of these posts prior to purchasing a Dell Inspiron 5000 Series laptop in Mid-October 2014. Of COURSE, I have the same Wi-Fi issues as everyone else here has complained about! The entire reason I have a laptop is so I can work downstairs in my home. My desktop machines & router are upstairs. I'm a software engineer + engineering manager living in Dallas and it gets just a tiny bit too hot in the summer to cool an upstairs office. So I work downstairs on my laptop during those times. But with this new I can't do that! The wireless connection drops all the time -- @ least 20 or 30 times every single day. It's not my home network. The TOSHIBA laptop I had before getting this DELL POS worked perfectly. I NEVER had a single dropped wireless connection. It took me a couple of weeks to install and configure all the software and files I needed in order to do my job so I didn't notice the wi-fi problem until I had already wasted too much time. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED!!!! I will not buy another Dell computer - and neither will anyone else in my company. The fact that I cannot even email any support team about this problem and then seeing all of the posts about it go unanswered by Dell is simply unacceptable.
I had the same issue with two different laptops. The Dell I'm trying to fix (before returning it) has the Dual Band 3160 AC.
Dell told me "it's not a hardware issue and that they would have to charge me $199 for software tech support to fix it" (after he spend about 30minutes remotely checking stuff on the computer).
That's great customer service right there *sarcastic. Geek Squad couldn't fix this either. Good luck to you all, I'm giving up.
Several friends suggested buying a USB Wireless Network Adapter -- essentially bypassing the Wireless Network Adapter Dell puts in its Dell Inspiron 5000 Series laptop. Sucks that I have to buy a separate network adapter and lose a USB port because of it :( I just got it today but there have been no disconnections from my Wireless network for over 2 hours...where the Dell Wireless network adapter disconnected about every 20-30mins.
I looked up dell laptops on the futureshop website and every one of them has a bunch of poor reviews...not just this model. For some reason I thought they made good equipment but that seems to have changed over the past 5 years. Its strange...if you open this laptop its clear someone put a lot of thought into how to make it slim and ***. The battery is custom and form fitted. I'm guessing the antenna had to go in the base so they could have the aluminum backing. They accomplished one goal...it is ***, it just doesnt work.
You're 100% correct talk about shifty customer service and puss poor build quality. This is my first and last dell laptop that I will ever buy! $700 for a laptop that can only connect the Internet 10% of the time this is a ducking disgrace! I had faster and more reliable Internet back in 1999 with dial up internet.
To make matters worse I can't seem to get any help at all with this issue and am out $700 for a laptop that is practically useless! It'seems OK though I am the computer sales manager at my best buy. I'll personally make sure that no customer purchases any dell products due to your lack of assistanice in this thread along with the incompetence in putting a useless wifi adapter into a laptop that is not nearly as cheap as a notebook from Asus or another competitor.
Oh and dell have fun getting these remarks blasted all over every social media platform imaginable starting.... now! :)
Hi, I've just received my Dell Inspiron 5547, with the same WiFi adapter, and obviously the same issue, quite frustating, right? What the hell are you doing Dell? You just can not release a badly designed model, unhappy customers are way louder than happy ones, keep that in mind...
Fortunately guys, it just seems to be a misconfiguration issue :
1) Open the Device Manager (Win+R, devmgmt.msc) 2) Expand "Network Adapters", double click on "Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160" 3) Go to the "Advanced" tab 4) In the "Properties" list, select "HT mode", its value is set to "VHT Mode", set it to "Disabled" 5) Click on "Ok", the network adapter will reset, you will lose the connection, that's normal.
Your network adapter is now running at max 54Mbits/s (802.11g), but it shoud be working normally.
I've been connected for a few hours without issue now, please confirm if it works for you too. It is therefore not normal to need to "downgrade" a network card to make it work correctly, I'm disappointed.
PS : I'm running Windows Seven 64bits with the latest driver PS2 : My system locale is French, maybe the above terms are not exact, but you get the idea.
Have a nice day, Etienne Doms
This did the trick for my Inspiron 5547 Win8.1 machine. Wifi speeds are much better and no dropping of the signal even far from the router. Thank you smod.
Negative. Didn't work for mine. Still the same. It's ridiculous. I have to downgrade to the Wireless N USB adapter to get 15-20Mbps. When I try to use the Wireless AC Dual Band from the same spot on my couch it gets 0.05-0.5Mbps no kidding.
I was having the same issues. I just went to control panel, wifi device, advanced options and changed the mode from a/b/g to just g. All of a sudden the connection went from spiking all over the place/only getting 16mb/s to a solid 40mb/s and a solid plateau connection. This wifi card just doesn't like certain routers when being used in that mode.
I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 5000 I7-4510U .
I encountered the same WIFI problems described in these posts. I was able to get 50mbps + sitting next to the ISP WIFI Modem (Hiton CGN2) in my 2nd floor office and barely only 10mb in my kitchen. I initially tried the TP-Link 150 USB Nano Adaptor to see if it picked up a better signal than the onboard AC-3160 WIFI card. The adaptor produced the same results. I returned the adaptor and purchased a TP-Link 300 Wireless Router (TL-WR1043ND), set the Hitron router to Bridge mode and now I get approx 40mbps in my kitchen. I believe the problem has more to do with the ISP WIFI modem than the Dell wireless module.
I'm also having the same problems. It's a different laptop through. Same wireless card. I brought Dell Inspiron 7547 to be exact. Everything else on the laptop is prefect except for the wifi. I did a speed test on my phone and 4 years old laptop next to the dell. My phone (samsung s4) gets constant 23Mbps and other laptop 15-20Mbps. Dell however gets 0.5Mbps - 6Mbps. Asked the dell tech support. They were really nice and helped me out as much as they can remotely. Even went into my wifi router and did some configurations there. No luck though. Still slow. Only thing is to return it now. The wifi is the only problem. Liked everything else about the laptop... quite unfortunate that it has to be returned.
HoldenR
4 Posts
0
December 4th, 2014 23:00
My research concluded that the location of the antennas in the base of the chassis would prevent any solution from just changing the WLAN card or the drivers. I had purchased the laptop at Costco so I was able to return it for full credit and ended up buying a Lenovo.
GoTWhisKeY
3 Posts
0
December 12th, 2014 19:00
Call Dell support and they'll come replace your motherboard, wifi card, and antenna. I think the first batch they shipped were garbage. Since they replaced mine, I've had no problems.
smaxwell8363
5 Posts
0
December 12th, 2014 19:00
Unfortunately, I didn't read any of these posts prior to purchasing a Dell Inspiron 5000 Series laptop in Mid-October 2014. Of COURSE, I have the same Wi-Fi issues as everyone else here has complained about! The entire reason I have a laptop is so I can work downstairs in my home. My desktop machines & router are upstairs. I'm a software engineer + engineering manager living in Dallas and it gets just a tiny bit too hot in the summer to cool an upstairs office. So I work downstairs on my laptop during those times. But with this new I can't do that! The wireless connection drops all the time -- @ least 20 or 30 times every single day. It's not my home network. The TOSHIBA laptop I had before getting this DELL POS worked perfectly. I NEVER had a single dropped wireless connection. It took me a couple of weeks to install and configure all the software and files I needed in order to do my job so I didn't notice the wi-fi problem until I had already wasted too much time. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED!!!! I will not buy another Dell computer - and neither will anyone else in my company. The fact that I cannot even email any support team about this problem and then seeing all of the posts about it go unanswered by Dell is simply unacceptable.
Shonie
mcalli27
3 Posts
0
December 22nd, 2014 15:00
I had the same issue with two different laptops. The Dell I'm trying to fix (before returning it) has the Dual Band 3160 AC.
Dell told me "it's not a hardware issue and that they would have to charge me $199 for software tech support to fix it" (after he spend about 30minutes remotely checking stuff on the computer).
That's great customer service right there *sarcastic. Geek Squad couldn't fix this either. Good luck to you all, I'm giving up.
smaxwell8363
5 Posts
0
December 22nd, 2014 16:00
Update (12-22-2014):
Several friends suggested buying a USB Wireless Network Adapter -- essentially bypassing the Wireless Network Adapter Dell puts in its Dell Inspiron 5000 Series laptop. Sucks that I have to buy a separate network adapter and lose a USB port because of it :( I just got it today but there have been no disconnections from my Wireless network for over 2 hours...where the Dell Wireless network adapter disconnected about every 20-30mins.
Shonie
krazwell
7 Posts
0
December 23rd, 2014 07:00
I looked up dell laptops on the futureshop website and every one of them has a bunch of poor reviews...not just this model. For some reason I thought they made good equipment but that seems to have changed over the past 5 years. Its strange...if you open this laptop its clear someone put a lot of thought into how to make it slim and ***. The battery is custom and form fitted. I'm guessing the antenna had to go in the base so they could have the aluminum backing. They accomplished one goal...it is ***, it just doesnt work.
chapakev
4 Posts
1
January 10th, 2015 12:00
You're 100% correct talk about shifty customer service and puss poor build quality. This is my first and last dell laptop that I will ever buy! $700 for a laptop that can only connect the Internet 10% of the time this is a ducking disgrace! I had faster and more reliable Internet back in 1999 with dial up internet.
To make matters worse I can't seem to get any help at all with this issue and am out $700 for a laptop that is practically useless! It'seems OK though I am the computer sales manager at my best buy. I'll personally make sure that no customer purchases any dell products due to your lack of assistanice in this thread along with the incompetence in putting a useless wifi adapter into a laptop that is not nearly as cheap as a notebook from Asus or another competitor.
Oh and dell have fun getting these remarks blasted all over every social media platform imaginable starting.... now! :)
bokbadok
2 Posts
1
January 14th, 2015 15:00
This did the trick for my Inspiron 5547 Win8.1 machine. Wifi speeds are much better and no dropping of the signal even far from the router. Thank you smod.
mcalli27
3 Posts
0
January 14th, 2015 16:00
Negative. Didn't work for mine. Still the same. It's ridiculous. I have to downgrade to the Wireless N USB adapter to get 15-20Mbps. When I try to use the Wireless AC Dual Band from the same spot on my couch it gets 0.05-0.5Mbps no kidding.
Enkil
6 Posts
0
January 16th, 2015 19:00
I was having the same issues. I just went to control panel, wifi device, advanced options and changed the mode from a/b/g to just g. All of a sudden the connection went from spiking all over the place/only getting 16mb/s to a solid 40mb/s and a solid plateau connection. This wifi card just doesn't like certain routers when being used in that mode.
Wilf2002
1 Message
0
January 26th, 2015 15:00
I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 5000 I7-4510U .
I encountered the same WIFI problems described in these posts. I was able to get 50mbps + sitting next to the ISP WIFI Modem (Hiton CGN2) in my 2nd floor office and barely only 10mb in my kitchen. I initially tried the TP-Link 150 USB Nano Adaptor to see if it picked up a better signal than the onboard AC-3160 WIFI card. The adaptor produced the same results. I returned the adaptor and purchased a TP-Link 300 Wireless Router (TL-WR1043ND), set the Hitron router to Bridge mode and now I get approx 40mbps in my kitchen. I believe the problem has more to do with the ISP WIFI modem than the Dell wireless module.
I hope this helps others.
wkieffer
2 Posts
0
February 3rd, 2015 14:00
Does Dell have a similar laptop that does not have this adapter or better yet that works properly?
jerryguo
1 Message
0
February 9th, 2015 17:00
I'm also having the same problems. It's a different laptop through. Same wireless card. I brought Dell Inspiron 7547 to be exact. Everything else on the laptop is prefect except for the wifi. I did a speed test on my phone and 4 years old laptop next to the dell. My phone (samsung s4) gets constant 23Mbps and other laptop 15-20Mbps. Dell however gets 0.5Mbps - 6Mbps. Asked the dell tech support. They were really nice and helped me out as much as they can remotely. Even went into my wifi router and did some configurations there. No luck though. Still slow. Only thing is to return it now. The wifi is the only problem. Liked everything else about the laptop... quite unfortunate that it has to be returned.
bokbadok
2 Posts
0
February 9th, 2015 21:00
Jerryguo - did you try the software tweak suggested by smod on the first page of this discussion? That fixed the problem for me.
wkieffer
2 Posts
0
February 10th, 2015 04:00
Does Dell have a decent laptop that also has a good reliable wifi adapter? Somebody please let me know or I will have to go with another brand.