The wireless is not built in - it would be in the form of a mini PCI card. Open the hatch at the bottom of the system and look for the mini PCI card - if there is no card in the slot, that's why it doesn't work.
Ok, ..there's a Broadcom 10/100 networking card and a dial up modem in the slot, so I'm not sure what that means. As I said, the BIOS indicates the presence of a factory installed wireless adaptor and say's it's enabled and good to go. The parts list that came with the laptop also says there is a wireless adaptor onboard installed by Dell. But that item does not show up in XP Pro, so there is nothing in control panel\network connections to enable.
In the Bios if it is a mini pci it should say installed and then it should say FN F2 on. Then once you boot up you should be able to enable your nic by pressing FN F2. Let me know if this works for it will help other users if they should have the same problem.
Inspiron 5100 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHZ 512 MB RAM 32 MB MOBILITY RADEON 7500C 40 GB Fujitsu HD QSI CDRW/DVD SBW-242 Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated NIC WPC54GS Linksys w/speedbooster wireless nic BCM V.92 56k Modem SigmaTel C-Major Audio Bios ver. A29 Win XP Home SP2 pur. Jan 2004
Sorry for the delay, but with everything else I have to do pursuing a solution to this problem is a hit and miss operation at best!
Here's what I learned from the Inspiron 5160 manual found online here on the DELL site. The Broadcom 10/100 NIC minicard that's installed is a combo setup, offering both hard wire and wireless capabilities in one package. So, I booted to F-12 and ran the diagnostic on the card, and it came up with an error message telling me to check the cables attached to the card. I popped the lid on the back and wiggled the two cables that hook up to the card. They appeared to be solidly in place, so I then lifted the tabs and took the card out. Nothing loose or disconnected, so I put the card back into its slot, snapped it into place and secured the lid over it.
Rebooted, and.. nothing changed. The hardwire portion of the card continues to work fine, but no wireless capabilities were resurrected with that little exercise. So, at this point, I believe the installed combo minicard is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Kind of a bummer to get a new machine with a faulty card in it right out of the box! ..But as soon as I get with DELL I'm trusting they will send me a good one to replace it. In the meantime the plug in wireless card I'm using works fine.
Thanks to all for the great feedback and suggestions guys. Good forum here!
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
November 22nd, 2004 23:00
johnallg
2 Intern
•
7.3K Posts
0
November 23rd, 2004 01:00
GraFXPro
3 Posts
0
November 23rd, 2004 02:00
dallascowboyswo
3 Apprentice
•
2.4K Posts
0
November 23rd, 2004 14:00
In the Bios if it is a mini pci it should say installed and then it should say FN F2 on. Then once you boot up you should be able to enable your nic by pressing FN F2. Let me know if this works for it will help other users if they should have the same problem.
Inspiron 5100
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHZ
512 MB RAM
32 MB MOBILITY RADEON 7500C
40 GB Fujitsu HD
QSI CDRW/DVD SBW-242
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated NIC
WPC54GS Linksys w/speedbooster wireless nic
BCM V.92 56k Modem
SigmaTel C-Major Audio
Bios ver. A29
Win XP Home SP2
pur. Jan 2004
johnallg
2 Intern
•
7.3K Posts
0
November 23rd, 2004 21:00
GraFXPro
3 Posts
0
November 24th, 2004 13:00
Sorry for the delay, but with everything else I have to do pursuing a solution to this problem is a hit and miss operation at best!
Here's what I learned from the Inspiron 5160 manual found online here on the DELL site. The Broadcom 10/100 NIC minicard that's installed is a combo setup, offering both hard wire and wireless capabilities in one package. So, I booted to F-12 and ran the diagnostic on the card, and it came up with an error message telling me to check the cables attached to the card. I popped the lid on the back and wiggled the two cables that hook up to the card. They appeared to be solidly in place, so I then lifted the tabs and took the card out. Nothing loose or disconnected, so I put the card back into its slot, snapped it into place and secured the lid over it.
Rebooted, and.. nothing changed. The hardwire portion of the card continues to work fine, but no wireless capabilities were resurrected with that little exercise. So, at this point, I believe the installed combo minicard is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Kind of a bummer to get a new machine with a faulty card in it right out of the box! ..But as soon as I get with DELL I'm trusting they will send me a good one to replace it. In the meantime the plug in wireless card I'm using works fine.
Thanks to all for the great feedback and suggestions guys. Good forum here!
:smileyhappy: