In all fairness the DELL tech support people spent a lot of time on the phone with me trying various tests. They even connected me with their wireless "experts". However, once replacing the adapter did not work, they told me that , as far as DELL was concerned, there was nothing wrong with my 8600 and I should talk to my ISP. So now I have no one to turn to since my ISP sent me a new wireless modem and that did not solve the problem.

Make sure the wireless modem has the latest firmware, the 2100 is using the latest firmware, uninstall the Intel Proset wireless utility, get XP SP2, and let Windows handle the connection.  I would do the SP2 update before getting the latest 2100 driver - if you have the latest, after the SP2 uninstall the driver for the 2100 and then reboot and let it be found again.  All these have helped others.

I did have XP SP2 installed for a while but this just confused things. I would be informed, for example, that I was not connected and offered to DISCONNECT when I was in fact connected and, vice versa, I would be told that I was connected when I was not. Meanwhile the connection was still breaking after the predictable 10 minutes. So I finally uninstalled SP2. My wireless modem does have the latest firmware and so does the adapter :-)

The connection confusion with SP2 was probably due to it fighting the ProSet Wireless Utility, thus my stating it needs to be uninstalled.  Both were trying to control wireless connections.

I'm no expert on wireless setups. But I have an Inspiron 8600 using the Intel Pro Wireless 2100. If you're using the Intel Proset software (this works best for me, not windows zero config), you might want to check how the power management is set. I have mine set to Power Management Manual (with slider at near maximum performance), transmission 100%. This may have absolutely nothing to do with it. All I know is that my 8600 connects all the time to my wireless linksys router. I've probably lost connection three times in the last year and usually a reboot of the router and modem (comcast) fixes the lost connection. Also open QuikSet and make sure the computer power management isn't disabling the wireless connection somehow. If none of this helps, accept my apology. I just hate to read when someone is having such trouble with their 8600 and mine works so great.

Pam

Well uninstalling the Intel ProSet Wireless utility did not help. The connection is still dropped after 10 minutes. I see no point to re-installing SP2 since the disconnects happened with it too. . Pam: Where do I find Quik Set. Via the Control Panel I find Power Management but that does not yield any useful info. Given the predictable time interval after which the connection is dropped, it does sound like some sort of an internal time-out.

Nicholas,

If you've done a format of your system's OS, then you may not have quikset installed. It is a dell program. Mine is on Start, Programs, Dell QuikSet. But I think it's the same as Power Options in Control Panel, though the Power Options doesn't show wireless options like QuikSet does. QuikSet can be downloaded here.

I did find Dell QuikSet on the right side of my task bar. I adjusted Power Properties to Maximum Performance and since then my wireless connection has remaine intact for over 8 hours :-) So you were right on Pam, and I would kiss you three times in true Russian style if I could,
I have not re-istalled the Inter PROSet Utility and am not sure why I should.. I am puzzled by the instructions which tell you to set Data Encryption (WEP) to NONE. How can that be if I have my wireless modem for WEP 128 bit encryption?!

Interesting that not one DEL tech support person ever asked me about how things were configured.
Once again, thanks a million Pam. I hate to even estimate the number of hours that it took to get this far.

I'm glad it's working for you. I got a good laugh from your note! As for the WEP settings, I don't know why it would say that either. I'm using WEP on mine and can't imagine not using security. Unless that's for the initial setup.

Pam

 

Here is a little bit of history of the WZC on this page. The WZC has a bad habit of dropping the connection if your router/AP is not broadcasting the SSID.

Well the problem is back even with the power management set to Maximum performance. Every ten minutes by the clock, the internet connection gets dropped, and I am sure that it is not the router. This happens whether the internet connection is idle or not.

Well the good performance only lasted one month and I am right back to the same problem that the 8600 drops the wireless connection after precisely 10 minutes. The power mode is still "maximum performance". At this point I am at a loss as to what to do next. Surely it must be some program which, for whatever reason, is dropping the connection .
Nick

Thanks. By unchecking the "use 802.1x etc" I got a stable connection. I can't turn off the Wireless Zero Configuration since I have the Intel PROset Utility uninstalled and I have not installed SP2 (it used to interfere with the Intel Utility). Unfortunately my joy was short lived as the next day some Microsoft security updates were downloaded and installed, and since then I get a "wireless connection unavailable" message :-(
I must say that life with Inspiron 8600 has not been a very happy one.