New Dell Vista laptop, eircom broadband wifi problem

meowCat · 08-08-2008 12:49pm #1

Hello everyone,

since Wednesday, I have a new, shiney, fabulous laptop. The problem is: it doesn't work properly.

The wifi is behaving strangely. First, it wouldn't connect forever to my Eircom home broadband wifi. Magically, it did this morning. But then it slows down after a while until it finally kicks me out, so the status changes from local+internet to local only. After a while it decides to work again, and then it's gone again. I don't know what to do. Anyone any ideas?

The other laptops work fine with the wireless. Stable connection all the way.
Among them is another Vista laptop that works fine too. Only difference is that the new one is Vista Ultimate 64 Bit, whereas the other is Vista Enterprise (32Bit).

Tried an external wifi card already, no change. Updated card driver, no change. Installed all updates available on ms as well as dell page, no change.

LAN works perfectly though.

Was talking to the (unhelpful) Dell hotline this morning and they refuse to take it back, although I only got it on Wednesday, because it's apparently not a hardware fault. They say it's Vista or Eircom and Vista is apparently generally a bad idea (why do they sell it then?!).

Does anyone have any ideas or encountered the same problems?

Cheers,
mC.

edit: laptop is a Dell Latitude D630. wifi network adapter is Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card.

Overheal · 09-08-2008 12:23am

Curious. Im on a 32-bit V-lappy myself and I pride the wireless function on it.

Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card

Yo...

Is the eircom box set-up to take the N signal? Most I know of only take B and G still.

AlmightyCushion · 09-08-2008 2:02pm

meowCat wrote: »

Was talking to the (unhelpful) Dell hotline this morning and they refuse to take it back, although I only got it on Wednesday, because it's apparently not a hardware fault. They say it's Vista or Eircom and Vista is apparently generally a bad idea (why do they sell it then?!).

Well, legally you can return it within 7 (might be 14) days if you are not satisfied with the product. It's part of the distance selling act or something. So you could return it that way, although you will more than likely have to pay the shipping for it.

Moved from Comp and Tech.

formatman · 09-08-2008 2:07pm

WPA OR WEP ? some of the new eircom routers have some protected access option like WPA but is non standard so Vista won't like it

set up a free logmein account if you want and I can can connect in to take a look at the setup once the LAN connection works

fifth · 09-08-2008 2:51pm

I get this same issue sometimes, intermittently.. with WEP.. on my new dell xps m1530.

I disable firewalls/wep encryption and re enable it and it seems to work..

Is annoying though.

meowCat · 09-08-2008 3:55pm

Overheal wrote: »

Is the eircom box set-up to take the N signal? Most I know of only take B and G still.

Very good point. I didn't know about this before. I checked my eircom box's configuration and you are right, it does b and g.

Is is possible to somehow downgrade the wifi card with the driver to use b/g?

The wifi is bizarre though as it works (most of the time) if no other computer in the room is connected to it or if others are connected if I'm sitting <=2meters away from it...not much point in having a wifi if you have to sit right in front of it!

I tried to change encryptions as well and that didn't do much.

Overheal · 09-08-2008 4:23pm

No wait - I thought I was being clever :rolleyes:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=430-2342&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063

It does B + G as well as N. your problem is something else

meowCat · 09-08-2008 4:28pm

Overheal wrote: »

No wait - I thought I was being clever :rolleyes:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=430-2342&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063

It does B + G as well as N. your problem is something else

yeah, I found a setting to prefer b/g bands and the issue didn't improve. If I'm sitting in front of the wifi router it works fine. That's useless though...for 2meters I might as well use a cable!

formatman · 09-08-2008 4:41pm

which are you currently using WEP or WPA ?

are you using the standard eircom071312 SSID , is it hidden or not ?

meowCat · 09-08-2008 4:53pm

formatman wrote: »

which are you currently using WEP or WPA ?

are you using the standard eircom071312 SSID , is it hidden or not ?

Currently, WEP. Tried WPA too but no change.
Standard SSID, not hidden.

formatman · 09-08-2008 5:10pm

set the channel to 7 or higher , and turn off the setting for auto at start or something

meowCat · 09-08-2008 6:02pm

formatman wrote: »

set the channel to 7 or higher , and turn off the setting for auto at start or something

Tried that. No change.
I don't think it's the router tbh. All other computers here are working grand, it's just the new one. And if I'm like 2 meters away from the router I have wifi internet no bother.

Maybe the card is broke, or there's some power setting for the wifi card that I have missed and it's not getting enough power to allow for being further than that from the router and which makes it getting confused by every other signal around.

Anyone any ideas?

formatman · 09-08-2008 6:19pm

switch all the other machines off and try your laptop on its own if you haven't tried that already

there is usually a power setting in the properties of the network card in device manager , allow windows to turn off this card to save power
you could try making sure the vista profile is on full power
presume its the same whether the laptop is on AC or battery power

meowCat · 09-08-2008 6:52pm

formatman wrote: »

switch all the other machines off and try your laptop on its own if you haven't tried that already

there is usually a power setting in the properties of the network card in device manager , allow windows to turn off this card to save power
you could try making sure the vista profile is on full power
presume its the same whether the laptop is on AC or battery power

I have tried switching off all other devices but it's hard to eliminate all possible interferences. My neighbours have bb too and I live in an apartment complex. Nevertheless, I have never had any problems with any other laptop.

I kept your router suggestions and find it picks up the signal quicker and more reliably, so that is good. Still would prefer not having to sit right in front of the router.

Yes, I have found those power options for the card already, so that isn't changing anything, and yes, there is no change whether it's on AC or battery power.

formatman · 09-08-2008 7:03pm

the only thing thats missing from the troubleshooting for the moment would be to try the laptop on a wireless connection somewhere else , neighbour or public hotspot ect

did you specifically want Vista on it or did Dell convince you to buy it ?

XP would fly on that machine

meowCat · 09-08-2008 7:23pm

formatman wrote: »

the only thing thats missing from the troubleshooting for the moment would be to try the laptop on a wireless connection somewhere else , neighbour or public hotspot ect

did you specifically want Vista on it or did Dell convince you to buy it ?

XP would fly on that machine

Thanks for your effort formatman!

Unfortunately, I have asked for Vista. I have another Vista computer that I am very happy with (HP Laptop with Vista Enterprise 32 bit). And the computer itself is very fast, no complaints at all! If the wifi was working properly I'd absolutely love it! Unbelievable but true...I actually have the MS Vista configuration certificate and have worked Feb-July on a Vista project...and I still cannot get my wifi to work. :mad:

I tried out a different network during the week and was first amazed to find that it worked right away. But then I noticed that there wasn't any interference around and I didn't have the opportunity to try it out for longer to see if the connection remained stable.

Overheal · 09-08-2008 8:46pm

meowCat wrote: »

I have tried switching off all other devices but it's hard to eliminate all possible interferences. My neighbours have bb too and I live in an apartment complex. Nevertheless, I have never had any problems with any other laptop.

so its not a signal clash then.

been googling the issue: have you tried resetting the router?

you might also double check you have the 64-bit drivers installed for the card: not the 32

meowCat · 10-08-2008 12:11pm

Overheal wrote: »

so its not a signal clash then.

been googling the issue: have you tried resetting the router?

you might also double check you have the 64-bit drivers installed for the card: not the 32

I have reset the router several times now. And as I said all other computers work fine here, just the new on is causing problems.

I checked the driver and Dell offers only one and says it's for both 32bit and 64bit.

Your man from the Dell hotline said he'd research the issue too and ring me back on Monday. We'll see if he has any ideas what to do.

----
edit:
Dell rang me today, but on the wrong number, so I only saw it when I got back from work...
Anyway, a friend suggested that I try out an ad hoc network with another wifi computer. This way I'd know if there's something broken with the card, the antenna or the connection between card and antenna. And what can I say, it worked fabulously!!!!

I think by now it's something weird either with that card working with that router

New Dell Vista laptop, eircom broadband wifi problem

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