XPS m1330

Dermot2468

Hello all,
The wireless on my laptop stopped working a while ago. i assumed/was told by dell that it was a driver issue so I reinstalled vista and updated the drivers (am now dual booting vista + xp) however the problem still remains. The device is not listed in device manager. I removed the wireless card and reinstalled it as it sounded like it was loose, this solved it for a day or two until it went again. Now it will not work at all and doing the same again has no effect. It sounds like the wirless card is broken, just looking for any other sugestions before i ring dell? I dread ringing them!
Thanks, Dermot.

kikel

Dermot2468 wrote: »

Hello all,
The wireless on my laptop stopped working a while ago. i assumed/was told by dell that it was a driver issue so I reinstalled vista and updated the drivers (am now dual booting vista + xp) however the problem still remains. The device is not listed in device manager. I removed the wireless card and reinstalled it as it sounded like it was loose, this solved it for a day or two until it went again. Now it will not work at all and doing the same again has no effect. It sounds like the wirless card is broken, just looking for any other sugestions before i ring dell? I dread ringing them!
Thanks, Dermot.

Hi Dermot,
If it's not listed in device manager. It must be a hardware issue. Give dell a buz and tell them that straight away that it's not showing. Could save alot of hassle of them tellign you to try this and that.

DisasterIRL

Try re downloading the drivers and re installing them

ewj1978

happened to my dell, the Card was actually faulty and the laptop had to be returned for repairs...

wingnut

I know its obvious but is the hardware swtich on? If it is then try reseating the cable that connects the wireless module.

ytareh

Case/cover will have to be removed to get at wireless card most likely

Dermot2468

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Try re downloading the drivers and re installing them
I tried this, but as its not listed in device manager the re installation fails.
I rang dell waited 10 minutes on the phone, when i got through i couldn't hear him talking and had to hang up! I sent in a request for an online chat and il wait for an email back. Tried removing and reinserting the wireless card, im starting to think that it is not making proper ontact as it seems to sometimes work depending on what way i move the laptop. Could this be a fault with the connector on the motherboard?

wingnut wrote:

I know its obvious but is the hardware swtich on? If it is then try reseating the cable that connects the wireless module.

Yep its def on! im going to try that again but im 99% sure that there is some sort of hardware fault.

ytareh

Try change channel on router?

DisasterIRL

If it was only a hardware problem it would be strange for the device to show up at all in device manager

Sorry misread your post, does it show up in other devices?

LolaDub

Hey Dermot,

Do you still have the dell drivers installation cd? If you open that up and click on my system, then go down to the wireless open. Usually there will be a tick or slightly different colour tick to show its not working. The wireless driver is encryted for some reason and has to be extracted. So go into this and it should give an option to extract. Its the only thing that worked for me when it happened to mine. Good Luck

Dermot2468

DisasterIRL wrote: »

If it was only a hardware problem it would be strange for the device to show up at all in device manager

Sorry misread your post, does it show up in other devices?

It shows up sometimes in my devices, sometimes when i boot the laptop the wifi light will come on and then it shows up in my devices but after a few minutes the computer will freeze for a second, the light goes off and it disappears from my devices.

Another thing that makes me think it is a hardware and not a software issue is that it happens weather i boot to vista or xp.

Thanks lola should have the disk somewhere, i will try that as soon as i can find it!

Dermot2468

Just for future reference, i rang dell someone coming next week to replace the wireless card. There also replacing the webcam because it doesnt work sometimes.
Ill let ye know how i get on.
Thanks for all the help, Dermot.