M11X R2 WiFi Problems

I figured I'd make a new thread so then it gets maximum exposure.

My wireless card (I assume) is acting up on me- It allows me to connect to a router if I'm within 10 feet of it, where it gives me a full strength or 4 bar connection according to windows.

However, as soon as I get out of that general range, the wifi signal drops out entirely and refuses to reconnect. The problem here is that I can still view the same connection in the network list with the same full/4 bar rating.

My laptop's already had its screen/hinge replaced by a technician, so it's pretty annoying.

Thanks guys.

 

Wait... the network is still visible, but the connection drops? :/
After it drops, have you tried refreshing to see if the network is still visible?

If you've recently had your laptop serviced, the tech might've forgot to reattach the antenna going through the screen casing. Open up the WiFi cover and check to see if there are some wires attached to the card.



They should be connected to the two little circles you see on the lefthand side of the picture. If so, see if the wires have stickers saying 1A and 2B, and see if there are similar numbers on the card. Match them up. If there are no stickers, try switching the wires.

If not, check to see if the wires are even visible...

 

Thanks, I'll have a look into it and see how I go.

What part of the laptop is it on? Is it on the underside or do I need to remove the keyboard?

 

try this first...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/510104-m11x-r2-weak-wireless-signals.html

 

Unfortunately that hasn't worked.

The networks do remain visible, yes, and I've also tried the driver reinstallation.

Guess I'll need to open it up- so is the card on the bottom side or is it under the keyboard?

 

If you are running on battery then there is this: You may experience connectivity issues or performance issues when you connect a mobile PC that is running Windows Vista or Windows 7 to a wireless access point

Easy test for that, plug in the laptop, run 'ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx /t' in the command line (x's are a ip address of your choosing, can be local). Unplug the power and see if you drop packets. If you drop packets then do what the article says, if not or no change then open her up and see if the antenna connections are there.

 

It's across all profiles and it never did this out of the box.

Its old range used to be easily outside of my house, but now it's reduced to 2-3m from my router.

 

That would be a default setting across all profiles. First off (I edited my post after you responded above). Are you on battery? and does it make a difference if you are plugged in?

 

Strangely enough I've been going through the power options by using the battery icon in the bottom corner and changing it through those windows, yet now it's working after following Microsoft's troubleshooter route to the same window.

*touches wood*

Thanks for the assistance. If it plays up again, I'll yell at Dell on the phone. >_>

 

Mine seems to be having some issues too.... ever since I got the new screen installed I can see all the networks, but it wont connect. Sometimes it will connect and say "no internet access" some times it will connect and just wont take to me to any web pages.

It all started doing this after my screen got replaced, no hardware changes, or anything like that.

It does the same with either my 6200 card or my stock dell card.

 

I touched wood. Rebooted to see if it worked and hey presto, back to the same problems again.

Edit: I've come across something when I go "out of range".

Even when it hits four bars from a distance and I usually can't connect, if I connect near the router and walk off, I notice in the stats my connection goes from 54mbps to 1mbps.

Sounds like an antenna issue for sure. As I said now, where is the card placed on the notebook?

 

Did your problem start happening after your screen replace?

Remove the bottom cover from your computer, the wifi card is in the front right in the middle. When you remove your bottom cover, tell me how your antenna cables are plugged in, I dont know if it makes any change or not, but swapping the cables around might help.

 

Shortly after. I actually checked it to see if it connected after the repair and it did, so it could have been loosely attached.

 

Well the reason I say that, I just looked at 20+ pictures on google, seems every single m11x there has the white wire on the harddrive side, and the black wire on the ram side. I am not sure if it makes any change, but my wifi started doing what yours is doing right after my screen repair too.... so maybe our techs swapped the cables? Remove your bottom cover and check how your plugs are on the wifi card.

 

If you check out the pic of the wifi card posted earlier in the thread you'll notice two arrows pointing to the antenna connectors. One is black one is white. This corresponds to the antenna cable colours and points to which one goes to which connector. Though I can pretty much guarantee you it wont make any difference to your signal. Try just reseating the card and see if it makes any difference...

Also check the connectors on the cable and card to make sure the Dell "engineer" hasn't mangled them.

 

Well I am going to try out something new, I ordered a pair of wifi antenna leads with RP-SMA connectors on the other end. Going to install them and hook up some of those hi gain antennas.... try to get the wifi from my parents house a few blocks away from my house.
http://i837.photobucket.com/albums/zz299/rfcommunication/UFLTORP-SMA.jpg

Going to hook them inline with the stock antennas so I can still get wifi without hooking up the big ones.

 

I think it may be a loose connection happening here, sometimes the laptop connects and has perfectly fine performance from a distance, but other times it doesn't. Annoying. :\

 

This thread is a lifesaver, or at least an Alienware-saver. I had the same sad story: sent my M11x to Houston to have a broken display hinge fixed. Got it back (soon!). Found that the WiFi, which previously worked OK, now worked only if the thing was 5'-10' from my router, even with multiple bars of signal strength elsewhere in my house. Dreaded the prospect of having to deal with Dell's technical nonsupport again.

Google brought a better way. Using the picture and instructions in this thread, I took off the bottom plate and examined the WiFi card. The wires seemed to be attached black-to-black arrow and white-to-white arrow, but the white wire snap was just sitting on its connector, not snapped on. I firmly pressed both snaps on their connectors, wiggled the card a bit, and replaced the cover. Just like that, the WiFi range was back to what it had been before the Houston trip. Touch/knock on wood.

So, I have two questions:

1. Why does replacing the display on an M11x require messin' with the WiFi card? Is the WiFi antenna in the display panel? Or ....?

2. Is there anyone in the Dell corporatucracy who can/should be told that M11xs are coming back from Houston with displays freshly replaced and WiFi freshly broken?

 

Yes, the antenna run under the hinge up into the LCD assembly and have to be disconnected in order to remove the lid.

 

Its a easy thing to overlook when trying to get as many computers fixed as you can.

After re-seating my card and my antenna cables my signal went back up to what it used to be.

I am still going to install my outboard hi-gain antenna though along with the killer 1102 wifi card.