Very slow WI-FI connection

I have an XPS M1710, 2GHz and 2Gb RAM, XP SP3 (although was SP2 when this happened).

About 4 months ago, my WI-FI internet connection became very slow - I mean slower than dial-up, on 10Mb/sec broadband connections. It takes 30 secs to bring back a Google search for goodness sake! It had been working fine for 18 months, and it just suddenly ground to a virtual halt, and has been such ever since.

I've tried it in several different offices and homes where it was previously fine, and it's the same everywhere. The LAN connection still works fine.

Windows reports no problems - device working properly, I have the latest driver, and I run antivirus and anti spyware apps regularly.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

 

could be something wrong with you're card, thought you might want to try a clean install first to be sure it's not a software problem

 

Hey, thanks for your reply!

A re-install of what software, exactly?

 

a complete re-install of windows. what you would have to do is back up or copy everything you have (ei: photos, music, videos, programs, ect..) Your computer came with a windows install disk. After you have a copy or back up of everything, you will insert the disk, reset the computer, and boot up from cd/dvd by pressing f12 i believe, but could be wrong. You then have to format your hard drive (means delete everything off of it) and re-install a fresh version of windows with all the settings reset.

After you've installed windows, you then have to install the drivers in order that are on a second drivers install cd that also came with your laptop. After installing them in order, proceed to dell's website and install any update to the drivers, then update windows. while your doing this check to see how fast your internet connection is. If its still slow then you will probably have to send it in, in which case having a back-up if everything is a good thing to have just in case. if its back to normal, then you should be set and continue installing all of your personal programs and and transfering back all your photos and music and such. Check your internet connection after every program you install, just to make sure its not what was causing it to act slow.

Just remember that when you format the hard drive to re-install windows you will be deleting EVERYTHING on that hard drive, thats why its critical you make a copy of everything you want to keep.

 

I'd recommend wiping the cache for your internet browser, I notice that when there is a lot of info my browser is saving places like youtube and hulu load really slowly and don't play very well.

 

hmm if the WIFI router yours then try updating is firmware

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I think a complete reformat is a little extreme for a system that is otherwise working nicely. Plus I really don't have time for that.

Anyway, on the recommendation of a friend I invested in an application called RegCure, a little app which tidies up your registry. It found nearly 2000 things to fix, and hey presto! Wi-fi is now flying, as it did originally.

I very rarley buy software, but this was £20 well spent.