6400 Wifi turns off!

Hello all!

I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 6400.

The wireless card it came with was the Intel 3945ABG Wireless card.

I had many problems with the wireless such as limited connectivity or local only etc but I got those fixed.

However, the problem now is the wireless light will turn off and I can't enable it again till I restart.

I am using the latest 11.0.1.86 drivers and Dell have failed to help me fix this.

I understand there is even a page specifically related to this problem on the Intel website but it's not particularly helpful as it tells me to update my drivers... when I already have the latest ones.

I even tried to buy a PCMCIA card but it turns out, there's not very many Expresscard wireless cards out there.

Has anyone else had this problem or have any ideas on how to fix it?

My last step would be to buy another wireless card, but I'm not great on laptops and I'm not too sure what to buy.

Oh, and I'm using Vista Home Premium.

Thanks for reading.

 

Get a replacement from dell using your warranty. I dont see why they shouldn't be sending you a new one...

 

The thing is, I'm not sure if it actually is a hardware issue.

I've searched the Dell forums for a few days now, and have found some people who have had the same problem.

They got replacements sent by Dell but it still doesn't work. They fixed it by actually buying a 1390 card to replace.

 

Tekershee, I am not familiar with this particular problem, but definitely want to help you get things fixed. I have a few questions that should help me figure out where the problem is:

* When the light goes off does the card continue to work or does it drop the connection?
* Have you already checked the power management settings for the card (bring up the properties window for the card in Device Manager and change the power management setting on the Advanced tab to 'Always On')?
* Is there anything that seems to cause the light to go out (i.e., can you make it happen)?

If you have any other questions about the system I'll be happy to answer them as well.


Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

 

Hi I am also having this problem on my Inspiron 9400, it started when I upgraded to Vista Ultimate a few days ago, the light for my wireless will go off but the light for the bluetooth will remain on, during this time the connection is lost. The light for the wireless will only come back on after I reboot the system. I'll follow your advice and check my settings under "power options" in the control panel. Hopefully it's just a problem with the settings since this problem only started after I upgraded to Vista Ultimate. If you find out anything else could you please post back here again?
Thanks!

 

This is a common problem. I made a thread about this several months ago, and so far Dell has no explanation or no fix for it. It isn't affected by XP or Vista, but has something to do with Dell.

Now, on the positive side, most users didn't see any problems with the hardware when the light when off. I thought it was tied to my BT, but there is no connection to it.

Here is the previous discussion on it:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=35663

 

I read the thread (seven pages!) you linked to, Amber, and that definitely seems to be what is happening here. I know the Intel cards has some ... fun ... with drivers a year or so ago that effected connectivity, but a driver update was supposed to have fixed it.

Tekershee, if you haven't already done so, try (re)installing the following drivers:
* Dell Notebook System software ( http://ftp.dell.com/utilities/R120775.EXE)
* Intel Chipset software ( http://ftp.dell.com/chipset/R114079.EXE)
* Intel 3945/4965 wireless driver ( http://ftp.dell.com/network/R151972.EXE)

If you have a Dell 350 or 355 bluetooth adapter install the latest driver for that as well ( http://ftp.dell.com/network/R117967.EXE for 350 driver and firmware update and http://ftp.dell.com/network/R129472.EXE to patch a problem with bluetooth headsets; or http://ftp.dell.com/network/R127314.EXE for the 355).

These updates are the ones listed for the Inspiron E1505/6400. While the Notebook System and chipset software will be different for other Dell computers, the wireless and bluetooth updates should work for any Dell system using that particular card. If you want to make sure you have the right drivers for your particular system you can check the latest at: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads.

If these updates do not fix the problem, please let me know and I'll see what else I can do for you.

Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

 

I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 as well and have been having the same problem with my wireless - the WIFI light goes out (internet connection is lost), bluetooth stays on and the only way I can get the light back is to restart - the Fn+F2 doesn't work either. I went to device manager to try and update the device, but it reads that it's already has to the most updated driver -04/30/2007. Has anyone had any luck with this??? Please help.. Thanks in advance.

Called Dell about this when it started happening about a month ago, and the rep told me to boot in safemode. Of course it came on because I had to reboot. He just said it was working and offered no other solutions. Nonetheless, that did not solve the problem - This is the 3rd time this has happened. I am unable to recreate the situation. I could be surfing and all of a sudden I lose connection because I see that the WIFI has gone out.

Michelle

 

Same issue with 1330, both the original and the replacement. If I leave it alone for a few minutes, wifi goes out. Now, it appears as if the adapter works fine but it doesn't see any wireless networks, even though claims to be still connected, it isn't. Looking for a solution, too, 'cause it seems it's not a hardware issue, after all, or are all 1330s incompatible with 3945abg?

 

I have this problem several times and i'm trying to investigate it. Yesterday i was playing Stalker and WiFI turned off - connection was lost, but the wifi indicator was still working. I suppose that it (wifi chip) was overheated.

If I will reboot and go to Setup Bios i will not see any WiFI device. After laptop will stay switched off about 20 mins everything goes well.

 

@Tekershee
Im facing the exact same problem in my Vostro 1400 notebook,

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=196852

Im still trying to find a fix for this. I tried all the new drivers and messing around with the wifi and router settings nothing seems to work. :S

I also get this msg when I try and restart after the wifi hangs
connections tray not responding

do you have the same problem ?

 

bump! anyone ? ?this problem is driving me nuts drivers updates dont help

 

Updated drivers, and still hangs.

 

I'm having trouble with mine too. My e1505 came pre-loaded with Windows Vista, and I thought it was the culpret. That and several other reasons led me to downgrade back to XP. All my other problems cleared up except for the Intel 3945 continuing to drop connections or have ungodly slow speeds. I've tried using the latest Dell drivers and Intel drivers. The problem is happening on 3 different wireless networks. Anyone find a solution yet?