CONSTANT wireless dropouts...

This is SO frustrating, I have the Intel 5100 card in my Studio XPS 1640 and it just drops the connection constantly. I recently purchased a new Belkin N router but I know it can't be an issue with the router because as soon as pages stop loading on my computer I run right over and make sure I can get on on my iphone or download something on my PS3 and they always work just fine. I have tried every driver Dell and Intel offer and none of them stop the issue. I am currently hardwired using the Ethernet cord and things work flawlessly. I just don't know what the issue is. I guess it's a Windows 7 problem. Does anyone have ANY idea of what I could do? I have tried all sorts of solutions and settings and this and that but to no avail, I still am getting dropouts every 10-15 minutes. I'm currently downloading a huge torrent and have been for a couple of days, the dropouts seem to be more prevalent now than ever but even so, the connection will still drop out when I'm just doing basic browsing.

Thanks!

 

There are tons of posts about troublesome Intel 5100/5300 cards. I have researched them quite a bit, and I haven't found a solution for the frequent drops. It's not a fix, but I would buy another card (non Intel).

 

You really think it's a hardware issue that will just never be alleviated? Well, what card should I buy then?

 

I don't know if there is some sort of fix out there or if there's something looming on the horizon. I just haven't found any fix for the issue. Have you contacted Intel yet?

As for cards - if you have a standard mini PCIe slot, I've had great luck with Atheros cards, and I'm currently using the Gigabyte GN-WS30N in my e1705 and it's a great card.

 

No I haven't tried contacting Intel, I actually never really thought about it, I figured they wouldn't be able to tell me much more than sorry but it's not really our problem contact Dell. I guess it never hurts to try though....I have almost no wireless card expertise so basically when I open up my laptop there is a slot with like 3 or 4 cords clipped down onto my wireless card, whatever that slot is called....I have it!

 

I'd contact Dell and Intel, especially if you have a fairly new laptop. If you need some help, you can download the service manual for your laptop. Here's the link to the online manual:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/sxl16/en/sm/index.htm

That will tell you how to replace just about any part on your laptop.

 

Ya I know the procedure, I just wasn't aware of what the slot was called. So this card?

 

Make sure to review your service manual - I'm not sure if your laptop has the same mini slot. You might have to buy a completely different type of card.