wireless help; vista, intel 4965AGN card, inspiron 1520

andrestable · Feb 4, 2008

heyas!

here's all my specs before i get into the issue:

OS: vista home premium, 32 bit
wireless card: intel 4965AGN
laptop: inspiron 1520
processor: intel core 2 duo CPU T7100 @ 1.60GHz
no recent crashes to cause the problem, and i haven't been using much anti-spyware other than mcafee security center.

allrighty then, i don't know if that's enough information about the hardware or not. here's my problem, as detailed as i can manage:

my wireless seems really inferior to other computers. i'm right now in about the middle of my campus, UT austin, and i get disconnected from the wireless intermittently. just sitting here i've been disconnected 4 or 5 times over the past 40 minutes or so. in my apartment, they have their own isp, namely Airimba wireless. lots of times i won't be able to get onto the wireless (connect to the router). i just spent 35 minutes talking to a dell support technician, and basically he had me delete all my saved network connections and reboot the computer. problem not solved. it has been suggested to me that perhaps this is a hardware problem; the dell technician basically said vista might be causing the flakiness. one of my huge freshman classes is in a theatre, and i see people around me surfing the web, but i can't get a connection. it happens in certain class rooms too, where others get a connection, but the gods don't favor me.

anyway, i can't imagine that this is a server-side problem. everybody would be complaining. so i figure it's client-side, i.e. my computer. me! what's my freakin problem?

how can i please the gods?

thanks. i hope i didn't leave any key information out, but if i did, i'll post it.

OldGrayGary · Feb 5, 2008

Hi andrestable

If you are currently using any flavor of the "ACM" (Arimba Connection Manager) software, I'd recommend uninstalling it.

I'd also recommend uninstalling your current driver for your Intel wireless adapter, and then installing this Vista driver set directly from Dell. It's from mid-November of 2007, only nine weeks ago or so, and might help --- http://support.dell.com/support/dow...devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=3&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=233385 --- follow the setup instructions as prompted. (*Note that the initial installation instructions are on the same webpage as the download*).

Once you have that package installed, test your connections. Should you continue to have difficulty, there is a wireless patch specifically for your model, and specifically for your wireless adapter: --- http://support.dell.com/support/dow...devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=5&fileid=217662

I think that the 2nd patch has an excellent chance of helping significantly.

Remember, that when you are setting up your connections, you won't be choosing Ad Hoc, but Infrastructure. Your connections should also be enabled for Mixed modes, as the Arimba device is a 802.11b device, whereas other WiFi on campus is likely to be 802.11g. Your Intel adapter is able to do all four currently available 802.11 modes --- a/b/g/n.

To the networks that you most often connect to, you can set your laptop to automatically detect. Whether you connect using Vista's builtin Wireless utility, or use an Intel tool included in the driver download, you can usually set your adapter to automatically connect when in range -- you can store any necessary usernames and passwords, or SSID data and passkeys.

I think you might want to try using Vista's version of the Wireless "Zero Configuration Utility" first, and if that doesn't work well, try using the Intel Utility. Here's the only guide Dell provides for your adapter (which covers the settings in XP ... but the settings are similiar enough in Vista that you should be able to fudge your way through). --- http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/P94583/en/utilintc.htm

Best of luck
. . . Gary

cledus · Feb 24, 2008

Thanks a million Gary, I was having this issue with an Inspiron E1505. Driver update worked great.

ray:

wireless help; vista, intel 4965AGN card, inspiron 1520

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