Slow Wireless

Hello All,

I have recently upgraded my router to a Linksys EA3500 and now my wireless speed on my M17x R3 has dropped. I am only getting speeds of 1-2mbps on my Alienware, but I am getting over 12mbps on my Sony Vaio sitting right next to it. I have no idea why they would differ, so much.

Please help

Thanks

 

What wireless card do you have in your R3? Also, go into Control Panels, then Network and Sharing Center. Next to 'Connections' on the right-hand side, click on the "Wireless Network Connection". It should open up an info box with all y'all's WiFi stats. What does it say under speed? For example, mine says 180Mbps which is at least what y'all should be getting.

 

I just have the standard Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter. I am connected at 75mbps right now, but cannot get more than 2mbps on speedtest. My phone and my Sony Vaio are hooked up to the same wifi and get 12mbps on speed test. I have never had an issue before, but I have put Windows 8 on my M17x and I just upgraded the router from a G to N one.

Thanks

 

It should be getting a way higher link speed than that. Open Network and Sharing Center again, and disconnect from your WiFi network. Then, in the left hand side bar, click on manage wireless network (this is for Windows 7, so it may be a bit different for Windows 8). Right-click on each network listed and remove it from the list. Then restart. The system should not automatically connect to your wifi. The idea is to reset the wifi network settings saved to y'all's system. So try and connect to the WiFi network again. The link speed should be 130Mbps at the minimum.

 

Use an ethernet cable cable ftw

 

So I have tried the following things and still cannot figure this out.

1. connected my M17x to my phone via mobile hot spot ran speed test and got 30mbps
2. connected my M17x to my old G router ran speed test and got 12mbps
3. connected my M17x to my new EA3500 router and got a speed test of 1mbps
4. connected my galaxy s3 to my EA3500 router and got a speed test of 12mpbs
5. connected my Sony Vaio laptop to my EA3500 router and got a speed test of 12mpbs

I have no idea why the router and M17x will not work together. Has anyone ever seen something like this before?

My M17x is normally connected with ethernet, but I do occasionally bring it upstairs and would like fast wifi if required.

Thanks

 

Ok, we need to figure out exactly which WiFi card your R3 is equipped with. Should be an Intel, a Dell, or a Bigfoot Killer Wireless. If the driver says its a Broadcom, the most likely it's the generic Dell card.

 

It should just be the generic one. When I look up my service tag this is the info that I can find.

Wireless WLAN 1501 Half Mini-Card (4313bgn)

YNVVM1Module, Card, Network, DW1501, Alienware, United States

 

The Linksys EA3500 is a Dual Band Router, 2.4GHZ and 5GHZ. Unfortunately the Half-Mini card that comes generic in the M17xR3 will only support the 2.4GHZ Band:

Documentation

Log into your router and go to the WLAN settings, there should be an area that shows dropdown menus for both the 2.4GHZ and the 5GHZ. You can adjust speeds, limit bandwidth, etc.....

Your EA3500 can use both bands at the same time, and all WLAN cards will recognize them both, but not all cards can use the 5GHZ band at full speed.

The Half-Mini card will only use the 2.4GHZ at full speed, so set your router to each speed and test it out.

Other option is to purchase a Linksys USB 5GHZ thumbdrive for about $30 bucks, and stop using the Half-Mini card.

 

Ahhh, the DW1501 card. So you have only a couple of options. One is to do what NuckinFutz says, change the frequency of your new router to 2.4GHz only and see if that allows the DW1501 card to go back to 12 Mbps. If that doesn't work PM me. I've got an Intel 6250 half-mini card I'll part with for like $15. It's just as good an option as getting the Linksys USB wifi thumb-card. It's my backup WiFi card so I know it works. Let me know and I'll get the post set up in the marketplace forum.

 

Well I will know better next time to upgrade the wireless card. I am actually just going to return the router to Best Buy and use the modem/router combo that I was using from my ISP. My issue with the original one was I was not able to stream home videos from my NAS to my laptops wireless, but going through all of this I have noticed a setting on the router that I never saw before. The 2Wire router actually has a power setting that increases and decreases the power output. The default was 4 out of 10, so all I had to do was bump the power level up to 6 and I am no longer having issues. As always thank you all for your help it is very much appreciated.