M11x R2 Hard Freezes during Downloads

Hey all,
I mentioned this problem once or twice in the past here on the forums, but have now isolated it further and hopefully somebody has some tips or ideas.

My R2, while I love its performance seems to have difficulties with downloads. I cannot do long downloads without constant hard freezes (the cursor disappears and the comp must be reset by holding the power button for a few seconds). I rarely *knock on wood* get freezes any other time. SC2 download was a nightmare as it was 7 GB, and I probably froze every 30-50 MB. Same with my latest downloads. Most small downloads this won't happen, as they only last a minute or two. But on larger downloads (upwards of 100 MB) it is incredibly frustrating. Leaving it to download overnight is futile as it only gets about 50 GB before being stuck on until the battery would run out. It has nothing to do with OCing. I have already verified this.

I feel like the only possible culprit is the wireless card. What does everyone else think? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Edit: Also, not sure if this is simply coincidence, but the more active I stay on the computer during downloads, the less it seems to freeze.

 

under power options, your current power plan. check 'turn off hard disk', set it to never. try that.

 

Thanks, I'll try that and see if I can find something else large to download and test.

Also, to further confirm, after the first freeze, I stayed active throughout the download and finished without a hitch...

 

There used to be quite a few people here who had problems with the Dell 1520 card doing exactly what you describe. Replacing the card is the only fix I recall.

Personally I've never had a problem with my 1520. Never a lockup when downloading any amount of data. I'm at about 15 different client sites each week, connecting to lots of different WAPs. Reception has always been great. Give Dell a ring and have them replace it, or if you'd rather you can always go with an intel card off ebay.

 

I have already posted a fix for this issue.
Check it out...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/557511-wlan-card-possible-fix.html#post7191424
No issues since.

 

I'm one of the users who had this problem. Under heavy load, my Dell 1520 WLAN would completely freeze the system. Replaced the card, and haven't had a lock up again, and my wireless signals and speeds are slightly up.

An alternative to this known problem if you don't feel like spending under $50 is simply call Dell if you're under warranty and tell them that you are experiencing lock ups with your wireless card and request a new one mailed to you for replacement. That can be a lot of headache tho for another 1520 POS card.