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    Alienware Area-51 M7700/Vista SP1 & Two Wireless Adapters

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by dravekx, Jul 1, 2008.

  1. dravekx

    dravekx Newbie

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    I recently inherited an Alienware Area-51 M7700 from a friend who upgraded to a newer laptop. It had WindowsXP Home Edition. I upgraded to VISTA and added a netopia USB Wifi Adapter. Here are my ventures for anyone with similar queestoins:

    1. Vista SP1 System Issue Fixes:
    --------------------------------
    a. WIRELESS DRIVER- If Vista doesnt detect your built in Atheros Wifi Adapter, you can load the VISTA ATHEROS WIRELESS ADAPTER driver from inside Device Drivers and it will work so you can login to Windows Update and get the latest drivers.

    b. SMARTLINK 56K MODEM DRIVER- The driver for Vista is VERY hard to find, but it's out there. Anyone needs it, just let me know, as you will not find it easily. I found mine on a japanese website and it works perfectly.

    c. BASE SYSTEM DEVICE ISSUE- This is the card reader accelerator. This driver is also available, so dont let Alienware tell you otherwise. I searched for three weeks and found the driver in china and it works PERFECTLY also. Dont use it? then just disable it.

    d. SLEEP MODE ISSUE - This laptop with Vista likes to fall asleep and wake up ONLY by rebooting. Disable this function and just use the option to turn your screen off.

    e. OVERHEATING - Make sure the back-right-bottom side of the laptop is elevated in some way and the overheating issue will be resolved. Otherwise, you can just take the laptop apart and re-apply heatsink compound recommended by Alienware. (See their support forum for details)

    f. Slimtype CD/DVD SOSW-825S ISSUES - A lot of people had problems with this drive and slimline told them to send it back so they could fix it. What a WASTE OF TIME! The Japanese version has update firmware that corrects the burning problems and adds some new feature to the driver via software. Mine was acting up, wouldnt burn, had trouble reading... then I found the firmware, and now its MINT!

    2. TWO WIRELESS ADAPTERS:
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    a. My first adapter is the built-in ATHEROS WIFI which I use all the time. It has a lousy reach when it comes to distance, so I purchased a secondary USB NETOPIA Wireless Adapter. Using one adapter, you can login to one IP address and get the max signal. Using BOTH WIRELESS ADAPTERS, you can login to TWO IP ADDRESS's and get a max signal and (in theory) double the speed.

    b. If anyone tells you differently, they are wrong to a point. Here is my setup:

    - DSL 6mb/s line from AT&T using a linksys WRT54G2 router.
    - Two adapters using SPEEDTEST.NET to measure.

    With one adapter, I get a max speed of 5300KB/s. With two adapters, I get a max speed of 6200KB/s. On a torrent download from my friends server in the UK, I get a connection of 1500KB/s with one connection. With both wireless adapters, I get 2800KB/s. Each IP pulls a new connection even with the 10 connection limit by Vista. I get 20 connections without fail and my connection almost doubles the intensity of the signal:

    - Signal 1(Atheros): 43%
    - Signal 2(Atheros)+Signal 1(Netopia): 75%

    NOTE: Vista will stutter as the wireless zero configuration had trouble keeping up, but the signal is alot stronger with two adapters and my CALL OF DUTY 4 ONLINE runs smooth as silk now without having to sit within 150ft of the router.


    So far, I love the laptop and it does everything neccesary including that I can play the LATEST and GREATEST without having to purchase a new system. :D
     
    dravekx, Jul 1, 2008
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  2. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    That is a great notebook.... as long as you take care of it.

    Make sure to clean out the vents once every month or two. It will clog up fast.

    Also I recommend to get a good notebook cooler (like Zalman ZM-NC2000) for that system to keep the temps down.

    Remember to monitor the temps, which would help give you red flags if the CPU or GPU are overheating.
     
    Gophn, Jul 1, 2008
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