Killer Wireless Discussion Thread - Look for Solutions and Ask Questions Here

What settings have you tweaked? I've got the same problem... changed the router and reinstalled the drivers using Killer cleaner but it happens again.

This f*#@!"~ Killer card is killing me.

PD: My Alienware m17x r4 only has 10 days... hope there is a solution.

 

Might be a fluke but I was even having drop outs with stock drivers on windows 8. Tried latest killer drivers same as bigtonyman they are working fine atm. I used to get cut outs mainly when downloading at a high bandwidth with multiple connections was the easiest way to trigger a network drop out, like downloading a large game from steam and trying to watch youtube 1080p video would dropout occasionally.

Advanced settings I am using now.
802.11b preamble - long only
transmit buffer - 1
receive buffer - 1
CW minimum AIFS value 1
Scan valid interval - 20

100% uptime so far. Might be fluke who knows, everything else is default. Also under power management tab allow windows to turn off device is enabled.

 

Also check to make sure you have Dynamic MIMO power save disabled. Could be that it could be trying to save power, but it disconnects? Also, Why do you have a transmit buffer and reciever buffer to 1? Mine are set to 512 and 256 respectively.

 

Yeah the dynamic mimo is disabled by default. For the buffer sizes, I was looking around it basically pools any data for the network card into chunks for your cpu to process, setting a higher number is nicer on the CPU, I was playing with those values, and so far 1 has not dropped out 'yet' from what I read, setting a low number means there is little/no pooling of data so it should be processed as soon as possible, which could be a cause of the connection drop outs, I can get a connection dropout on 512/256/8 so I was just playing with the numbers and trying both extremes. This is usually when I am a bit over the top, with multiple torrents going + youtube and email etc fighting for internet bandwidth, had no issues yet and my ping seems to have dropped by around 2ms, but thats defitely within the margin of error anyways. But I don't know I'm not an expert on networking at all. But it can't hurt to try I guess.

 

ah that makes sence. I'm working on my CCNA stuff right now, but still haven't heard of a bunch of this stuff lol. Guess ill play around and see what what happens. +rep for the explanation.

 

Good luck with playing with the drivers, but to be honest if it aint broken, dont fix it
But just try maxing the bandwidth of your card/internet, see if you can download large torrents + download a steam game and try a few youtube videos, see if your connection is stable, I usually had a dropout within 20 minutes, but it was totally random for me.
Thanks for the rep btw :thumbsup:

 

anytime dude!! I'll definitely test and see what happens.

 

I uninstalled everything of Qualcomm Atheros of my computer... I didn't install any new driver or somethig. At the moment it's ok, I don't understand anything!

 

At the moment the stock drivers should be more stable than the killer network ones. You shouldn't have to change anything, just try going crazy on your bandwidth, Like download a steam game, torrent and hd youtube, that usually sent my connection over the edge, especially when I ran a speedtest.net test. I think test how stable your connection is now, and then see how it goes after that I guess. if its ok then it should be fine then

 

I contacted a Tech for a replacement for mine. Constant drops, cannot download anything, tried all drivers and fixes avaliable. :/

Lets hope tomorrow when the Tech comes, i will be a happy R2 user again

 

So, I've got a question.

My previous R2 had the 1103, and when I was about 12 feet away from my Router in another room the signal never had 5 bars. But when I bring my XPS up here and put it in the same spot that my old R2 sat in, it gets 5 bars the whole time while in use.

Can someone explain this to me: How does a superior network card get a weaker signal than a generic card?

 

Finally got the killer network drivers to work, but how stable they are is anyones guess, have been stable tweaking the advanced settings, I will psot them when I get a chance. Also someone could post the default ones for me too that would be nice, I forgot them all and uninstalling driver doesn't clear all of my settings.

I guess its how the bars are calculated, I'd have to see the actual dB value to actually knwo signal strength although that is a bit weird, have you got any power saving modes enabled when your testing this? Like I think even going onto batteyr mode by default windows sets the wireless to slightly power save. Also have you got dynamic MIMO power save on in the advanced settings? That dropped my signal by a bar, and throughput speed was also down.

 

That could be it. I haven't checked the settings.

I'll keep that in mind when my system arrives.

 

But on the topic, it seems its a huge driver issue. Since ive had my problem, i checked every thread out there and i must say, its not a small thing

Also, the Dynamic MIMO on mine is disabled ,but i still get less bars than usual. On the laptop with generic wireless next to me is 5 bars, on the Killer 1103 is 3-4 bars.

 

Anyone whos willing to see if they can get the killer network drivers to work? I am afraid you won't be able to use the killer network manager at the moment, causes issues for me.
I have only tried on windows 8, should work on 7?
Install latest win 8/7 drivers for killer wireless : KillerSetup_6.1.0.437_Win8_64bit best to download direct from website
Go to killer network manager -> advanced -> and disable 'application control' and disable 'gaming optimisation' and disable pc monitoring

Now go to change adapter settings -> 1103 -> configure

Under advanced menu, quite a lot of changes I made, so here it goes... (btw if someone could let me know the defaults it would help too)

802.11b Preamble - Long only
AdHoc 11n - Enable
AFIS Value - 7
Background Scan - On
Backoff Threshold setting - 1024
Binary exponential CW backoff - Enable
BSS HT frame aggregation enable - Enable
CW Maximum AIFS value - 255
CW Minimum AIFS value - 1
Dynamic MIMO power save - disable
Force Tx with high priority - Default
Network Address - Not Present
no-ACK Tx policy - default
Receive Buffers - 1
Scan Valid interval - 20
Transmit Buffers - 1
Transmit Rate Set - Rate Control
Virtual Collision handling policy - Default

Those settings currently work for me anyways, the 'enable windows to turn off device ...' is enabled.

Once you have put those settings in, restart your computer.

Hopefully it works for you guys.

 

Funny you say that, I get all my surrouding neighbors wifi networks all from the comfort of my desk. Some of them are almost 500 feet away.

Hopefully that solves some of the problems, if not I'm not sure what the problem could be other than a hardware issue.

 

Yeah, I can't see why its hardware since it connects and it works so I would think its some sort of setting, most likely a timeout issue, maybe something is dropping the connection. I assume its one of the threshold values coupled with the latency value. I usually only got a dropout as soon as it tried to create a new connection, eg. opening a link to a website or even changing the video resolution of a youtube video would usually trigger it. I suspect its partially drivers and partially the killer network manager not working, it is monitoring the connection and it causes a dropout because of it, had to completely disable all features on it, but keep it installed so I can keep the killer network driver.

I wonder if you use the killer network manager? Is it enabled?

 

Although I am not currently using the Killer software, I did for a little while and decided to roll back to generic Windows 8 drivers. Did a Bigfoot Clean-up, but every few times when I cold boot, I have no connection available and I have to open troubleshooting which in turn resets the network card and all is okay again.

Anyone else noticed this behaviour? - it's annoying as hell really.....

 

Steviejones133 does it connect but have no connectivity or does it just not want to pick up your network? Is it hidden your network?

 

Well, there is no connection until the wireless adapter is reset. Ocassionally, I boot up to have a red cross in the task tray area over my internet access icon. Once it's been reset, the connection is fine.

 

Huh, never seen that before tbh. I've never had connection issues upon startup striaght away sorry neither with qualcomm or killer drivers. You running windows 7 or 8? Maybe 'backgorund scan' option either in advanced or under the 'wifi connection' of the network adapters might have been disabled? Otherwise I'd try the killer drivers with the tweaks I listed the page before, if you dont mind being a guinea pig? The advanced settings I set mean it will background scan and do it frequently. (Usual time is 60 seconds whereas I have mine set to 20). Could be the driver just stalling or something at start up? But I thought the hybrid shutdown/start on windows 8 just makes the drivers wake from sleep on startup?

 

Yeah - using Windows 8. I had thought that start-up might be hanging as it only happens on a cold boot. Sleep works fine and resumes without loss of connection. I might have a fiddle with my start up programs and see if that makes a difference. I'm probably gonna ditch Windows 8 soon enough anyway but if I do get the time, I'll test out your settings and report back.

 

Thanks in advance if you do get to test them. I think maybe something on startup could affect it, I literally have nothing under startup programs enabled in the task manager for windows 8, not even control centre or OSD. I rarely use those buttons anyways, volume/eject/cc buttons work without OSD or 'requiredapplicationslauncher' starting up. Sounds like quite an annoying issue tbh.

 

Yeah, it's more annoying than anything else. Im seriously considering just grabbing a 6300.....

 

Hmm not sure which i'd rather have, no connection on boot up or random connection drop outs. It is a software issue I think, since hard ware wise, it works when it is working, just something triggers it to drop a connection or not to connect in your case. Good luck finding a combination of factors to make yours work, took me about a day to find the settings to work for mine without drop outs. Even had drop outs on the default qualcomm drivers. My current settings had 0 issues, even under heavy load.

 

I have the network manager running in the backround, but I have application control disabled so it's pretty much doing nothing as far as I know.

 

I think the manager is the biggest culprit, there is a service called something like qualcomm killer network service under the services tab in task manager, I've already completely stopped it, so my network manager doesn't even work anyways. Been stable so far, only had 1 glitch but it was running I think.

 

Hey guys,

A tech came and replaced my 1103 and guess what, I still have issues god..

It no longer drops me from the network ( with the DDDenniZZZ`s fix <3 ) but when i play games like Dota 2 i get constant lag spikes for 2 seconds every 2-5 minutes. I lose the control over my character like im about to get disconnected and then everything is ok again. I am watching my ping constantly and sometimes it happens so fast that the program cannot even show ping spikes.

Its just like i lose connection for a second and then everything is ok again. ( That happened with the last card too ).

At the moment i am using the .320 generic drivers from dell ( the manually install ones ) without the killer software. I tried various drivers ,but nothing changes.

IT DOES NOT HAPPEN ON THE OTHER LAPTOP :/

Anything you can think of that can help me out ?


Thank you

 

Nice to see it worked for you Zo0r7y! Try the latest drivers .437 are the latest generic ones anyways. Make sure any killer monitoring software is off. Just install the killer driver/manager direct from killergaming website, its linked below for you. It used to drop out on my laptop but I was on a video call on my iPhone at the same time and that didnt drop out, so definitely something up with my laptop I think.

Yeah I can get it to stall if the card is under stupidly heavy load but connection is kepy. but I have tweaked a few things and hopefully it might help.

Basically follow previous steps...

Anyone whos willing to see if they can get the killer network drivers to work? I am afraid you won't be able to use the killer network manager at the moment, causes issues for me.
I have only tried on windows 8, should work on 7?
Install latest win 8/7 drivers for killer wireless : KillerSetup_6.1.0.437_Win8_64bit best to download direct from website HERE Killer Gaming :: Support :: Driver Downloads Link is for Windows 8 64 Bit, but just change your OS tab to suit your needs.
Go to killer network manager -> advanced -> and disable 'application control' and disable 'gaming optimisation' and disable pc monitoring

Now go to change adapter settings -> 1103 -> configure

Under advanced menu, quite a lot of changes I made, so here it goes... (btw if someone could let me know the defaults it would help too)

802.11b Preamble - Long only
AdHoc 11n - Enable
AFIS Value - 7
Background Scan - On
Backoff Threshold setting - 1024
Binary exponential CW backoff - Enable
BSS HT frame aggregation enable - Enable
CW Maximum AIFS value - 255
CW Minimum AIFS value - 1
Dynamic MIMO power save - disable
Force Tx with high priority - Default
Network Address - Not Present
no-ACK Tx policy - default
Receive Buffers - 1
Scan Valid interval - 20
Transmit Buffers - 1
Transmit Rate Set - Rate Control
Virtual Collision handling policy - Default

Those settings currently work for me anyways, the 'enable windows to turn off device ...' is enabled.

To completely disable the killer network manager you need to KILL its service. For windows 8 users open task manager, go to services tab, scroll to 'Qualcomm Atheros Killer Service) right click on it, then 'open services' you will have to go down the list again and this time right click on 'Qualcomm Atheros Killer Service' -> properties -> start up type - DISABLED

Once you have put those settings in, restart your computer.

Hopefully it works for you guys.

 

What anti virus are you guys using by chance? I used to get horrible lag randomly in games like SWTOR with AVG running, but If I terminated the program, my ping would drop much much lower. Not sure why the heck it does that though.

 

None at the moment ,but i am using only trustworthy websites so its definitely not a virus or anything like that since it was from day1

Thank you DDDenniZZ for the tip, i will do that and i will report how it goes.


Update: It seems .437 are only for Windows 8 at the moment. Win 7 drivers are only .395. I tried those and its not better.

 

I would recommend you use Microsoft security essentials if your on windows 7 or windows defender if your on windows 8 (pre installed). Both are free and pretty unobtrusive and not trying to sell you a premium service.

 

Done. Microsoft Security Essentials it is I guess all i have to do is wait for the new drivers :/

Thank you for the help tho.

 

didn't realize defender was the default antivirus and that it actually works decently. I'll just stay with that on my next install. +rep for the info.

Edit: Appears I need to rep other people first.

 

Don't worry, yeah I think well back in the day microsoft security essentials was actually called windows defender, but it changed. I remember using windows defender on xp/vista.

 

That is probably the best thing Windows 8 has to offer. It requires no third-party security software of any kind. It has everything it needs natively and works well.

 

Heyya guys, I can see DDDenniZZZ is on to some major fixes here with his settings in the manager ^^,

But I'm having problem installing the latest driver..
I got the N1103 on my GT70-0NC with an E2200.
I rarely use my LAN since the WIFI has more than enaugh speed during gaming and downloading simultaneously but after removing the stock driver the E2200 doesn'T install with the new driver and I receiving this error

"ERROR: -1603 FATAL ERROR DURING INSTALLATION__Consult Windows Installer Help (Msi.chm) or MSDN__for more information"

I've noticed one thing with the wireless random dc's is it happens pretty much everytime I quit a game or a download finished. So when my DL&UL are both at 0kbs the wifi get's the "limit" triangle :/

Any thoughts on how to install the driver ?

 

Install the driver ontop? my 1103 won't install drivers if I just removed the stock ones from windows, when windows restarts it should install 'stock ones' then install ontop you shouldnt have to remove the old ones first.

For windows 8 might have to look into installing unsigned drivers, Mr. Fox will be your better advisor since I havent done it before but hes written how to do it somewhere. Otherwise for windows 7/8 try installing by running program as administrator.

 

Didn't have a problem installing 1103 drivers. I do have occasional drop outs now though. Only happens when I'm video chatting with Skype. Never when browsing the web or playing games.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 running Resurrection Remix

 

did this but it would still drop out under heavy loads, How do i kill the service on windows 7? thats the only thing i could not do.

 

Not 100% sure for windows 7, but run 'msconfig' and it should be under the services tab.

 

ok i disabled it under msconfig and did all the advanced settings you suggested, Still drops with heavy traffic.

is it worth contacting dell and swapping for the intel option?

 

Here's your best bet for an Intel WiFi card, but Alienware does not offer it as an option any more:

 

Hey guys, just recieved my m18xR2 which has a Killer Wireless-N 1103 network card, but I can't seem to get it to connect to my Comcast Modem/Router combo box wireless, it connects fine when I plug it in through Ethernet.
Also I should note that it connects wireless to my neighbors Motorola router, so I'm wondering if anyone has heard of any problems with this card not connecting to the comcast modem/router system that I have?
All other devices connect to it just fine, (Phones, 360, Smart TV, m17xR3, my old m17xR2, etc). Though this one is the only one that has a killer wireless-N 1103.

The problem it has is that it never identifies the network, it displays "Identifying, no internet access" for about 20 seconds and than goes to "Unidentified Network, Connected, No internet Access"
Is there a way to change the card to run on Wireless-G to see if it connects that way instead of Wireless-N? I can't find it anywhere in the settings.

Thanks guys.

 

Hey, ive had similar issue.

My solution:
1.Go to the dell website and download the .320 version of the driver. ( Most stable driver so far... )
2. Go to killer website and download the killer driver cleaner ( Under 1103,Utilities, Driver cleaner )
3. Run it and clean the driver + restart.
4. Install the new driver.
5. Go to Adapter Settings on your wireless card and remove the "Bigfoot Bandwidth Control"
6. Disable the killer software ( common issue ) Just make it to not start up.


Test it everything works. If it still doesnt, there is another thing i did:

Go to advanced settings again on your wireless card -> Click Configure -> Advanced and change:

802.11b Preamble - Long only
AdHoc 11n - Enable
AFIS Value - 7
Background Scan - On
Backoff Threshold setting - 1024
Binary exponential CW backoff - Enable
BSS HT frame aggregation enable - Enable
CW Maximum AIFS value - 255
CW Minimum AIFS value - 1
Dynamic MIMO power save - disable
Force Tx with high priority - Default
Network Address - Not Present
no-ACK Tx policy - default
Receive Buffers - 1
Scan Valid interval - 20
Transmit Buffers - 1
Transmit Rate Set - Rate Control
Virtual Collision handling policy - Default

( Thanks to DenniZ ).

If it doesnt work again, something is definitely wrong


Ive had a lot of stability problems but i managed to fix everything with the current settings. The Killer software most of the time causes lag spikes and freezes ( common problem ). Feel free to play with it. If you manage to connect with the software ON, check how it is ingame and if you get spikes and stuff, do all the fixes ive given you.

I hope this helps

 

Thanks alot for the detailed instructions man.
Unfortunately it still failed to identify and remains "Connected, Unidentified, No Internet Access" :[

I did some more searching and found this thread:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/4...ng-killer-wireless-comcast-modem-router-combo
The last comment is the OP stating that the card is not compatible with this 2-in-1 modem/router. Does anyone else have a comcast 2-in-1 and have it connected?
If it is indeed not compatible, does anyone have an active link to other cards that are compatible with the m18xR2 for me to switch it out like he did? I notice the 2230 as a configuration option through alienware so I assume this will work in the system? http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Centrin...0BNHMW/dp/B009DAFJRM/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

would be easier to just get a new router. those 2 in 1 usually have pretty basic features. maybe look into the intel 6300. it is a great card for the price.

 

Would say I would buy a new router for the money, change the old one into a bridge is probably possible or internet only. Probably boost the range/speed when getting a new one too

Are your DNS servers and IP address assigned properly ? or is it auto assigned?

 

Thanks for the replies guys, do you have a suggestion on which modem and router to buy that will be compatible with both my Comcast service and my killer-n Wi-Fi card?
Also when it comes to PC's I'm very knowledgeable with the systems but I don't know right from left when it comes to intranet connections so I have no idea what you mean by Bridge It, and the DNS + IP should be auto assigned since when connecting other devices to it they just connect instantly. Unless your talking about a setting on my computer, if so feel free to guide me through checking that lol

 

We already have a thread for Killer wireless issues. I will move this there. Please look in the main forum for threads on topics that are not specific to the M18x.