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    Poor wireless signal strength on M17x

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by daz7781, Jul 23, 2009.

  1. daz7781

    daz7781 Notebook Consultant

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    Compared to my previous laptop i'm finding the wireless signal strength on my M17x quite poor. I've got my M17x in the same location that i kept my previous laptop and with the M17x i'm getting 2 sometimes 3 bars whereas on my previous laptop i would get 4 or 5 bars.

    Are other owners of the M17x finding their wireless signal strength quite poor on the laptop or is the signal strength ok?
     
    daz7781, Jul 23, 2009
    #1
  2. Quadzilla

    Quadzilla The eye is watching you

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    Mine has been great thus far.
     
    Quadzilla, Jul 23, 2009
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  3. clpdj

    clpdj Notebook Consultant

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    can some one tell me what is the brand os the Wifi card? is it a realtek, atheros , intel or other ????
     
    clpdj, Jul 23, 2009
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  4. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    braodcomm

    and what kind of router do you have broadcomm or atheros based?
     
    The_Moo™, Jul 23, 2009
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  5. clpdj

    clpdj Notebook Consultant

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    i have a poor THOMSON TG787g :( had much better before this brik)
     
    clpdj, Jul 23, 2009
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  6. alitunay

    alitunay Power Seller

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    I had a similar issue with my initial purhcase, but mine was worse. I was getting 2 bars when I was sitting right next to the wireless router. Alienware said, the had to replace the mother board, so I got a replacement.
     
    alitunay, Jul 23, 2009
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  7. airplaneman

    airplaneman Notebook Deity

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    Out of curiosity, how long did that take you?
     
    airplaneman, Jul 24, 2009
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  8. b0oMeR

    b0oMeR Notebook Consultant

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    Is it affecting speed?
    I notice on my second PC sometimes it would show 3 bars instead of usual 5 but on torrents and browsing and gaming the speed would be the same or maybe 3/4 pings higher.
     
    b0oMeR, Jul 24, 2009
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  9. Marvie100

    Marvie100 On a Mission

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    Its supposed to be this:
    Internal Intel WiFi Link 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N
    Same as the M17
     
    Marvie100, Jul 24, 2009
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  10. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    no its a Dell/broadcomm

    as far as ODM im unsure because Broadcomm is all that is listed in the id strings
     
    The_Moo™, Jul 24, 2009
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  11. kqmaverick

    kqmaverick Notebook Consultant

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    Just an FYI its the Broadcom BCM4322, im using the latest drivers put out by broadcom without issue, i just had to install manually when changing from the dell driver.
     
    kqmaverick, Jul 24, 2009
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  12. cookinwitdiesel

    cookinwitdiesel Retired Bencher

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    The wireless b/g (NOT n) card for the M17 is also a broadcom. Just a heads up.
     
    cookinwitdiesel, Jul 24, 2009
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  13. kilthro

    kilthro Floating in Space

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    Mine has been great so far.. I have had no issues with range...

    I did tweak the priority of Wireless vs Wired..
    Since I have wireless at home but prefer to do wired with gaming.. I had to go into Vista and set the network priority for wired higher than the wireless connection... By default Vista will connect through a wireless connection before using the physical network cable in the box when both are active..

    So now if the Ethernet cable is plugged in, wireless does not connect..
     
    kilthro, Jul 24, 2009
    #13