A couple of M1330 issues

I have read the forum several times but finally decided to register.

I am coming from an Inspiron 6000 and an Inspiron 8100 before that.

I love my new M1330 but am having a couple of issues that I can't figure out and I thought I would see if any of y'all had any ideas.

1) the network connection is terrible when the laptop is not plugged in to the wall (no matter what the remaining battery life is). Some page won't load at all and other take forver to load. I can't find any power management settings that seem to correlate with this and am out of ideas.

2) my spacebar is terrible. Almost 50% of the time I try to use it it doesn't make a space. I have never had this issue on a laptop or desktop, so is it just me or are other M1330s like this.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

I assume (yes, I know) that you have Intel 4xxx (I think)(the older version at any rate) AGN card installed, thus are can you check your wireless device* settings via device manager and see if there are any conserve power on battery settings. The second issue may be a faulty part. Good luck

 

1) what card? i have the intel wireless-N card... no problemse whatsoever.... the dell wireless switch+WiFi catcher took a little bit of configuration, but worked out in the end(spent 6 years on desktops, not familiar with workings of laptops

2) no problems with mine.... call dell up for a keyboard exchange?

 

Thanks for the responses.

I checked the device settings and unchecked the box that allowed the computer to turn off the wirelss card to save power andit seems to beworking a little bit better, but that can't have solved the problem because if the card was ever powered off, I wouldn't get internet at all.

It takes no time for this site to load when I am plugged in and well over a minute when I am not (if it loads at all). Any other ideas?

 

Have you checked that transmit power is set to "highest" in the wireless card's advanced properties tab?

Also, check your selected Power Plan's settings. Right-click the power icon in your system tray and select "Power Options." Then, for whatever plan you have selected, click on "Change Plan Settings." When the new box pops up, select "Change Advanced Power Settings." Another box will open; go down and expand the "Wireless Adapter Settings," and then the "Power Saving Mode." Now you should see your adapter settings both when on battery and plugged in; they should both be set to "Maximum Performance."

 

Thanks, that seemed to have helped.

I also disbaled "minimum power consumption" in the advanced tab for the card, but I did not see a place to check transmit power. How do I get there?

 

Control Panel - Network and Internet - Network and Sharing Center - View Network Status and tasks. Click "View Status" next to your network's name in the screen that pops up and then a "Wireless Network Connection Status" window will open. Click on the "Properties" box with the shield next to it at the lower left of that window. Another window will open up with a "Networking" tab active. At the top of that tab it says "Connect using..." and a "Configure" button below the name of your wireless adapter. Click on the "Configure" button and another window opens up; go to the "Advanced" tab in that window, and you'll see "Transmit Power" in the menu that appears. Click on that and make sure it's set to "highest."

Whew!

 

Thanks for writing out the steps. That is actually where I got before but I don't see a "Transmit Power".

I see under the Advanced Tab:

Afterburner
Antenna Diversity
AP Compatability Mode
Bluetooth Collaboration
BSS Mode
Fragmentation Threshhold
IBSS 54g(tm) Protection Mode
IBSS Mode
Locally Administered MAC Address
Location
Minimum Power Consumption
PLCP Header
Priority & VLAN
Rate
Roam Tendency
Roaming Decision
RTS Threshold
Wake-Up Mode
WMM
WZC IBSS Channel Number
XPress (TM) Technology

Any ideas?

 

I don't see it either, but there are some interesting-sounding settings there. For example, notice that the minimum power consumption setting is probably the same setting that you accessed under power settings. What is "afterburner"? What about "xpress technology"?

 

not sure if you saw my post. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jeff