Dell 1501 Wireless-N Card in the 1647/45

Hi everyone,

So I ordered my 1647, but the Dell rep claimed it was impossible to change the wireless card on my model (In Canada the 4 XPS 16 choices aren't fully customizable on the website). I didn't really think anything of it at the time but after browsing around it seems the 1501 Wireless-N card has had some bad reviews in the past.

Do any of you 1647/1645 owners have the 1501 card? If so, how is it?

Also, was my salesperson BSing me? I was late for work and didn't have time to speak to a supervisor, but in retrospect not being able to change the wireless card just sounds dumb.

 

I'm curious about this wireless card as well.

 

Mixed reviews on this one. Someone at work has the Dell XPS and says it works fine (and I trust him)

You ask a Dell sales rep; and if you have a choice of either the Intel WiFi 5300 or the Dell, they will recommend the Intel. On this forum, I have read some things advising that the Dell Wifi seems to have a few issues.

Me ... I am waiting for the i5 processor with the Intel WiFi but I may be waiting forever.

In regards to whether the sales rep was BSing you. In Australia, only the quad core configurations (1645's) have the option of upgrading the Intel Wifi 5300 (for around AU$30).

 

DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Specifications

DW1520 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card Specifications

Dell Wireless 1520/1501 are the latest Broadcom chipset WLAN mini-PCIe avail from Dell. The 1501 lacks support for the 802.11a band 5 GHz (4900–5850 MHz) though whereas 1520 will support 802.11a.




DELL Wireless 1520 (11agn) WLAN Half-Height mini-Card for Select Dell Inspiron Laptops / Inspiron / Latitude / Studio Laptops / Alienware / OptiPlex / Precision Mobile WorkStations : Networking | Dell

FWIW: Bought my Dell Wireless 1520 aftermarket from Dell link above...



Latest Broadcom 943xx Driver - LaptopVideo2Go Forums - Page 6

I haven't had any issues w/1520 since installing the latest unified Broadcom driver backwards compatible with Dell Wireless 15xx/14xx linked above...

 

The DW1501 is a bad choice. This card should have never been certified with N-standard. It lacks of the 5GHz band support for 802.11n networks and only supports 2.4GHz. It also just uses one antenna (Intel 5300/6300 use 3) and therefore will never be faster than 72Mbit.

The worst thing about this card is that the Dell documentation is incorrect. Many users try to get the 5GHz connectivity to work and fail of course.

The official Wifi certification reveals the actual capabilities of this card: http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA8883

 

this card has BAD range, it shows 3 bars when im downstairs. this card came with my new upgraded replacement XPS 1645 , im sick of it. i will swap it with the older intel card.

 

I have a Dell Studio that came with a DW1501. It appears to work correctly with the 2.4G band. However, I can't get it to work with the 5G band. I'm using a D-Line DIR 825 Extreme Wireless Router. The DW1501 is listed as an 802.11n card. However it will not use or see any 5G networks. I've attempted to contact Dell. They gave me a run-around and wanted me to purchase Enterprise Software support. That is very expensive.

Phooey!!!

Dell is Guilty of the following regarding the DW1501:
• False and Deceptive advertising indicating the DW 1501 is an 802.11n device when it does not meet the specifications.
• Failure to acknowledge DW1501 is not 802.11n compliant and not transmitting or receiving on the 5G bandwidth.
• Failure to honor the warranty for replacement hardware not meeting specs.


I feel Dell should compensate the buyers of Laptop pc's who included the 1501 as an 802.11n network card. They should have a program to Replace the card at Dell's expense with a card that is capable of meeting the full 802.11n spec.

Dell support is terrible with this issue:
1. I have repeatedly update the drivers unnecessarily
2. Repeated calls the Dell help desk with no solution.
3. Having Dell Help Desk calls forwarded to different Dell support organizations that cannot solve the problem
4. Having Dell Help Desk calls forwarded to a Dell software support and being told to purchase additional software support.
5. Researching Dell's own pages and finding others with the same issue and no solution.


Researching non Dell web and finding many others DW1501 owners with the same issue and no resolution.

Dell is clearly evading this issue.

I'm really --- off and not sure what options I have.

I guess I can replace the card and possible the antenna. Does anyone know of a good replacement?

 

I had the same exact issue when I bought a new router that supported the 5 ghz band and my Dell 5010 did not recognize the channel but my 4 year old dell did. I knew immediately that the card was a lie. I called dell immediately and demanded that they send me out a card that had the capapilities that they said this stupid DW1501 card was supposed to do. Needless to say they tried every excuse in the book, saying that my computer was not compatible with other wireless cards and tried to even say that it was my fault because I did not customize my computer with the write wireless card. Once I mentioned that it was actually THEIR fault by stating that this card was able to work on the 5ghz band and that they false advertised this card! They then began to say that they will send me out a new computer which I thought would be fine, however I told them that I was not going to pay a single cent more than I did for the one I originally had and that I refused to downgrade any aspect of the computer. Apparently he didnt understand what I meant by not paying a single cent more because he found a replacement and said it would cost me 300 dollars more. I demanded to talk to the manager and after telling the manager that I demanded a new card or a computer with all of my system perks without paying or else I was going to report them for false advertisement to the Better Business Bureau and contact my lawyer (ya right lol). I even tolod him I have the exact website and documentation where Dell says the DW1501 has 2.4 and 5 ghz functions. Suddenly the manager had a wireless card that was compatible with my Dell 5010 and he sent out a new Intel Centrion Ultimate N 6300 which is an amazing wireless card with awesome functions and specks (beware: watch your technician when he comes out, mine was a piece of work by gouging out my keyboard leaving gouge dents and scrapes around the edges! That is a whole nother story of complaints and re-replacing parts). So if anyone is out there with their still horrible, false advertised DW1505 card, call up dell and demand they send you out a new wireless card with the 5ghz capabilities or start making threats to them. Do not believe a word they say! They DO have a card to replace for you and it is THEIR responsibility to give you a new one!