Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card = SLOW?

Hello all,

Thank you for being such a great forum to come to with questions -- much appreciated. I'm happy with my new 1530, but for some reason my wireless is extremely slow. I have FIOS, so dedicated connection. My old Inspiron 8600 gets 5mbps constant download when sitting right next to my new 1530. When I try the 1530, it gets 500kb to 1mbps. VERY FRUSTRATING. Dell says it's a connection/internet provider issue, but then why are my other computers getting those speeds (and are 4 years older?).. Is the Dell brand wireless card that bad?

Am I using the wrong drivers? Is it Vista? Any ideas?

Anyone have a similar issue? Can I demand a new card (and will I have to send my comp back?)

Thanks!

 

This is what I've heard: the Dell wireless cards suck, go with the Intel card.

Yes, it's vista.

Sorry if I'm not much help, but that is just what I've heard-- my 1530 isn't here yet so I couldn't tell you if that is true or not.

 

I haven't heard bad things about the 1395 802.11g from Dell, however I have heard bad things about Dell's Wireless N card...
I have the 1395 wireless g card from Dell, and have no problems. Good range, and as far as I know, good speeds.

 

haha... i have the same problem. My wireless is EXTREMELY slow (i have 802.11). Its just frustrating. I wish i had purchased intel. I don't think you can just demand your computer an upgrade. Since it is integrated i believe they will need to have you send your computer back.

 

The card is not integrated. They will not upgrade it though. Your card is not defective. You probably dont have everything configured correct.

 

I have Verizon Fios as my ISP and my roommates Powerbook gets very slow WiFi. We had comcast before and it was a lot faster.
It might be that the wireless router Verizon uses is sub-par.

Have you tried to see how your wireless card performs at a WiFi hotspot? That would be a good way to determine if it's Fios or the 802.11g card.

:dunno:

 

Thanks everyone for your replies -- I was on the phone with FiOS and we tried some things. Plugged into the ethernet, I get the full 15mb/s down. 6 inches away in wireless mode, it's 5 mb/s (what I pay for). 20 feet away (as I type this), I get about 700kb/s - 1.2 mb/s.

My 4 year old inspiron 8600 in the same spot gets full speed.... so that means the router is fine, right?

Is this just the card? I've checked all the settings, changed the channels, etc and this is the best I can do from this location. If I start by the wireless and download, as I walk away the speed just falls...

Is the range just bad? The Dell guy in the tech support chat just closed on me...