Dell XPS 15 9550 Weak Bluetooth Signal Issues

Hi fellow XPS 15 owners,

I have just joined this forum in light of the bluetooth issues faced by my laptop. About a month ago, I started noticing that my Bluetooth speakers were suffering from static issues. At first I thought it was an issue with the peripheral so I tested the speakers with my iPhone and iPad. The speakers worked flawlessly. I even tested the speakers with my room mate's XPS 15 and it worked fine.

Seeing that this issue laid with the laptop, I called Dell Support and they replaced the Broadcom Bluetooth/WiFi chip but that did not solve the issue. Next they opted to replace my entire motherboard but the issue still persisted. Both replacements should be refurbished sets.

The problem in detail is that previously, I could bring my speakers out of the room, a good 10-15 steps away from my laptop. Now, I can't even place the speaker an arm's reach away. Another strange observation was that if I stood between the speaker and my laptop, the music would stop playing almost immediately.

As usual, I have the most updated drivers recommended by Dell Support .I would do a factory reset but I have exams around the corner. Looking for any recommendations or solutions if anyone has encountered this issue.

 

> replaced the Broadcom Bluetooth/WiFi chip

With another Broadcom, or with the Intel 8260?

Possibly antenna/connector issue?

You could also try turning off any related power-saving, in Advanced power options and in Device manager.

 

I tried connecting a few bluetooth speakers and just threw in the towel. Now I use a better sounding wired system that works

 

It is the same Broadcom chip. Should I try to request for an Intel 8260 from Dell Support? I've seen various posts in the pasts in this forum about upgrading the Broadcom with an Intel chip.

Is it okay if you elaborated about the antenna/connector? I assume the antenna/connector one of the 3 cables that connect to the Broadcom chip? My IT-savvy friend aka my room mate said that he thinks it's a reception issue and recommended me to get(wait) for a Bluetooth 5.0 chip.

 

You should certainly try Intel, if fiddling with Broadcom setting doesn't help, many have swapped to Intel for various issues. Drivers for the 8260 are available at Dell support site for the 9550. For the 9560, the 8265 seems to be optional, next gen with similar specs, not sure which BT version, likely works too but you need to take drivers from Intel, I'm using 8260 with drivers from Intel anyway. The Broadcom 1830 has theoretically faster wifi, 3x3 vs 2x2, but I doubt this works often in real life. The third gray antenna wire remains unconnected. Intel don't do 3x3, they have cards with 3 antenna wires but that's wigig for wireless docking.

Well, reception issues may be caused by bad antenna connection. Not much clue how to debug, maybe with another antenna

 

Did you start to use an external monitor about a month ago, and now use the laptop with closed lid? That would explain it...

In the same way - did you add connections with USB 3 that you did not have before? They can disturb BT.

 

I will forward this page to Dell Support, many thanks for your help Sem!

 

Nope, I have been using the laptop without any external monitors plugged in. I didn't add any connections too. What did happen though was that I had my entire display replaced with a new display because of a dead pixel so I am unsure if they may have replaced the working antenna with a faulty one or it got damaged during the replacement process.

 

Or they reconnected it the wrong way...

 

Hi All,

I've found a solution to this as follows: -

1) Go to "Device Manager"
2) "Network Adapters"
3) Double Click on "Dell Wireless 1830 802.11ac"
4) Select "Advanced" Tab
5) Search for "Bluetooth Collaboration" under Property:
6) Adjust Value: to "Enable"

Had initially disabled this to resolve the my Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Mouse stuttering issue.
After enabling it, Bluetooth Audio range is no longer weak and is functioning properly at long distances.

Kindly let me know if this helps.

Thank You.