Wifi antennas broken?

hi guys!

After almost 7 services by the *always gentle* Dell techs, im getting a new problem, my WIFI reception is just crud, being right next to my router i get 4 bars... and if i get a little farther apart it will loose signal and oscillate between 3 bars and 1 bar, and sometimes even disconnect all of a sudden on places i always had good signal, and reconnecting will fail a couple of times before its successfully connects. ( ive tried this with several different routers, and the same happens )

is it possible that my WIFI antennas were damaged? or could it also be my wireless card? ( intel N 4950 )

i have already checked where the 3 antennas connect to the card and they seem ok.

what would you recommend?

 

try booting up a ubuntu live cd and see... you have more options to see how your wireless card is working(signal strength, other info, though you probably need to read up/research for it)

did you set the wifi settings to max power/performance (shouldn't be a problem still..)

 

kk Thanks for the advice mate! il try booting Ubuntu to see...

yeah already checked power management and its all at full, so this isn't it... the thing that bugs me most is that i can no longer do my work from the comfort of my bed, rather i have to be downstairs in the basement

 

They are fragile so its possible the wire is broken somewhere.

Double check the connectors are all the way in, they are quite tricky to get in.

 

If it is your antenna wires, it's luckily a pretty easy (and cheap) fix. All you have to do is remove the old antennae, put in the new ones and plug them in. Shouldn't cost more than a few bucks for two or three antennae.

 

ah thanks, just wanted to be sure i wasn't crazy yeah ive already tried unplugging and plugging them back in with no luck, i know, they are tricky little maggots aren't they?

oh really? i thought you had to disassemble the hole screen to replace them... good thing im still in warranty, and since the only ones opening my computer have been the dell techs, blame's on them, and im still in warranty ( will be until 2012 hehe )

im giving dell a call, thanks for the help!

 

for M1530 and M1330, the front bezel snaps off, exposing the wires for antenna...

all you need to do is to open the back cover for Wlan cards, disconnect the wires, remove the keyboard and media keys, then thread the wifi wire up the hole beneath the keyboard, throw away old wires, then put the new ones in place...

 

Have you tried connecting to a different router by chance? Worth a shot anyways.

 

Koer answered your question before you even asked it.

 

well im in "negotiations" with dell support ( these guys are just impossible, it really seems that they are always trying to prove me wrong )

but oh well, lets hope for the best, im also filing a complain for some damages the tech did to my computer, my poor back cover is all scratched up because he put it right against my desk.. ( metal scraps anyone? )

 

Oops! Missed that!

Good luck, I hope you get this fixed.

 

Keep up the good fight!

Yeah, I love how Dell tends to just assume we users are doing something wrong, end up wasting an hour doing remote software diagnostics, and eventually give up and say we're right anyway.

Godspeed!

That's why I always lay a towel down on whatever surface the tech is working on. They may know what they're doing to your computer's innards, much like auto mechanics with cars, but they lack a certain finesse in caring for the pretty parts, like the way auto mechanics will leave oil stains on your leather steering wheel.