XPS 15 L521X WiFi Test Results

Yes, unfortunately

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LOL we should all get paid clearly we did a much better job then them... The wifi issues being missed is hugeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ... I wouldn't mind being a beta tester ...

 

I just tested my wifi speed using LAN Speed Test to read / write a 100 mb file to my desktop which is connected wired to my router (Asus Wireless N):

Same room 1 ft away from router:
55 Mbps Read / 45 Mbps Write

Next Room Through A Wall with all closed doors 20 ft:
13 Mbps Read / 36 Mbps Write

Looks like I'll be needing that dongle as a temp measure.

 

Guys,

Has anyone noticed wifi performance to drop even further if you have the laptop on your lap? By this i mean the pressure being applied to the are around the center and outwards underneath the laptop? It work better if I hold the laptop in the air (held by the sides) with not pressure on the bottom

This is really weired. Just went to speedtest.net and got the following:

on lap: 0.37MB download (shocking really)
held 6 inches above my lap: 1.15MB (still shocking but higher)

to compare I have my iphone handy at same location:

download: 27.44/2.8MB upload

things clearly wrong...can't even load web pages on most occassions never mind streaming any video.

I'm in the UK and playing catchup - anyone else UK based got anything done about it?

 

What does everyone think of the TAIMAG IH-160 chip that touches the antenna wires?

I really can't find that much info on it, however its for the wired LAN and its possible that it could be causing interference of some kind. I had good results testing it out, but then my internet crapped out.

At first I tried to wrap the cables in a foil wrapper, then followed by a black tape, but it was too thick. So then I just took that off and used the shrink tubing on the antenna already and moved it up so it doesn't touch the wires.

I want to run a lot more tests but so far I saw some improvement.

 

For spammers, it's really, really annoying. They'd love nothing better than to be able to sign up and immediately begin spamming members inboxes with spam.

Spammers ruin it for everyone....

 

Yes, that make sense to me.


BTW, coming back in topic, with the new Intel driver I noticed an improving in my Wi-Fi connection, even if only close to the access point (max 10 meters of distance) and with one wall or none in between.

If I go one floor down in my house my Wi-Fi is bad as it was before the new drivers.

And I tested it also in my University: it seems to work at its best there, but there was almost nobody connected but me, so obviously it worked good.

 

Hi Lorna,
I wonder if you can help? I purchased my Dell XPS 521X a few weeks ago, it has 8gb ram and 500gb SSD. I a, also having a problem with the wireless module on the unit and am getting no where with DELL can you please help me or let me know what i should be doing to 1) getting a new laptop or 2) getting a full refund?
This laptop cost me £1700 and i really don't expect things like this should be happening.
Please advise and thanks for your help in advance.
Regards,

John Melrose -

 

After waiting several months for the promised WiFi fix I'm getting angry now that we are still waiting! Dell has dropped off the map on this subject and have failed to live up to their promise!!! My WiFi has gotten worse with the last two BIOS patches (A11 & A12). Dell what's the status on a fix? Tired of the canned responses everyone has been getting lately on the the forums. I've held off opening a ticket as I don't want to spend hours re-installing drivers that aren't going to fix the problem and dealing with their techs but maybe if more of us open tickets and complain about this issue we may finally see results! Frustrated! 2K for this crap is not worth it!

 

Still no fix for wifi issue?

 

No


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if there is no fix why are people still buying this pc?
Was it a bad batch of wifi cards?

 

No, it's a design flaw

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Thanks, any tips on helping with the issue? I have the 14xps and again I love the design and everything about it. Would a more powerful wireless router help?

For me my wifi always says "limited" even when I try to connect through the hotspot on my phone. But all my other devices work just fine.

 

Sorry I can't help. I followed it for a few months, but I don't have this laptop. Check the owner lounge, they're discussing about every possible problem/solution in that thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=673630

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Just FYI, some users on the Dell Community forum are claiming that a new driver has fixed their issue, while yet still others say it doesn't (or that the driver is not compatible on their system, or that their system tells them the driver is older than current one installed). Here's the thread with the posts I'm talking about as of yesterday - Re: WIFI problems on Dell xps 15 L521X - Networking, Internet, Wireless Forum - Networking, Internet, Wireless - Dell Community

I for one am not going to believe it until I see a mass number of owners confirming that it works, because I've been following this issue since July 2012 and I've seen at least a dozen or more "false fixes" and some... shall we say "questionable" claims of a miraculous fix.

I hate to be so cynical, but there have just been way too many false representations from Dell on the issue and given that it's been over 7 months since we were directly told from Dell "our engineers are aware of this and a fix is coming in about 2 to 3 weeks", I'm not going to believe anything until I see a LOT of users jumping for joy confirming a true fix.

I myself returned two of these XPS 15 systems last year over the WiFi problems and I'm still following these threads because I loved the system (apart from the WiFi problem) and wish to buy one someday when the REAL fix comes to light. Stopped holding my breath about 6 months ago though...

 

Fwiw: I find that it is more reliable to tear-down and rebuild than to just run the setup.

By that I mean

1. Copy all new drivers to dir on system

2. Uninstall all drivers to be replaced, and any interdependencies (users of Rapid Start take care)

3. Install all drivers one at a time, reboot when asked to

My install order goes like this (from memory)

1. Low level hardware - chipset, motion sensor, smart card reader, sata driver

2. Mid level hardware - intel video, intel WiDi support (if desired, not for me), intel rapid start support (if desired, not for me), nvidia video

3. Disable nvidia update service and user account

4. Networking - Ethernet, then wifi, then Bluetooth (if separate). If using intel wifi then maybe WiDi support. If using killer-n then remove the Startup shortcut for the utility from the All Users start menu subdir before rebooting

"Play ball"


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I've added this to the owners thread but I thought it may be of interest here too. As a bit of background I received my L521x last week from the Dell outlet and sure enough I'm getting the same WIFI issues as reported via the intel card. Dell sent out an engineer yesterday to install the Killer Wireless N 1202 card and upgrade the screen and the following is the result.

Well I've had the new Killer Wireless-N card and screen fix for a day now and I can honestly say that it hasn't made much of a difference. Still getting very poor internet throughput in certain areas of my house whilst other laptops, including an old XPS M1530 with an Intel 4965AGN adapter works perfectly OK. Strangely it seems download speed is more affected than upload.

There seems to be 2 areas in my house where it just can't cope, despite showing good signal quality. I'm wondering if there's something in the overall design of the L521x and materials used that it's making it more susceptible to interference or noise in the signal. Anyway as a last resort I've plugged in a wireless range extender and this seems to be doing the trick. I still have the option of returning it but for the price I paid (I got a bargain from the outlet) I think I'll make do.

 

Has anyone tried the new hinge assembly replacement? If so did this help?

Thanks

 

Supposedly problem solved on XPS L521X
I've wanted tp purchase this laptop for sometime now, but hesitated because of the WI-FI issue. I've also been keeping up with all the post about changing drivers, bios, even replacing the wirless with the new "Killer-N", and all to no avail. Well, I called the tech department yerterday & spoke to a senior tech who confirmed they have finally solved the problem. Okay, here's what I was told. It seems this whole issues was because of the back cover of the laptop, which was not Aluminum but some sort of a Magnisum which was interfering with the signal from the card to a router or any WI-F. Hmmm, I'm not a tech so I guess I can'y comment on true or false. Hopefully this guy wasn't handing me a line so I'd buy one. (which I did) Just got tired of waiting. Would love to hear any comments on this. ----Thanks.

 

I hate to be the "negative" one, but I have to respond to couple things (nothing personal Cristy607, so please don't take offense):

You know how many times Dell techs have told us that over the past year? Lots. (Yes, they started telling us in July 2012 they had a "fix" coming for it, and here we are knocking on July 2013).

That was actually among the early thoughts / theories of the source of the problem, and so several people (including users in this thread) actually took their cases off and ran the WiFi antennae right on their workbench / table sitting right out in the open, not covered by the magnesium lid at all, and still got the same poor WiFi connectivity.

Sorry, but Dell has been flat-out lying about the L521X for a year now, and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. Can you imagine what a recall of these units would cost Dell?? And that's EXACTLY what should have been done 8 months ago - and honest press release and a recall.

 

It has been a few months, has there been any updates?
Dell is now selling a 16GB RAM XPS15 L521X for $1299.

Most of the complaints I read about this system were from people who bought the 8GB laptop, does the problem occur in the 16GB machine as well?

 

jonilaserson: Memory configuration does not matter.

There have been no known changes to the system since they moved to the Core i7 3632 CPU and provided Windows 8 and UEFI support. There was no apparent bump to the chipset, physical design, or other factors. In my experience the best performing WLAN card is the Intel 7260 (I started with the 6235, tried a 6200, a dell 1510, had a Killer-N 1202 for a long time, and got the 7260 about two months ago).

The 7260 reports a link-rate from 400-700 Mbps with my Asus RT-AC66U router using 802.11ac, limited testing with 802.11g and 802.11n hubs have it working reliably better vs the Killer-N in my use - which is hardly exhaustive so please take this with a large "grain of salt." It does work reliably enough that I have not needed to use my USB WLAN dongle since I put the card in, which was a regular occurrence at Starbucks, Wegmans, and a couple other hot spots in town.

If the thermal management issues aren't a factor for you I'd get the unit, and order a 7260 at the same time and move on with life. If gaming/etc or other software use that is heavy on the GPU is a factor for you then I'd advise you shop around more.

I recently upgraded the WLAN card in my wife's XPS Studio 1645 with the same intel 7260 and did some limited network performance testing between the two machines, using iperf3.

I was reliably getting 400 Mbps transfers between the two machines, in either direction. This means that my WLAN was running reliably at about 800 Mbps bandwidth. I think that's about as good as I can expect out of a two-stream system, so I'm pretty happy (theoretical max would be 866 Mpbs).

If I get bored some rainy day I may try other-type testing (forcing the system to 802.11n and 802.11g, testing 5Ghz vs 2.4Ghz, etc. - but don't look for that any time soon.