Lattitude D630 Intel 4965 wireless won't go N speed

Hey guys,

We ordered 5 new D630's with the Intel 4965AGN wireless adapters, some running OEM Vista Ultimate and some rebuilt with Vista Enterprise. The wireless works fine connecting and authenticating, but we cannot get speeds above 54mbps when connected to N routers and access points. We have installed the most current drivers - no joy. Interestingly enough, we have a couple of Vostro 1400's with the same Intel 4965AGN adapters running the same drivers and they connect at 130mbps to the same access points and routers. I combed through all of the advanced properties in the driver tab and they match between the D630's and the Vostro's.

Any ideas? Has anyone else experienced a problem getting a D630 with the 4965AGN adapter to go above G speeds?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

I assume when you say 'above G speed' you mean just want Windows is reporting?

I've got 2 D630 units w/ the Intel 4965AGN cards and they both connect to my DLink DIR-625 router at +/- 130Mbs depending on the location in my house. But, when I test out w/ QCheck between a wired PC and wireless D630, I get something in the 40Mbs range, so not really what Windows is reporting, just getting the typical performance of a wireless network, i.e. 1/3 of it's rated speed or so.

FWIW, I'm running Vista Business on both of mine.

Chris

 

Just referring to the speed that Windows is reporting. A Vostro 1400 with the Intel 4965 card and a D630 with the Intel 4965 card, sitting right next to each other, connected to a D-Link DIR-655 - the Vostro reports 130mbps and the D630 reports 54mbps. Same driver and configuration options, both running Vista Enterprise (though the Ultimate ones do the same thing).

 

Definitely odd. If you want, I can boot up and give you all my settings on the laptop. Not sure what difference there could possibly be that could be causing it, especially since you have other models that are working fine.

As I said, I have connected to the 615 and 625, both a bit older technology than your 655. I connect at various speeds depening on my location in the house. I've seen Windows report 140, 130, 117, 70. Just depends.

Chris

 

Is 130 mbs considered the acceptable speed for the N protocol??? I see other posts mentioning 300 mbs....

 

300 is the 'on paper' theoretical max of the latest N stuff when all the planets are in alignment and you have all the same gear (router chipset/oem matched w/ client card chipset/oem). When N is finally ratified, it's possible that that theoretical max will transcend brands, but the jury is still out.

Short answer is not only are you not gonna get 300, you aren't even going to get the 130/140 that Windows reports w/ mismatched N gear. Just like 'b' and 'g', you truly get around 1/3 of what you see reported. I connect at 130Mbps according to Windows, I test out at around 40Mbs.

The reason you don't see the 300Mbs is that that speeds requires some of the newer equipment and it requires that you use a laptop card that matches up w/ the router. You can also get Windows to report that if you are running something like the Intel 4965 coupled w/ a dual-band (2.4ghz/5ghz) N router...I believe that will connect higher b/c of the higher bandwidth capability of the 5Ghz spectrum, but someone can correct me there if I'm wrong.

Again, even if you connect at 300Mbs according to Windows, it's gonna test out at something around 100Mbs, give or take...which will be SWEET, wired speed while wireless.

Chris

 

Just out of interest open up your card bay and see if the wireless N adaptor has all three antennas attached or two.

 

Good point, if one of those is loose, or not connected at all, could be causing it to not make a solid enough connection to get more than 54Mbs. But, checking that in a D630 isn't super easy, you have to remove the hinge cover above the keyboard and then lift the keyboard...kinda pain, but worth checking.

Chris

 

That's a really good suggestion - I will do that today and update.

 

Checked the cables - everything is connected as it should be. Still seeing the speed difference...

 

I'm having the same problem with my XPS m1330. I just bought the Belkin Wireless N1 Mimo Modem router which is I configured to run in all modes (including N), but Windows can only seem to connect in G mode at 54mbps...

Any ideas how to solve this..?

 

Billybish - cheers for looking. Interested to see if you only get G speeds without all three antenna.

Synthesia - almost certainly you dont have the three antennas connected which may be your problem. If you dont have the LED screen you should see a third, grey wire thats not long enough but does reach the WWAN card. Apparently the WLAN card will run fine in the WWAN slot so if you dont have a WWAN card installed move your WLAN card there and try using three antennas. Be interested to see if it makes any difference.

 

i have dgl-4500 gaming router and dv9500t with intel 4965AGN/bluetooth chipset mine too says only 130mbps would love to try to get higher speedsany thoughts??
also there is another thread going about basically the same issue
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144023