Intel 5300 Won't Connect To N!

Hey everyone,

I just received my Dell Studio 1555 Laptop today and am having an issue with the wireless card. I have tried every setting, but it will NOT connect to any type of wireless-N connection. I have a Linksys WRT600N Dualband Wireless-N Router, fully upgraded to the latest firmware. I have tried everything from WEP, to WPA, to WPA2 and even no security. It will NOT connect to N! I can connect to A, B & G perfectly fine. I have tried connecting to N on both the 2.4 ghz band as well as the 5 ghz band. No luck.


I just got off live chat with a Dell representative and they said that I'd have to pay to speak with "Dell on call" to have this issue resolved. Thats BS! I just got this laptop today, and even paid for a 3 year warranty.



I have not been able to connect to wireless N at all in both Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 (which I'm currently running). I have tried both the drivers from dell.com AND intel.com. I'm out of ideas. When I diagnose the connection, Windows says it doesn't see a problem.

I've been searching google and found a few people with near identical issues. I can't, for the life of me, imagine what's wrong. I'm out of ideas.




If you need any additional information or screenshots, please let me know.


Thanks in advance for any and all help!

 

same problem here with a Lenovo T61p and Intel Wireless N card. It even reports the network is 802.11n, but it connects at 54 Mbit/s. I guess it's not a big deal because in the real world, N isn't even all that much faster, I believe fast ethernet is still faster.

It might be that our routers are crap anyway. I have the low end Belkin N router.

 

Hmm, thing is I can't even connect to N at all. The Linksys WRT600n is a pretty high end router, or so I thought? This is getting ridiculous!

 

You can't connect to N at all? So your computer reports the network as 802.11g?

Honestly wifi has always been pathetically slow compared to ethernet. If you're doing anything that needs the extra bandwidth, then I'd recommend connecting to ethernet, even if it's only 100 Mb ethernet, which is still faster than 802.11n in the real world I think.

Since you've tried all the latest drivers and firmware and such, I think there's nothing else you can do.

 

It shows the network in the list - as soon I click connect it says "Windows was unable to connect to the network" I click Diagnose problems and it says "Windows did not find any issues". It won't connect to anything thats just Wireless N...

I've probably posted 4-5 threads around the internet so far, done hours of research and just sent an email to Intel. Dell support is useless. I'm wondering if anyone on here that has an Intel 5300 able to connect to N at all?

 

What wifi card do you have in your laptop? There are at least two threads in this board that have WRT600N configurations in them, written by CyberVisions. Have you reviewed them?

 

Intel 5300. I just read some of his instructions, still no luck. I noticed that he says when the N setting is enabled, it actively disabled all other modes (A/B/G). Mine is set to enabled on N, but A/B/G still work. I'm guessing the card itself must be defective, because it isn't enabling even though it says it is enabled...

 

From what I've read on the Linksys and other forums, the Intel 5100 and 5300 have a difficult time connecting to the WRT600N. A few posts accuse the Intel 5100/5300 as being "N" in name only. This certainly looks like an Intel problem - hopefully you'll get a response from Intel on their card.

Something to check - refer to the Studio 1555 service manual (Google for studio 1555 service manual) and take a look at your wifi card. There should be three antennas connected. Also, are you using the Intel ProSet software or are you letting Windows manage the wifi connection?

 

I'm trying it through Windows. I have the proset software installed, but I don't see where to connect to a network from it.

I'm looking at the service manual now ( Link), I'll check on the antennas.

Thanks for the information.

 

Looks like everything is connected fine, took a picture:



I wonder if Dell would send me a replacement and I could just install it myself...

 

You won't have any control over the wireless networks if Windows is managing everything. Look here for instructions on how to enable the ProSet utility:

http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-025725.htm

 

I can't seem to find that option anywhere. I'm running Windows 7, tried doing some searching on google as well.


I'm trying to follow this article on Intel's website and it's not in the taskbar, nor in the start menu. It's like it isn't installing the connection utility. I went to the intel prost folder under program files, and couldn't find a launch file for it either. I've uninstalled and re-installed 3 times now. Any ideas? Thanks again for all your help/suggestions.

 

I also couldn't find much on the 'net regarding Windows 7 and the PROSet utility. AFAIK, after doing further research, the WZC doesn't exist in Windows 7. It seems like Windows 7 uses the native wifi API instead of some Microsoft interface, which means that there is no real use for the PROSet utility anymore. I guess we'll find out when Intel gets around to releasing Windows 7 drivers and software for their wifi cards.

Is there any possibility of you taking your laptop to a friend's house to see if you can get N working there? That will determine if the issue is with your router or your card.

 

I wish I could. Unfortunately, none of the people I know have any routers capable of N. Pretty much my only option is to buy a new router.

 

I was thinking the same. Buy a new routher, test it out, and return it. Hopefully theres no rostocking fee

 

I was in the same situation, and after a lot of head scratching I found that I had restricted the router acces by MAC addresses! Make sure you have no router side restrictions like MAC filtering or IP address restrictions

 

I wouldn't be able to connect at all then. I can connect with A/B/G perfectly fine. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

 

I dunno if it has been stated in the past but I found that you need to have WPA with AES security.

Only when I enabled the AES could I get my N working. I have an Asus G50VT-X5 with an Intel WiFi Link 5100.

 

Hey buddies
I've placed order for belkin n+ wireless adsl modem router, keeping this in mind i'm planning to upgrade my intel 3945 abg card (of my vostro 1500) to intel 5300. is it really worth. right now i dont have any issues with wireless connectivity using g wifi, just want to upgrade feeling n wil give me a better range. will intel 5300 b compatible with belkin n+. please comment..

 

Don't know if this has been resolved here yet on the original post. I was able to fix the same issue with the Intel 5100 and a Linksys WRT310N router. The solution was found in the IntelPROSet Software user guide. After I did the following I am connecting at 108-270 Mbps!

"To achieve transfer rates greater than 54 Mbps on 802.11n connections, WPA2-AES security must be selected. No security (None) can be selected to enable network setup and troubleshooting."


Settings on both the router and ProSet Software or in my case ThinkVantage connections software must be forced to AES only.

 

Correct, but also AES-TKIP does work (WPA2), then Intel uses WMM and make sure to disable packet or framebursting on your router. Also try different fixed channels, cannot speak for the linksys, I have an Asus and the center channel I need is 6 (for channel 8).

When looking for available wireless networks it should broadcast for a N security enabled network.

There are more interesting documents to read on the Intel site: http://www.intel.com/support/wireless/wlan/sb/cs-015402.htm

 

You not using windows 7 are you ? If so intel have not released drivers yet

 

vista drivers are compatible with windows 7 for the most part

 

I have solved this problem. Your router must have QoS enabled to receive above 54. As soon as this is done your speeds will go up. Under wifi N protocol, if QoS is not enabled the downstream is maxed at 54. Look in your routers settings for QoS.

Try this and let us know.

 

I have the same laptop as you with the same 5300 card that you have but have a linksys WRT160N router. I initally had problems connecting at N speeds but have found a solution. I refer you to message 8 on the following linksys forum which I posted today:

http://forums.linksysbycisco.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=Wireless_Routers&thread.id=148374

Though I dont have dual band- the principles should be roughly the same. You should have wide band selected @ 40MHZ and your router needs to be placed in an adequate open area ie not in a small room close to external walls.

 

I have now managed to increase my N speed significantly on the 5300 card by doing the following in vista:

Go to Network and Sharing Center, click on manage network connections, right click on 'wireless network connection' (in the unspecified section), click properties and then continue, click configure, click on the advanced tab, click on 802.11n channel width for band 2.4 - in the value section select auto, do the same for 802.11n channel width for band 5.2. Click ok.

After doing this my connection went from a maximum of 130Mbps to over 200Mbps and consistently stayed at higher speed in different locations!