Series 5 wifi problem (with streaming video)

Hi all,
I was just given the general gift of a new Series 5 13.3" laptop - a pretty little machine, but one with seeming wireless issues. I am typing on it right now and basic internet function seems to work, but what doesn't work well (or usually) is streaming - both on Netflix and Amazon video. The quality is very grainy and it seems to work rather slow. I've attached a DVD player and the video quality was fine, which makes me think it is a wifi problem, not video.

Any thoughts on why this might be so? The network card is an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230. I'm wondering if there is an easy setting adjustment I can make?

Should I post this in a different forum? I'm thinking that because it is a Samsung someone else might have had the same problem (and hopefully solved it).

Thanks!

 

Intel WiFi is normally among the best. I presume that the driver is up-to-date. Do you get good performance from other computers in the same location? Interference from other WiFi on the same channel is one cause of problems. You can use inSSIDer to show what channels all the nearby WiFi uses.

John

 

Yes, the driver is up to date - at least according to device manager.

My home connection (TDS dsl, 5mb) sucks for all computers, but is particularly bad for this one. My wife's three year old HP works best, our other one-year old HP works poorly and frequently disconnects, and this new Samsung is the worst, although doesn't disconnect quite as much as the other newer computer.

I've also gotten terrible video streaming at other locations I've tried (like the coffee shop I'm sitting in), so I'm pretty sure the problem is with this computer. What I can't figure out is whether the network card is crap or whether it is just a setting issue. It seems that occasionally it comes through fine, but most of the time (about 90%) it is bad, which makes me think the card isn't trashed but there's some kind of interference or bad setting.

 

Might it be a problem with the card being a newer "Advanced N" type and the radio type being G? The site I'm currently at--and my home, I think--is 802.11g. I thought N cards work fine with G types, but maybe not?

EDIT: I don't think this is it as my home connection is 802.11n.

Might it be an issue with Silverlight?

 

I've never intentionally used Silverlight. Note that if it's a Flash video then you can right click on a playing video and change the hardware acceleration setting.

If your computer shows a poor WiFi signal even when you are near the router then it may be worthwhile taking the back off and checking that the antennae (two wires) are correctly connected.

There are two places where you can adjust the WiFi card settings: (i) in the Power Plan, go to advanced settings and change the wireless power saving option to maximum performance. Then, if tht gives no benefit (ii) In Device Manager right click on the Intel 6230, select properties then advanced. There's a lot of settings so it may be best to write down their current values before testing the effect of any changes. Then start changing the values and seeing if there is any improvement.

John

 

Hello all I have the Samsung series 5 and had the same WiFi issues.
This was disconnection and low signal resulting in frequent disconnections. This became most annoying as I use this for my day to day work.
After some research I became aware that the Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6235 has a unreliable driver from Samsung I therefor gained the driver from the Intel site directly and this resolved the issues and gave me a very good range with reliable signal.
Hope this helps the series 5 owners as I find it a wonderful machine.

 

FWIW, had to exchange mine (NP530U4C) the day after getting it due to WiFi issues. Most of the time it wouldn't connect to the network and when it did the connection was unreliable. Other laptops and tablets here had no issues.

Also, Windows would BSOD when attempting to diagnose connection issues. Bought it locally so was up and running with the replacement, which works fine, the same day of the exchange.

Dell laptops in particular seem to have had a lot of issues with Intel Centrino based WiFi earlier this year.