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July 24th, 2015 02:00
Problems with the Dell 1705 b/g/n WIFI Adapter and Comcast XB3 Gateway
If you have a Dell Inspiron 17 with the AMD A10 processor you like me might have the Dell 1705 wifi adapter. The adapter supports 802.11b/g/n protocols. Sounds OK and like you are covered with necessary capabilities. However, you might run into the problem I first encountered last year when I moved from my location in NJ to SC for the winter. In SC I have TWC dual band Arris Gateway modem.
When I tried using my laptop that I purchased last summer in NJ down in SC, I couldnt get speed tests to show accurate download speeds. Download test ran SLOW and speeds gradually went down to 1 or 2 Mbps speeds. Upload was OK. Gave it to Dell - replaced motherboard and adapter but finally had to reset pc to factory defaults, whatever that is. Speeds were now OK but I had to rebuild system.
Now I am back up in NJ for the summer and using the new Comcast DCP3941 dual band XB3 gateway. Immediately I returned to the same slow download speeds again! I spend almost a month trying every conceivable change to my setup and software. Wife's smaller Inspiron with the 1704 wireless adapter ran fine at near 50Mbps download speeds.
Bought new laptop again due to frustration and unfortunately I got almost the same laptop setup as I did a year ago. Not current technologies or new features, Also had 1705 adapter again. So of course I got the same problem with new pc - slow downloads in speed tests.
Resolution which I will report to Dell: Apparently there is a compatibility problem with the 1705 adapter and some cable modem voice gateways and the protocols specified on the 2,4gHz band/port. Protocols listed for 2.4 port were 802.11 g/n. As I understand it - 802.11 b protocol is rare so thats why it probably wasnt listed in the port for the Comcast XB3,
I had to login to the gateway and edit the 2,4 port and change protocols to b/g/n. After doing so - bang! - I got over 40Mbps download speeds as I should. All is well again.
Dont know why this scenario would occur. Driver for 1705 was 2 years old - release 270. No updates at Dell for driver. But discussions I read about Atheros vendor for 1705 showed newer drivers. As of this month I now see a new driver on Dell downloads for drivers for release 309 which I had heard about earlier. I will confirm this applies to my system and if so update the 1705 adapter.and see what happens and change gateway back to g/n.
So be aware of protocols your gateway cable modems support if you have the common 1705 adapter. You may see problems running speed tests and 1-2Mbps speeds. There is also a parm on the driver config for the 1705 adapter called Adhoc11n and it set to disable. I read about some folks changing it to enable. Will confirm if this should be enabled.
Returning new Dell to QVC.
DELL-Todd S
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July 27th, 2015 14:00
Hi,
Thank you for that information. I'll pass it along. I wouldn't have thought about changing the network protocols to list the b-band. The 802.11 B is one of the oldest wireless protocols, I think it maxed out at 11mbs. G would go up to 56, and N would go to 200 or more.
Please do let us know if that driver makes any difference, and the other settings, so that other customers who may be experiencing the same issues can easily find the fix.
Todd
jghiller
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July 28th, 2015 02:00
There is an update. Yesterday we had a brief power outage, All my equipment is on surge protectors so there was no risk of danger there. But what did happen after the Comcast modem came back up, I had to manually reboot the box again to regain internet fully. Didnt have time to determine why the second reboot was necessary. Maybe due to other nearby Comcast equipment being down and just waiting might have fixed things. But I immediately ran my speed tests and low and behold the problem returned where download spikes and then slows down during the test. The modem settings hadnt changed - still b/g/n. So all I could do was put them back to g/n as they were and then I was OK again. I am planning to get with Dell asap to make some sense of all this and confirm the new driver thats out there on Dell site.
DELL-Todd S
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July 28th, 2015 12:00
When you say "put them back" you mean change the settings on the router back to the original configuration prior to any of your troubleshooting? Just want to make sure I understand what you're doing,.and that your'e not changing settings on the Dell network card.
Not sure if you mentioned, but when is the last time you updated the firmware on that router?
Todd
jghiller
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July 29th, 2015 03:00
Correct - I logged into the XB3 and updated the 2,4 port protocol settings back to what they were originally - g/n and my speed tests again ran fine. Its a mystery to me. I havent touched the device manager properties at all for the adapter.
DELL-Todd S
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July 29th, 2015 10:00
Hi,
What about the firmware on that router? I tried a simple search for a download page for the XB3 router, and it's firmware, but there doesn't seem to be one. You may need to contact Comcast for information on updating that router, but that would be my next suggestion.
Also, how is the connectivity of that system on other networks? Have you tried it at like a coffee shop or something similar?
Todd
jghiller
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July 29th, 2015 15:00
Given the nightmare I have had in dealing with them about other issues for over a month, I wouldnt dare try and ask about that at this point.
DELL-Todd S
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July 30th, 2015 08:00
Hello,
You can go to this Comcast support page, and select the model number of your router to download the user's guide. There also appears to be a chat functionality that might be of more ease to use than their phone system.
Todd