Low Wifi signal

Hi,

Please follow the below steps to resolve this issue:-

• Make sure the distance between the system and the router is not more than 30 feet.
• Change the wireless channel and change ‘Roaming aggressiveness’ to ‘Highest’. Following are the steps:-

1.  Click on ‘Start’ and right click on ‘My Computer’ and click on ‘Manage’.
2.  Click on ‘Device Manager’.
3. Click the + sign to expand the ‘Network Adapters’ entry.
4. Right-click the wireless adapter and click ‘Properties’.
5. Click the Advanced tab to configure the advanced settings.
6. Click “Roaming aggressiveness and change is to “Highest”.
7. Also, click on “Wireless Channel” and change the channel to ‘11’.

Note: Please change the wireless channel on the router as ‘11’ after changing in the wireless card properties.

If these steps do not fix the issue, please follow the next set of steps:-

•  Uninstall and re install wireless drivers:-

1. Click on ‘Start’ and right click on ‘My Computer’ and click on ‘Manage’.
2. Click on ‘Device Manager’.
3. Click the + sign to expand the ‘Network Adapters’ entry.
4.  Right click the wireless adapter and click “Uninstall”.
5. Check to delete the driver software.
6. Restart your system and click on the below link to re install the wireless driver:

             http://tinyurl.com/9ylg6pr

• Update the system BIOS. Please click on the below link to update the BIOS:-

            http://tinyurl.com/9jlcm2k

Note: Disconnect all the external devices before updating the BIOS. Please save any unsaved data as your system will restart automatically after the BIOS update.

•  Run the PC checkup diagnostics on the wireless card:-

1.  Click on 'Start' and type in the search box "Dell support Center".
2. Click on "Dell Support Center" in the search list.
3. If in case Dell support Center is not installed on your system, browse to www.dell.com/dellsupportcenter and select your region. Click "Download Now”. Follow the on screen prompts and instructions to continue to download and install.
4.  Click on ‘Custom Test’.
5. Under ‘Communication Devices’ and run test on ‘Wireless Card’.

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Hi I have no option for roaming agressiveness. It says its a Dell 1506 802.11b adaptor. In advanced I have options for network address, receive buffers etc. I notice the signal strength varies a lot on all the wifi signals in range-surely they should be consistent? i am only 3 meters from my router and signal strength varies between good and fair. On my laptop its always excellent.

Sometimes I click on diagnose, and Windows says its fixed a problem by resetting the wireless card.

The communications test finds no problem.

I have reinstalled the wireless drivers and bios is up to date.

Hi jss44,

You will be able to update Windows 8 compatible drivers on the windows 7 system too. Please flash the BIOS first and then install the 1506 wireless card driver from the link given below for issue resolution.

Dell Inspiron 660s BIOS                                     : http://dell.to/ZxtEMK

Dell 1506 wireless card driver                           : http://dell.to/SXZqgP

Also, I’d advise you to remove and reseat the wireless card on your system by referring to page no. 29 and 31 from link given below.

http://bit.ly/ZAJrdN

Please let me know if this helps.

Hello, I removed and reseated the minicard - no difference.  The BIOS download says its the same as existing BIOS. I cant install the 1506 download above - it says its not compatible with my operating system.

I think reseating the wireless card may have had an effect, as I now sometimes get an signal strength of excellent.

However it is not consistent and can go from excellent to low quickly. If the pc is a few metres from the router I cant use logmein to connect as the connection keeps dropping.

Do I have a faulty wireless card? please advise