Dell Wireless 1500 and Draft-N - Page 5

What a pitty... I have another computer here that I was planning on upgrading to Wireless-N... I'm going to do it and try the adhoc setup just to confirm your findings... I'll get back to you tomorrow when I'm done with my analysis.

Thanks for the replies, btw

Keep me posted!

seems from the posts that the NETGEAR WNR834B is the best Pre N Router ! but is the best way to go on my XPS gen2 is get the NETGEAR WN511B adapter pcmia cand AND bypass my internal network card all together ?

and dont even bother with DELL pre n network card

I am a little Weary with pcmia cards becuase they get real hot and I already nuked a pcmia tv tuner card in that slot !


Please share any ideas here !

I'm pretty sure Dell needs to update the firmware/software for the Dell 1500 card, otherwise how can they claim these great speeds with the Netgear WNR834B router??

Ideas

the more I think of this and I cant count on dell at all
The pcmia card 511B seems to be the quick fire solution to dells indecision

Except it's not a solution. I can't put that card in either my M1210 or M1710 because they only have Expresscard 54 slots, not PCMCIA anymore. As far as I know, any computer using the Dell 1500 card CAN'T use PCMCIA. We're locked into using Dell's card, and it should perform better than 20mbit!

After reading all your reviews, I'm glad to have stuck with the 3945.I'll just wait until they get the N cards to work properly.

I have a Pcmia card slot in my XPS gen 2 laptop

I curently have Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2915ABG

can I still use the pcmia card ?

I have not upgraded to 1500 until the fix the problem

You can't use the 1500 card in your XPS Gen.2. You don't have the required slot.

You CAN use the PCMCIA card. These are the systems the 1500 works on.

XPS™ M1210, XPS™ M1710, XPS™ M2010, Inspiron™ E1405, Inspiron™ 640m, Inspiron™ E1505, Inspiron™ 6400, Inspiron™ E1705, Inspiron™ 9400.

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=171897

What about USB adapters? Are there any available? (I understand the pain of no PCMCIA, and a Express 54 slot with no available cards.)

There are no USB N adapters out, to my knowledge. Plus, no way in heck I'm having a dangling adapter on this system.

OK, I didn't get a chance to try an adhoc setup like I wanted... But I was able to return the Linksys router and pick up a Netgear Draft-N router (the one recommended by Dell). I've been having problems with these wireless-N routers with their wireless network going out from time to time. I had this problem with the Linksys and now I'm having the same problem with the Netgear. Only this time with the Netgear sometimes the router doesn't work when I plug in my computers via the wired ports. Really strange and VERY frustrating.

As for the speed... I was only able to download at around 2.5 Megabytes/Sec. Which is no faster than a wireless-G connection...

At this point I'm hoping I can return everything and just go back to my b/g setup but I'm going to play with things a little longer and perhaps try that adhoc network...

Not sure what to say about your disconnect issues. I've not had that at all with any of the N routers. You might want to use the Dell 1500 software to scan what channels other networks in your area are on, and use a different one from them.

I really wonder how best to complain to Dell about the utterly craptacular speeds though. I mean 2.5mbytes/second? What a croc!

OK... I called Netgear tech support to fix some of my problems and now my connection is optimized as best as it's probably gonna get. He had me set the router up at 130 Mhz instead of 270. After I made these changes my Primary (i9300) computer which is running a b/g chip is running smoothly. But more importantly my XPS M1210 is running at about 130Mbs. This may sound gimped but when I tried to copy something from my network file server I was hitting around 4.5 Mbytes/Sec. This is as fast as my wired connection. For some reason I can't get any faster then about 5 Mbyes/Sec transfer speed across my (10/100) network while wired.

Also, I tried an Adhoc network between 2 XPS M1210's with identical Wireless-N chips. My results were the same as you William, I couldn't get any faster than 11mbps. The resulting transfer speed was a pathetic .48 Mbytes/Sec. So.... In other words... Avoid Adhoc like the plague... Unless of course you have absolutely no other choice.

After figuring this all out I am definitely keeping my Wireless-N setup as it is about 1.5-2x faster than my Wireless-G setup. I'm able to do what I wanted to do which was stream dvd quality video from my file server to my wireless-n computer with no stuttering or delays... Although the performance isn't spectacular, it gets the job done and that's all I care for now...

I tried your suggestion, that is, switching to 130mbit mode, but it made absolutely no difference to my speeds. Now, if our routers are the same, and our systems are the same (which they are), I don't see how you're hitting 4.5mbytes a second. You say "around" that speed, but have you tested it?

Also, what channel are you running your router on?

I just got my draft-n card installed in my e1705. Works great near the router but the range is very, very poor. Any suggestions?

Also, how do you switch to the 130mbit mode?

thanks,

Log in to the router. There's an option in Wireless Settings where you can change it to 130mbit or 270mbit.

I generally don't post when I have found stuff but I got a lot of PM's about this card from people.

lets just say that if you check my forsale thread you might find a new item related to this thread

Just some quick questions....the Dell 1500 MINIcard is a wireless card you put inside your computer right? It's not external?
Im also wondering if it'll fit into a E1705?
And one more thing, did you guys with the N card notice any difference in range, were you able to go further away with your lappie without losing signal quality?

The answer is no to your question. The wireless-N card is pretty much a waste of time. I get 2.5 MB/s to my WIRED computer (which is connected directly to the N router), and the range is no better at all. The connection, at times, fluctuates between 54, 108, 155, 208, 270 mbit. At none of these speeds does the wireless connection ever get above perhaps 40mbit real throughput.