9 Replies Latest reply: Jan 7, 2012 11:14 AM by HippoMark RSS

    Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?

    WryYen
    WryYen Jul 13, 2011 11:41 AM

      Hey,

       

      I've recently bought a Dell Inspiron 15R with a Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 network adapter installed and for the first few days i've been experiencing difficulties reciving my home wifi.

       

      It will work just fine within a meter or two of the modem reciving 'five bar' reception.

      At 4-5 meters it used to fluctuate between a 'one bar' and a 'five bar' connection even though i would sit in the one location without moving. To somewhat stablise this I amped up the card's performance to maximum through power plan settings while running off the battery.. why such exadurated fluctiation happens in the first place is beyond me.

      However whenever i step out of the 5 meter radius my connection drops alltogether.

       

      Is this normal for this particular network adapter? I'd like to think it had a little more range in it than 5 meters, because at that range i'm still pretty well tethered to the router and might aswell use a network cable. Is it possible i got a bad chip? or maybe the internal antenna is broken?

       

      I know this is not the fault of my network because we have 2 much older laptops, one with a network adapter manufactured back in 2006, which will recive a decent 'four bar' signal beyond the 5 meter mark.

       

      I'm currently borrowing a high gain usb antenna which has me reciving three bars at 15 meters which is very acceptable. However it renders the adapter useless and i do not like to carry around a usb antenna just to connect to the internet.

       

      Any help is greatly appriciated,

       

      Thanks in advance,

      Ryan

        • 1. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
          WryYen
          WryYen Jul 23, 2011 11:36 PM (in response to WryYen)

          For those of you experiencning the same problem,

           

          I contacted Dell and told them of this problem, after diagnosing the problem over the phone they were very understanding and offered a replacement system as the unit in question was so new. I have since recived the new unit and am glad to say it works a treat, I get 4 bars signal strength minimum, at a distance of 15 meters (with roughly 3 single brick walls inbetween, the same place i was only getting 3 bars with the high gain antenna). This does not mean my network adapter was faulty, it could have been a number of hardware issues.

           

          My advice to you is to have your computer checked out as the network adapter (when installed correctly) is actually quite decent.

           

          Hope this helps atleast one other person.

          Cheers,

          Ryan

          • 2. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
            Indula Jul 25, 2011 12:56 AM (in response to WryYen)

            i too bought a dell xps 17 couple of weeks back but verymuch dissapointed about connecting it to my home wifi connection. sometimes it gets connected but most of the time it does not show any any signal, where as my HP mini gets connected easily whithin the same distance(actually same place). it gets connected near the router. i complained this to dell hardware chat and he did reinstall via shared screen user. bt for that moment it worked due to thae fact that the lap was near the router. bt again when i take it to my room, the same problem occours. please help me with this

            • 3. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
              Hakan Jul 25, 2011 5:04 AM (in response to WryYen)

              I have a Dell Vostro 3350 with same problem.

               

              But I am not living in US so I think I do not have any option for a replacement.

               

              So I need a solution, is there any suggestion ?

              • 4. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
                WryYen
                WryYen Jul 25, 2011 6:10 AM (in response to Indula )

                It sounds like you have the same problem i had.

                There is something defective within the hardware of your laptop, i did everything imaginable to try to fix this problem without opening it up (Reinstall drivers, Uninstall, Router settings, Power settings, diagnostics... ect) and nothing changed. I even went to a relatives house to try it on their network and it was exactly the same.

                 

                I reccomend ringing Dell again. I rang a total of about 5 times to finaly get something out of them. Tell them that you have already rung them and went through troubleshooting with them and your computer is still not performing to an acceptable standard. They will probably ask you to do more troubleshooting, do as they ask and record their name and what you have done with them just incase they ask you to ring other numbers and have to explain to other people.

                 

                At the very least they will tell you take your laptop into a service center for a repair as it should be under warranty.

                 

                Ryan.

                • 5. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
                  WryYen
                  WryYen Jul 25, 2011 6:18 AM (in response to Hakan )

                  Hi Hakan,

                   

                  Refer to my comment above. I live in Perth, Western Australia and they still replaced my laptop (Perth being one of the most isolated capital cities in the world). They should deliver the replacement to you. But incase for some reason they can't deliver or will not supply you with a replacement then they should offer you the option to have it serviced at one of their service centers at no charge (assuming it is still under warranty).

                   

                  Cheers,

                  Ryan

                  • 6. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
                    Hakan Jul 25, 2011 9:47 AM (in response to WryYen)

                    Hi Ryan,

                     

                    Thank you for all suggestions.

                     

                    I purchased the Vostro 3350 from US but I am living in another country. But I will try to get help from support from dell.us.

                     

                    I hope to solve this problem like yours.

                    • 7. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
                      rhoeldoping
                      rhoeldoping Sep 14, 2011 9:24 PM (in response to Hakan )

                      Hi All!

                       

                      I'm using HP dv6 Pavilion laptop and had the same problems on my Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 adapter. After trying many times to fix the problem, i think I've got the almost final fix.. Wireless-N connection sucks bigtime especially if bluetooth is on also. It connects and disconnects all the time. I even tried turning bluetooth off, no change at all. Since Wireless-N connection only allows my lappy to connect to a max of 65Mbps and using Wireless-G has up to max of 54Mbps, I totally ignore Wireless-N and sticked to G... What I did is I "disabled" 802.11n in the wireless adapter properties and my wifi now works fine. Hope this helps you all.

                      • 9. Re: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030 poor wifi reception?
                        HippoMark
                        HippoMark Jan 7, 2012 11:14 AM (in response to WryYen)

                        I had the same problem as the original post.  The wireless would connect when it was real close to the router, but I had lots of connection issues when it was further away.  After doing some research, I finally found the root cause.  I followed the user guide instructions to remove the keyboard from the laptop.  The centrino wirless card was right there.  There were two wires connecting into it.  I believe these are from two antennas.  One of them was not connected.  I simply reconnected it (it was fairly obvious).  I put the keyboard back on.  Whamo!  The wireless now works beautifully.  I don't recommend you open up your laptop unless you know what you are doing.  You may not want to do that, but at least you know a possible cause.  This may not be your problem, but it certainly was mine.

                         

                        Mark

                        Hippo Solutions

                        www.hipposolutions.com