Very Strange Wireless Issue

[DanielConn]

Hello All,

My laptop of late has been acting very strangely. Also, forgive my inexperience, reading through some of your posts seems to demand a level of familiarity with computer systems I am nowhere near.

I own a Dell Latitude e6410 professional. Everything was fine until recently. At both my home network, and my college network, the internet connection starts out fine, and then within 5-10 minutes disconnects. The wireless signal always displays at full strength, yet it will say "limited access" above it.

This never fails. I have tried all the basic fixes, so unless I have made some glaring mistake, please trust that I have:

-downloaded the latest drivers
- reset my home router/modem
- disabled/enabled the adaptor
-performed a system restore
-performed a virus scan



Now, here is where it gets interesting. At my wit's end, I purchased a Netgear wireless USB adaptor. The thing worked like a charm for a few hours. Now, it completely fails to connect at all. Even when disabling/reenabling and upon reinstall. That signal also shows full strength in the network connections window.

HELP!

Thank you

-Dan

 

[RealBeast]

Disconnect the Netgear USB adapter and fix the built in one first.

I would go into the network control panel, manage wireless networks, and delete the two networks that are a problem. Then at home restart your computer, allow it to find the wireless signals, enter the passkey, check the auto connect box and allow it to connect.

Insure that your power settings for the wireless adapter are set to maximum performance, so that it will never disconnect to save power.

Report back on how this works, as there are other steps if this doesn't fix it.

 

[DanielConn]

Hello Beast, and thank you so much for your quick reply. I am currently home and the network is unsecured. I had previously unchecked the box that would normally disconnect to save power, and nothing.

Also, on what may be an unrelated note, when I would run the diagnostic tool on the wireless network, the laptop would freeze. This has since stopped, but also did the same thing when I disabled it earlier.

-Dan

 

[Tom Tancredi]

I would suggest that with your lack of experiance you might be best to let a trained IT person look at it (mom and pop IT shop?) would be the easiest solution atm.

You have two different networks and your experiancing the system even with introducing new hardware. This suggests a few things, first is your power settings are probably set to 'disable to save power'. Click on the Wireless icon in the tray and select Open Network and Sharing > click on your connection right side middle > select Properties > Configure > Power Management and uncheck any reduce / turn off options.

Second could be a Malware, download and run Malwarebytes and do a full scan.

 

[DanielConn]

Tom,

Thank you for responding.

I may indeed have to bring it somewhere for repair. I wonder how cost effective that is considering how cheaply laptops can be had brand new? I recall a diagnostic fee running me somewhere in the range of $80 for a previous laptop.

Anyway, I have tried both suggestions and am still in the same boat. Thank you for helping though!

-Dan

 

[RealBeast]

How about a little more information. Open an elevated command prompt window (right click run as admin), then type: ipconfig /all>c:\ipconfig.txt and hit enter. The test file will be in the root C drive -- copy the contents of the text file called ipconfig and paste here.

How long has your network been unsecured, always or just for troubleshooting?

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Hey Dan,

Yeah your at a price point difference that is a 6 of one half solution. Basically a similair laptop is around $349 (i5 at Walmart) to around $500 or more, but if your 'just look at it' starts at least $100 and can easily be $300 or more to 'fix it' depending on what they find, yeah you sort of got to weight that out for yourself.

That said, being 'over your head' technically, the simpliest alternative at this point would be to either the IT tech to deal with it OR you can get a external drive, run Windows Easy Transfer and backup your data (nor programs) then get the Windows and Drivers DVDs set next to you and download / run DBAN to completely wipe the drive clean. Do a fresh reload of Windows and drivers, then try and see if you keep having Wifi issue. If so then your probably having a issue inside the laptop (hardware).

Point to mind, is it under warranty? If so you should contact Dell, though they probably make you do that 'Factory Restore' step anyway to make sure it isn't Windows itself a problem.

 

[DanielConn]

Beast, I have pasted below the text file I found

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : HB-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Peer-Peer
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-A3-C4-3B-88-07
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 68-A3-C4-3B-88-07
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::31c3:a7bb:7da9:bdfb%16(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.11(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 18, 2013 4:47:09 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, December 19, 2013 4:50:04 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 241738692
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-17-5E-92-BE-5C-26-0A-41-65-C0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 5C-26-0A-41-65-C0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 1C-65-9D-F5-EF-EE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{D483C7FC-7F29-4525-8598-AD8EA668585F}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{D1A77DD2-0BC6-475A-890D-62D3FDEE1F86}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{1AD6F3AA-DC4C-4AE8-AC9E-CD97C1CA526D}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:6ab8:104b:3831:e743:a1b(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::104b:3831:e743:a1b%15(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{086ECC94-6691-4800-BE09-1BE6516948AD}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

My network has always been unsecured. I currently have three other laptops working just fine. My network on campus is secured. Thank you again for your assistance with this issue.

Tom, thank you for the idea. I would have simply formatted this thing, but I bought it secondhand and did not received the disk. Until now, it was running like a gem. Still does actually, aside from the connection issues.

 

[RealBeast]

Don't worry about not having a disk, it is Windows 7 Pro x64 machine IIRC (check that), but you can download a legitimate ISO image of the same version you run from DIGITAL RIVER, burn it to a DVD and do a repair or reinstall then re-activate with your key. The key should be on a sticker on the laptop, and Dell often puts them in the battery compartment.

I would first download all the drivers you need, and from the above you know that your wireless is the DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card.

Everything else looks okay and with your previous troubleshooting, I would do either a repair installation like THIS if you need to save documents and programs, or else just do a clean reinstall.

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Don't worry about not having a disk, it is Windows 7 Pro x64 machine IIRC (check that), but you can download a legitimate ISO image of the same version you run from DIGITAL RIVER, burn it to a DVD and do a repair or reinstall then re-activate with your key. The key should be on a sticker on the laptop, and Dell often puts them in the battery compartment.

I would first download all the drivers you need, and from the above you know that your wireless is the DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card.

Everything else looks okay and with your previous troubleshooting, I would do either a repair installation like THIS if you need to save documents and programs, or else just do a clean reinstall.

Or go to Dell.com click on support, and call them. Explain the laptop is second hand and you would like to purchase the OEM DVDs for it, which then you can provide them the serial number, P/S number, etc. since you will on the phone with them. That way when it reinstalls it does reinstall factory fresh, then to go through all those technical steps (just something to consider).

You might also want to check thier support website FOR that model and see if there is any updates to the BIOS and other things, but as I said to begin with, this gets real technical at this point and may be over your head in many aspects.

 

[RealBeast]

Don't worry about not having a disk, it is Windows 7 Pro x64 machine IIRC (check that), but you can download a legitimate ISO image of the same version you run from DIGITAL RIVER, burn it to a DVD and do a repair or reinstall then re-activate with your key. The key should be on a sticker on the laptop, and Dell often puts them in the battery compartment.

I would first download all the drivers you need, and from the above you know that your wireless is the DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card.

Everything else looks okay and with your previous troubleshooting, I would do either a repair installation like THIS if you need to save documents and programs, or else just do a clean reinstall.

Or go to Dell.com click on support, and call them. Explain the laptop is second hand and you would like to purchase the OEM DVDs for it, which then you can provide them the serial number, P/S number, etc. since you will on the phone with them. That way when it reinstalls it does reinstall factory fresh, then to go through all those technical steps (just something to consider).

You might also want to check thier support website FOR that model and see if there is any updates to the BIOS and other things, but as I said to begin with, this gets real technical at this point and may be over your head in many aspects.

I don't see the advantage of buying disks that you can get for free. I've used these images to repair over a hundred OEM Windows 7 machines and never had one that would not activate with the original key, although about 10% require phone activation that is not a problem.

All other drivers are easily obtained on the Dell support web site.

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Yes for yourself an me it seems simple to follow those steps and 'easily obtained on the Dell support website', but as well if the OP isn't as skilled or can understand what a RAM is compared to a CPU, then realistically your solution would be more.. impactive to his experiance and complexity, then my alternative suggestion. All depends on what is 'more convenient' for the OP, one way is his own effort the other he relies for a small fee on being just 'served' the solution.

Please don't think I was saying yours doesn't work or isn't correct, but I am noticing quite a few people on TH posting that really haven't a clue as I suggest, and would rather have a quick solution that is not technical in any way.