Laptop WiFi Suddenly Slower

[rjbinney]

All week I've been in a hotel and cursing the internet connection. My Outlook would disconnect, pages were loading at dial-up speeds, etc.

Then last night, something dawned on me - I was staring at a blank screen while it took three or four minutes to load a Sales Force page... And I was watching HBO Go on my iPad over WiFi as well.

So the slow speed seemed to be limited to my laptop, not the network itself. I was also able to stream video on my phone pretty easily, using the hotel WiFi.

Today, I had my laptop at work and on Wi Fi for the first time this week, and it kept dropping my Outlook and took forever (OK, a few minutes) to get a boarding pass. I'd never noticed slow speeds before.

Later today, I'd tried logging on the the Free WiFi at the airport, and it never was able to load the graphics to the signon screen; last week I was at the same airport (same gate, even) and didn't notice an issue.

So, what can I check? Can a WiFi antenna or card go "bad"? What do I do to try to diagnose this?

Thanks

[Geek-9pm]

Yes, the antenna can go bad. In a laptop the antenna is a small bit of wire. If it comes disconnected, the Wi-Fi will drop  to a crawl.

[rjbinney]

OK. Is there a way to test that theory before I call Dell?

[Geek-9pm]

If the antenna is broke, the number of bars would drop to one.

[Maleke]

Besides the antenna, which I think is an excellent suggestion, maybe erase your network histories.  You computer might be trying to connect to your home, hotel1, hotel2, airport1, airport2, etc. connections before getting to the newly discovered network.

-Mal

[rjbinney]

Number of bars is fine.

I'll clean up the network history - how would that explain a slow connection, once I've established a connection? Does it continually ping through the whole list?

[rjbinney]

So more data.

This weekend, at home, number of bars was fine. On the airplane, when I posted the above, fine.

Now I'm back at the office.

My colleague and I are using absolutely identically-outfitted machines (Dell Latitude E6430) that were leased and shipped at exactly the same time. He has four bars and I have one, connected to the same network.

Is there a diagnostic tool I can run to check this, before I tear the machine apart?

Thanks

[Accessless]

You could try downloading inssider (I believe the older free versions are still availible). If installed on both laptops, you could more accuratly compare the signal strength received by decebel levels. (Requires Microsoft .net framework)

[rjbinney]

OK, so the top picture is the Inssider screenshot of my machine, and the second one is an identically-equipped machine, literally right next to mine.

I don't know what I'm looking at, but it seems mine is a whole lot more volatile than the other. (Even though mine has a higher "link score", although that, too, fluctuates wildly).

Also, that volatility wouldn't speak to a loose antenna wire, would it? After all, both machines are sitting safe and sound on a nice stable desk.

MINE:


COLLEAGUE'S:


His is on Channel 6, mine on 11. That shouldn't make a difference?

[Maleke]

Earlier in this thread it was mentioned that your antenna could be the problem.  Based on your posted pictures I would have to agree.  Your signal is all over the place, while your colleague's is stable. 

-Mal

[rjbinney]

What was suggested earlier was that the antenna was disconnected, and one of the symptom would be one bar (which is not the case), so I was wondering if that was still valid.

What specifically do you think is wrong with the antenna, that would lead to such sporadic performance? "Disconnected" you'd expect it to be flat, but low, not volatile. Right?

(I need to give a pretty good diagnosis to my IT team, otherwise I get the "send it in and we'll figure it out" response instead of a "OK, let's fix that" response.)

Thanks

[Maleke]

Yeah... those "helpful" IT guys.

Looks like it isn't disconnected, but that it is performing in a reduced capacity, so it seams that either the antenna is lose or perhaps the wireless network system is dying on your system.  Honestly, I bet they try to re-install the drivers first then go from there.

-Mal

[Geek-9pm]

My colleague and I are using absolutely identically-outfitted machines (Dell Latitude E6430) that were leased and shipped at exactly the same time. He has four bars and I have one, connected to the same network.

That is proof of an antenna disconnect.
Look here:
Dell Studio Laptop Repair Fix Disassembly Tutorial
AND
Replace Wireless Card and Antenna.
Just trying to  help.