can not see some available wireless signals

I'm on a dell inspiron 5160 aboout 4 years old. I'm unable to see some available wirless networks. About 4 months ago, I was not able to see one available wirless network and was able to see it after I upgraded the service pack. Now I'm running xp 2002 svc pack 2 with a dell wireless 1450 card. It doesn't look like I can update the driver for the card the date of the driver is 9/2007.

Should I try to update the service pack again or what else can I try? I refrain from updatiing the service packs unless I know some specific benefits.

Thank you

 

No no no, my guess is there's an increasing amount of wireless users or interference so your network card won't be able to keep up.

Can your network card hook up to standard antenna like the ones in your wireless router? If so, you can pick up a directional antenna, hook it up to your laptop and point it to the router. You can build a cheap one out of household materials. Just google around.

 

thank you. It an internal card for the laptop. I'm not sure where to plug in an antenna. I'm guessing the card is not worth replacing based on the age of the laptop. Is there anything else I can try or should do?

 

Yup, position your laptop close to a large metal part like a chair, table, desk, etc. The metal object acts as an antenna, albeit not a real one.

 

this link should help

http://www.freeantennas.com/projects/template2/index.html