Wireless not working on Dell Laptop

We have a Dell Inspiron 700m with WinXPProfessional that kept getting knocked offline & then would say "no wireless connections found". We did a complete restore...would not get online last nite...today showed wireless connection found...got online for a short time...then quit again. Dell will not help due to "out of warranty". This laptop has "Intel PRO Set Wireless" & also has normal Window's Wireless, but neither will show any kind of wireless network. Radio is enabled & "WiFi" light is on. All other PC's & laptop's are online at this location. Any ideas anyone? Thanks in advance! Shanrene

 

Do any of the other pcs use wifi and can you borrow another wifi detector from one to try in your Dell. That would show whether there is something wrong with the Dell's own wifi unit. (this is just a plugin module, easily exchanged).

Studio T

 

Where are these "plug-in modules" located? Have 3 other laptops here (sony, toshiba, & dell) -- none of which have plug-in modules that I can locate -- wireless is built in. Also, forgot to mention that the Dell laptop, in question, has no firewalls (other than Window's firewall) enabled. Thank you!

 

Sorry I didn't make myself clear.

I was suggesting that you borrowed a USB, or PCMCIA wifi detector from another machine, if you could to insert temporarily into your Dell. A laptop can happily cope with several detectors. If it worked then your Dell internal detector is failing, or just loose. Modern laptops the internal wifi module on a 'minipci' card accessible through a flap on the underside. However you couldn't just slot a Tosh one in instead as you would need motherboard specific drivers.

Hope this is clearer.


Studio T

 

We removed the pci card (internal), cleaned it, & re-seated it. Was able to stay online longer ... actually got CCleaner downloaded & installed ... downloaded AdAware but during installation while trying to update, connection was lost again. Not sure what to try next. Thanks, Shanrene

 

Looking very like you need a replacement card. Try Ebay, you can find lots of Dell bits there.

Studio T