Problems staying connected - Dell Latitude ST (1535C Half MiniCard Atheros based wifi)

[chris.brunt]

I have some Dell Latitude ST Windows 7 tablets and I am having major problems getting them to stay connected to wifi. They have the Dell wireless branded 1535C pci-e half minicard, which is atheros based and is running the only and latest driver I can find (3.1.2.41)

The devices connect to wifi but stop working after about 30-60 seconds and you sometimes have to completely reboot the tablet to get it to connect again. Basically you notice network activity stops and you get a limited conectivity exclaimation mark on the wireless icon in the systray.

Cleanair 3502i AP + some 1142N

3750G PoE Switches

WISM1 running 7.0.116.0

At the moment I have gone back to a simple WPA2 AES PSK wlan. It was the same with 802.1x authentication.

This device is connecting flawlessly on my Netgear router at home which is a WPA2 AES dual band 2.4 5ghz 802.11n.

Debugs Attached.

Any ideas would be good.

[tomlukes]

Just another update - my issues wetre resolved by disabling client exclusions as well, but also changing the NIC settings.  The default Power Saving Mode on the NIC is FAST. 

[Scott Fella]

Was that default on the client or was that maually changed... doesn't seem right to have it set to fast.

Thanks,

Scott

Help out other by using the rating system and marking answered questions as "Answered"

[tomlukes]

Oddly enough, with XP, it is set to "Fast".   The options were "enabled, disabled or fast".  We could see delays in Instant Messaging and other APPs.  As soon as it as disabled all of the performance issues went away.   What was really strange is when I was pinging between two devices.  One set to Fast, the other wired or wireless set to disabled.   To the device they ping times were higher and would drop periodically.  From the device, there were no delays or drops.  I could repeat those findings every time.   

My latest frustration was the 5002 and 5005 errors filling the event viewer on other XP devices (Intel NICs).   I traced it back to being caused by SP3 and is corrected with the latest NIC drivers.   I imagine a day of "silence"...but with over 15,000 clients, I should imagine it anytime soon.  lol

[jgillfeather]

Hi Tom,

can you confirm which NIC driver version you're using - i have the Atheros AR6003 WLAN adapter, v 3.1.2.85.

Only Power Management options i have are "Allow the computer to turn off the device" and WoL.

Unrelatedly, we also still regularly get the Error 10 on NIC on startup (the device just doesn't start, happens approx 1 in 3 poer cycles).

On a brighter note, the Latitude 10 (Atheros 1536C) seems to work a treat...

Justin

[tomlukes]

This is the DW1530 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card (with the following details - updated since the issue surfaced)

Driver Provider: Broadcom

Driver Date: 9/26/2012

Driver Version: 6.30.59.81

DW1530 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card

Driver Provider: Broadcom

Driver Date: 9/26/2012

Driver Version: 6.30.59.81

The setting is under the advanced tab for the NIC on these.

On the other issue - what is your wireless APs set to for WMM?

[jgillfeather]

Cheers Tom.

Re: WMM, my production SSID's are set to Allowed, i have a test one that is Disabled, but behaviour seems the same.

Just to confirm, this is in a Dell Latitude ST ?  If so, can i ask what Country you're in?  Have been trying to convince Dell here in Australia to swap out my Atheros 1535C's, so have been looking for a potential replacement.  Maybe the Broadcom DW1530 is just a re-brand, though (chipset number is suspiciously similar) ?

Out of interest's sake, have you ever installed Windows 8 on the device with the DW1530? Would be good to know if it works..

rgrds

Justin

[tomlukes]

We have a few models - one I am on now is the Dell Latitude E5420 with the DW1530 Half MiniCard...in the U.S.    From what I can see, the actually use both the Broadcom and Atheros Chipsets.   I don't know which are in what models by default or if the option exists to order one way or another.   The issues I saw were very similar - didn't mean to hijack the Atheros issue with the Broadcom issue.   :-)  

We used to insist on the Atheros Chipset with Intels early Broadcom issues, but we are back to the Broadcom ones again.   Here is a link that may answer some more questions, including findings on Windows 8.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/mobile-devices/f/3824/p/19436479/20057641.aspx

[holly030409]

I have the same problems at the start of the year, and left the Slate is a drawer until now.

But Dell have released a newer driver for the Windows 8 wireless card in February 2013.

I loaded this new diver, and everything works now.

[jgillfeather]

Hi Simon,

can you confirm the driver version and what sort of Wi-Fi you're using? (specifically the security model)

regards,

Justin

[Ben Duff]

Hi,

I too have spent too much time trying to fix this issue, we've been using SCCM to deploy the OS and some drivers with the same results as above, it looks like it's connected but after a few minutes drops, ping response times are also bad during the connected time.

Installing just the 3.1.2.87 driver results in the same issue, installing the ST_Network_Driver_TKWFP_WN_3.1.2.87-7.4.0_A07 package which I believe includes a firmware update appears to resolve the issue, ping times are now normal and it hasn't dropped the connection yet. This was a clean install not using SCCM with no previous wireless driver installations.

Ben