Wifi misbehaving

[Joelacrane]

I'm having some trouble with wifi on my x51v. On the today screen, there are two wifi indicators, one on the bottom (dell), and one on the top (Part of windows mobile). Alot of the time, when i turn on wifi with the side button, the lower wifi indicator will turn white, showing that there are no networks in range, while the top indicator will show the no activesync/wifi icon. It then will not connect to a network at all.

Turning it on with the Dell app or with the notification bubble usually renders the same result.

The only two workarounds, start up Oddessy Client (what the frick is that anyway?), enable it, disable, and it usually works again. The other option is a soft reset, but neither of these always fix it, and usually not for more than two or three wifi on/off cycles.

Hitchhiker refuses to turn wifi on sometimes, and never turns it off.

What a pain! I have the latest ROM, A12. Any ideas before i call tech support? On my last PPC i turned Wifi on and off all day long with no problems whatsoever. WiFi is an important feature to me.

[Janak Parekh]

Sounds like the device is having trouble locating the access point reliably, and somehow the Odyssey client is resetting the WiFi to some extent. (The Odyssey client is useful for certain enterprise environments which need special authentication to connect to the wireless network.)

Things to try:

1. Try a different access point (or visit another place) and see if it connects more reliably.

2. Make sure your access point has the latest ROM.

3. If you turned off SSID broadcast, try turning it back on.

4. If you have encryption enabled, try temporarily disabling it.

5. If you have WiFi power management on the Axim on, try temporarily turning it off.

Some PDAs have a more sensitive WiFi driver than others, and this might help you to debug what's up.

--janak

[Joelacrane]

Thanks for the info, but it has noting to do with AP's. WiFi is not turning on reliably. The dell app sees AP's, but Windows does not recognize that WiFi is enabled and thus noting connects.

Its working fine right now...

[Janak Parekh]

Thanks for the info, but it has noting to do with AP's. WiFi is not turning on reliably. The dell app sees AP's, but Windows does not recognize that WiFi is enabled and thus noting connects.
Hmm, I haven't used WiFi in quite some time, as my 700w doesn't have it, but IIRC, if WiFi is enabled yet WM can't find an AP, it keeps the disconnected icon in the Start bar, doesn't it?

--janak

[Joelacrane]

Well, there are five different icons on the start bar.

The first is two arrows pointing different directions with an X, indicating no connections, either activesync and Wifi. I am not sure about bluetooth.

The second is two arrows pointing opposing directions, indicating an Activesync connection.

The third is an antenna by itself, indicating no avalible AP's in range.

The fourth is an antenna with two arrows animating, showing that the device is trying to connect to an AP.

The fifth and final icon is the same as the last, but the arrows are stationary, indicating a successful connection to an AP.

Sometimes, when i enable Wifi by clicking the no connection icon and turning Flight mode off, the no connection icon remains, and the dell signal icon in the system tray shows white bars, indicating no connection. hitchhiker does it too. Less commonly, turning wifi on Via the Hard Wifi button does it too. Its just plain weird. I have not called Dell about the issue.

[Janak Parekh]

Ah, okay. Hmm. Yeah, I do remember that, and what it does suggest is that the wireless driver is not loading completely for some reason. That might suggest that you have some application(s) loaded that (unintentionally) interfere with the functionality of the wireless driver.

If and when you're feeling adventurous, you may want to try a full backup + hard reset; see if the WiFi then works reliably.

--janak

[Graham65]

Hello,

I have recently got a Dell X51 PDA and I'm having exactly the same problems as you are/were having with the wiFi connection.

If you managed to get it resolved, I would be appreciative of any advice you recieved?

Thanks

Graham