How to improve wireless capacity on an old laptop?

Hi,

I have a Dell laptop retired from work, it is Dell Latitude D800 with
Pentium M processor and some built-in wireless connection. I found
that this laptop performs very bad at my home wireless network. When I
work upstairs, the connection speed is very bad. I have to take the
laptop downstairs where my wireless router sits. But if I use another
newer Dell laptop, Latitude D830, the wireless works perfect.

I thought this is because D800 wireless is old, so I purchased a
LinkSys PCI card, it says "Dual Band Wireless-N Notebook Adapter" from
LinkSys, but it turned out not helping at all.

Do you know what I can do something to improve the wireless on D800?

Hi!

> I have a Dell laptop retired from work, it is Dell Latitude D800 with
> Pentium M processor and some built-in wireless connection.

> Do you know what I can do something to improve the wireless on
> D800?

Hmm. I have the same model and it works *great*. No problems at all with
wireless or much of anything else. It's easily been the best laptop I have
ever owned. Mine has the Intel 2200BG 802.11B/G wireless hardware. The only
wireless access point it didn't like was a Netgear WGR614v6 that I strongly
believed to be somewhat broken even on a good day.

There were two wireless solutions offered with the D800 system...the Intel
2200BG wireless adapter and a Dell TrueMobile model that based on a Broadcom
chipset. Both are mini-PCI cards. Do you know which one you have? (Hint: If
there is a Centrino sticker anywhere on the machine, it's a very good
possibility that you have the Intel 2200BG wireless hardware.)

Either way, start with the latest drivers. The TrueMobile ones have to come
from Dell so far as I know. The Intel hardware can use the drivers available
from the Intel web site...and they're much newer than the ones Dell offers.

Since you reported bad performance with a Linksys add-on card, it's also
worth looking into the details to see if you are by any chance sharing your
chosen wireless channel with a neighbor or if there is anything odd about
your home that would block or stifle the radio signal.

William