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General discussion

USB 3.0 and WiFi on XPS 13 Ultrabook

Mar 13, 2012 5:58PM PDT

Hi! I have a new Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook. I also have a seriously annoying issue with said PC. Whenever I connect either my USB 3.0 external hard drive or my USB 3.0 docking station to the USB 3.0 port of my ultrabook, my WiFi connection dies. The system recognizes that there is a wireless network. However, it will do one of two things: with the 2.4GHz signal, it will connect without an Internet connection; with the 5GHz connection, it won't connect at all.

Discussion is locked

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Re: USB 3.0 and Wifi
Mar 19, 2012 5:30AM PDT

obvious_ron,

My name is Jesse Leonard and I work for the Dell Social Media Team.
Thank you for pointing this out to us. I will be submitting this issue to our engineering department to see if they can duplicate the issue you are describing. In the meantime I will be keep this post updated when I hear from our engineers.

Thanks Again,
Dell-Jesse L

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Issue Not Solved,But Worked Around
Mar 19, 2012 8:48AM PDT

I have found a "solution" to my problem. I reset the router and was able to eke out a weak connection to the wireless signal from my bedroom. If I am in the same room as the router, I get a full signal. NOW... if I use a Belkin N150 Wireless USB Adapter, I get a full signal from my bedroom. Why this $30 adapter works better than the internal wireless card of a $900+ computer is beyond me. I called the XPS support team, but I refuse to spend 30 minutes or more on the phone while a support team member troubleshoots my problem when I have done so two or three times already. I have run diagnostics, updated the BIOS, updated drivers, etc. This is unacceptable. I plan to purchase a dual band USB wireless adapter in the near future so I can take advantage of our dual band router.

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Re: usb and wifi issue
Mar 20, 2012 3:57AM PDT

Could you please provide the make and model of your USB 3.0 Device for our engineering team?

Thanks,
Jesse

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re: usb and wifi
Mar 20, 2012 4:38AM PDT

I guess to be more specific as what information I am needing is what type of USB 3.0 HDD (make, model) he is attaching when he sees the wifi drop?

Jesse