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Problems connecting to router via Wi-Fi, tried many different fixes

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Phantomcave

New Around Here
Hello, I've got a brand new Dell XPS 13 9350 and I'm having big problems connecting to my houses Wi-Fi network. I live in a student apartment building and we all share Wi-Fi.
95% of the time I simply get the "can't connect to this network" message. The few times I manage to connect it fades away in about five minutes and either comes back for another five minutes or disappears for good.

My other devices, that aren't running Win 10(android phone, chromecast), have never had any problem whatsoever with the connection.
I also have a desktop that runs Win 10 and connects via Wi-Fi with an ASUS PCE adapter. The desktop connected fine for about 3 months and then I got the exact same problem I have with my laptop now. No matter what I tried I couldn't get it to connect to the houses Wi-Fi connection. After days of googling and trying different fixes I installed this Broadcom BCM-43xx Wireless Lan Drivers Version 7.35.308.0 WHQL driver and the problem was instantly solved.

Now, with my laptop I think I've tried all the most common fixes; forgetting the network and adding it manually, searching for the latest drivers, uninstalling and reinstalling the latest drivers from Dell's website, turning off 20/40 coexistance, turning off IPv6(not by tweaking the registry though), manually setting the DNS server IP...
I don't know what to do anymore.

To summarize: Win 10 desktop connects fine and so does android phone and chromecast but not my new laptop(connects fine to other networks though).
I'm guessing it's got to have something to do with Win 10 and/or some driver/setting based on the circumstances.

Laptop specs:
Network adapter: DW1820A 2x2 802.11ac 2,4/5 GHz
Driver: 1.519.0.0
Manufacturer/Driver provider: Broadcom

Desktop specs:
Network adapter: ASUS PCE-AC68
Driver: 7.35.308.0
Manufacturer/Driver provider: Broadcom

Router: Netgear CG3700EMR-1CMNDS
 
temporarily turn off WPA on the router and see if the Dell will succeed.
If that fails: configure the Dell with a static LAN IP, such as 192.168.x.y where x is your router's LAN config and y is an unused number in your LAN. Static IP will tell you if it's a DHCP issue.
 
If you have the McAffee bundle installed (many Dell's come with this out of the box), uninstall it...

I've had issues across Win7/8/10 with McAffee stuff...
 
temporarily turn off WPA on the router and see if the Dell will succeed.
If that fails: configure the Dell with a static LAN IP, such as 192.168.x.y where x is your router's LAN config and y is an unused number in your LAN. Static IP will tell you if it's a DHCP issue.
Sorry but I don't know much about networking. I don't have access to the router though only the landlord does.
This is what I did after watching some youtube video on how to set a static IP
IP 192.168.0.199
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Default gateway 192.168.0.1
Prefered DNS 4.2.2.2
Alternate DNS 8.8.8.8

This is my desktops ipconfig
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.23
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

This made no difference. No addresses show up when I run ipconfig
Edit: it connected for a brief moment but I couldn't access the web and then the connection disappeared...
Could it just be a driver problem? Installing that other driver fixed my desktop connection when I had the exact same problem there. But I have no idea what driver to try on my laptop instead of the one from Dell's site.

Edit2: So I downloaded and installed all the drivers(some dell certificate remover, five chipset drivers, audio, graphics and SATA) available for my laptop model from Dell using a USB stick. In the process the connection just started working and it seemed to maintain stability indefinitely.
I was prompted to restart after installing the drivers and now the connections back to shirt again. At least I'm connected to the network now, but I've got the yellow triangle.
Still using the static IP and IPv6 unchecked.

If you have the McAffee bundle installed (many Dell's come with this out of the box), uninstall it...

I've had issues across Win7/8/10 with McAffee stuff...
No, removing Mcafee was the first thing I did after I got the laptop :)

I appreciate all the help I can get!
 
Last edited:
I appreciate all the help I can get!
As always: I suggest to disable all "beamforming" options (unter Wireless/Professional) for 2.4 and 5 GHz wifi! :rolleyes:
 

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