FYI: My Dell wireless findings.

Many of you may remember when I came on board with a problem that I was having with a Dell Latitude D610. At the time, my boss' computer was showing that it was connected to a wireless netwok called Pepperdine. The signal strength meter was showing all four bars green, meaning that it had full signal strength for the connection. I was in a panic because we do not allow wireless networks and I thought that someone was tapping into his computer. As it turns out, this was not the case at all.

All of the systems that my company distributes have the Dell Wireless WLAN Utility v3.40.74.0 (Dated Jul 9, 2004) and driver version 3.40.73.0 (Dated Jun 25, 2004) installed regardless of whether they have a Dell TrueMobile 1300, 1350, or 1370 adapter. All systems should have Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility v3.100.41.0 (Dated Dec 6, 2004) and driver version 3.100.35.1 (Dated Feb 10, 2005).

The problem I found is that the card shows that it is still connected to a network after the network has gone away. To reproduce the problem, all you have to do is set up an ad-hoc, unsecured network between two computers. Leave the affected computer on, and shut off the other. The network connection indicates that there is a connection, and the signal strength meter stays green.

With the correct drivers, the wireless network connection will have a red X, shoing that it is disconnected, and all four signal bars will be clear on the strength meter, not green. The name of the update file from Dell is R94827.EXE. The file applies to the Dell TrueMobile 1300, 1350, and 1370 adapters.