Dell Releases WiFi Driver Update for X51/X51v

[Mahstah]

HTC has supplied Dell with an updated wireless chipset driver that fixes several issues related to roaming in multi-AP environments. Dell recommends that everyone install the driver update.

Screen006.JPG

Some people claim that it speeds up wireless, but using cnet’s bandwidth tester I got EXACTLY the same speed as I did in July using the old wifi driver, 1360 Kbps. To my knowledge, 1360 Kbps is the maximum transfer rate the Axim’s 802.11b chipset is capable of.

However, the oft-complained about problem of seamlessly roaming between access points on large wireless networks has been fixed. FTFA:

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Fixes and Enhancements

Fixed issues:
1.Roaming between APs sometimes is not seamless.
2.When the number of neighbor APs exceeds 16, roaming may not succeed.
3.Roaming may fail if the Cisco AP enables the mixed security mode.
4.Roaming from AP1 to AP2 is not smooth enough.
5.When roaming in WPA-PSK network, it takes about 2 minutes to roam to another AP unexpectedly.
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[Piet]

Does the x50v have different wifi-chip, so it does not need an update ?

[Drifter]

Yes, plus the the OS on the 50 series is different to that on the 51 series

[wacits]

confused. -(

The screen shot you did was that the latest wan driver you are talking about?

If so not sure I needed to do anything. When I got my axim back in x51v back in april2006 (A06) that was the driver installed.

When I flashed to the latest bios A12 (last night) the wan driver is exactly the same.

[Mahstah]

The wifi driver update is post-A12 and is bundled in Dell's latest driver rollup package.

[ffosddu]

Tried installing the driver rollup package and get an error telling me I have not got 'sufficient system permisssions'. Any help welcome

[Mahstah]

Is your user on the desktop in the administrator's group?

[Shuei]

Hi all,

I don't know if anyone else has reported a small issue with the update driver, but in my case it caused my home network (Netgear Wifi router 802.11a b/g)to ask for verification to access shared folders on every click while browsing my home server, and consistently bumped me after 15-25 seconds of transferring files. I wondered if it was getting confused with the "a" side of the wireless as a signal even though it can't use that connection?)

I uninstalled the update and all is fine at home. Work is in recess at the moment (Australian High School), so it will take a little longer to see if any roaming issues present themselves without the updated driver. Our school has two APs, one encrypted and one open. Home is encrypted.

After the update I encountered a random event in the settings for my password for the AXIM. In stead of asking for a password after an hour of inactivity (my choice) the setting became 166.7 hours. Simple enough to reset and completely dissapeared after changing it back to 1 hour. I hope nothing else has randomly changed without my knowing.

The update cab file still resides in my personal folder as per installation instructions. Is it OK to delete this file after installation or is it required as part of the AXIM's uninstall programs system functions?

bye,
Shuei.

[Beweglich]

Is this the same one as the Colorado update for the x51v or is the QVGA driver update different?

[Mahstah]

This is not the "Colorado" update. This update has been superceded by the "driver rolling patch" (driver rollup package for us English speaking people).

The driver rollup package is the Colorado update. It's not a QVGA update, but an update for QVGA and VGA X51 series Axims. It addresses the following issues:

1.SwitcherBar icon enhancement.
2.WIFI seamless roaming function.
3.CF Modem driver enhancement.
4.External microphone recording issue.