Kevin Standlee: Fandom Is My Way of Life

As I've mentioned before, I've been having difficulty accessing wireless with my primary laptop computer. I tried once again unseating and re-seating the wireless card and both antenna connections, and it still did not work. In order to rule out software problems of some sort (unlikely, I know, but I figured I'd try that first), I swapped the hard drives between my two Dell Inspiron 600m computers. The frame that was having difficulty connecting to the network still would not connect, whereas the other "backup" system, now holding my primary drive's hard disk, connected without difficulty.

The machine is covered under an extended warranty. I have written to Dell tech support because I don't have the stomach to stay on the phone all day waiting for an answer. They can either send me a new wireless card or send a technician out to replace it; I don't care which, as long as it starts working again.

After exchanging e-mails with Dell support confirming that I had done all of the trouble-shooting that their computer scripts say I should do, they've agreed to send me a new wireless card. I hope that fixes the problem. There's a possibility that it's not the wireless card but the antennas, which as I understand it run up through the top of the case. If they're broken, it's probably a more difficult fix than just popping the wireless card.

It occurs to me that I could test this by swapping not the hard drives but the wireless card itself.