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Wifi problems with SonicWall sonicpoint and Dell Vostro 3550

Hello,

I have been working on a site I have installed Sonic Point access points.  I also have 25 new Dell Vostro 3550 that have Centrino N1030 adapters.

It appears I am in a congested area so after I have called Sonicwall for support they suggest I change my wifi  settings to 40mhz - wide band to relieve some interference.

Standard Settings - 20mhz standard:  I get proeblems with slowness (1mb to 11mb speed connections).  

Wide Band - 40mhz settings: All 25 of my new Dell Vostro 3550s that have the Centrino N1030 wifi adapter can't connect.  I can connect with a 5 year old laptop and with my 6 month old Dell Latititude, that has a different adapter.  SonicWall advised that devices that cannot support wireless N will have problems.  I thought to myself, I have new laptops with wireless N, that should not be an issue.

I have a few thoughts for fixing the problems:

1. Try different access points - perhaps SonicWall sonicpoints are the right fit for this congested area. I like sonicwall and their product appear to be good. I am wondering if I am fighting the obvious problem.

2. Fix Dell Centrino N1030 - I am working with Dell support but I have read the internet and see a mix of reviews and not sure what to believe.  I have turned off the bluetooth settings to see if it will work.

I thought I was getting the "right" equipment but something isn't matching.

Please suggestions!

Also, I have read using 2.4ghz with wideband settings at 40mhz is not a good idea.  Not sure why can anyone elaborate?  Is it bad?

Oh yeah, 5ghz won't work .....
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I will give that a shot tomorrow morning.  Thanks!
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I cannot get my laptops to see 5mhz.  I have remove the profile from Intel and removed the profiles from Windows.  Is there a way to see if my adapter should support 5mhz?
Is it a bad thing to use 40mhz with 2.4ghz?
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Good article,

I don't see any of the options you mention in the advance tab.  Although I was able to get my laptops to connect with 40mhz with 2.4ghz.

Through research I see blogs stating not to use 2.4ghz with 40mhz, not sure why.
I think that's because the 40mhz isn't a widely used protocol where 20mhz is. That's the general sense that I get. My understanding is you try 2.4 or 5.2 with 40mhz first. If users can't connect, then you downgrade either to 20mhz. The article I linked to above indicates that Apple devices won't connect at 40mhz. I assume there are other devices that have similar limitations.

Did you see an option for 2.4 in the Advance tab?
Here is additional information to review for background.

I am in a high traffic area which makes it difficult.  I can use 40mhz but there are ups and downs also pointed out in this article.  I think if your router or wifi tool has a analysis you can run check it out so you can determine which wifi channel to use to best fit your situation.

http://techpunt.com/networks/home-networking/wireless-routers-channels-and-channel-widths.html