dell inspiron 4000

ganonbanned · Post by **ganonbanned** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:01 pm

so I recently got one from zegunda, and I was looking for a wireless card. according to a friend, who has a 1500, it should have built in wireless because his does and its a lower model. Am I just a noob, or do I need a wireless card? How do I find a connection?

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 7:05 pm

First check the bios and see if there is an option to enable wireless or something similar to that. Then look around for a button or switch that enables/disables the wireless. Now go into the Device Manager and look under the "network adapter" group and see if a wireless card is there. If not, check under the group with the "?" symbol (I think it is called other or unknown), that is where the card could be if it doesn't have drivers installed. If you still can't find a wireless card, search Dell's support site for wireless drivers and a manual for your model.

Or there should be a door on the bottom that accesses the mini-pci slot, so you can see if a card is there (thats where most build in wireless modules are).

If you find it doesn't have a wireless card, I would recommend the Linksys WPC54G PC card. Mine was about $40 from Bestbuy. Don't listen to the idiots that work there like I did, I was talked into a slightly cheaper no-name card. It was horrible, I returned it and got the Linksys card and about doubled the signal I got.

EDIT: The Inspiron 1500 is actually newer than the 4000.

Bibin · Post by **Bibin** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 8:45 pm

The Buffalo WLI-CBG54 is also quite a good wireless-G card; I have it, it's very stable and fast.

Not all laptops are configured the same way; yours might not have been bought with an integrated wireless card.