2013 Archives

[tillutillu]

I was about to run buy aspire R7 today, glad I looked at the reviews - this wifi issue had me forzen on my couch. I am looking at Aspire R7, Dell XPS 12, Sony Vaio Duo 13,ASUS TAICHI 21. I read first 5 pages and last 2 pages, driver update looks promising - first post was in May 2013 now it is almost end of Aug 2013, if this was driver it would have been fixed by now! Can someone please post a reply if the wifi issue is fixed for good?

Hoping to see this fixed or moving on to other in the above order...

[Smurk]

Hey tillutillu,

I wouldn´t trade the R7 with any of those you listed. The ASUS TAICHI 21 looks solid, and if you are purely looking for an artistic tool that might be better since the screen is bigger for drawings. But then it´s probably also heavier. And the only one of the listed who hasn´t got a touchpad infront of the keyboard (seems pretty ridicules with a touchpad when you have a touchscreen) is the Sony Vaio Duo 13, which also has a flipable screen. But if you look closer at the base of the screen foot, it´s sort of open, while the R7 is completely closed for dirt + has a bigger screen which is essential if you´re doing more than text typing.

The only terrible thing about the R7 is win 8

[karnett]

I purchased the R7 3 days ago from Best Buy. The salesman was very knowledgeable and cautioned me about the speed issue.  I figured it was worth a try to see for myself.  Absolutely like SO much about this laptop... functionality, screen size, TPM, etc. 

But - since I work full-time on Wi-Fi and refuse to spend good money on unusable products the R7 willbe returned tomorrow. 

Bummer that Acer can't resolve this problem. 

[Frankie]

yeah same here man !! but im keeping it !! i ust it mostly in my room soo the wifi is not an issue there but if i wanna take it to college !! then thats a problem !!! i got the dual_band wifi thing but still not any better !!! that sucks !!

[007timex]

@Smurk, 

Do you know of anyone else on this board who by replacing the wifi adapter was able to fix the wifi problem? Because if so then I would much rather just replace the card instead of having to send mine in and then get it replaced etc etc. Also, do you know if it's possible to replace the wifi card yourself? I've upgraded ram, replaced hardrive, built my own desktop computer, etc, but I know that none of those are quite the equivilant to digging around in an ultrabook like environment. Because if I can upgrade it myself I would much rather simply order the card and do that. As of the moment I'm at a crossroads between trusting acer that the replacement R7 will work, or ordering this card and hopeing that this card fixes the problem, so as I said if you know of anyone with any history of the problem being fixed by replacing the card, letting me know would really settle my stomach. 

[Smurk]

@007timex,

according to @TwelveTone the problem was fixed by replacing the wifi card.

But there´s not much fun about replacing it without some sort of benefit. So why replace it with another Acer solution when there´s 802.11ac around which is better ...

Maybe it is possible to get a statement from Acer which 802.11ac is compatible. Here´s the question on intel community about it: http://communities.intel.com/message/203227

About doing it yourself: recommend asking Acer support about that. But if you got plenty of cash to get a repair shop to do it for you, why not let them guarantee it.

[PGL]

I've bought my R7 in Germany and have the same problem as everyone else. I mailed Acer support about five weeks ago and got only the answer that they forward my request and that they'll contact me as soon as possible. ("Wir haben die Anfrage einmal zur Prüfung weitergeleitet und werden Sie schnellstmöglich wieder kontaktieren").
About wo weeks ago I lost my patience to wait for an answer and called the support center. First they told me, my request is in process and that i got an individuall answer and i should wait longer... It took a while and a little persistence before I was put through to an technician. This call was a lot shorter, she told me immediately to send my R7 (with free shipping) to Acer and that it will take 5 - 7 workdays before I get it back.
I did so and got the paket with UPS  on they way on Friday, 9.August (they send me the shipping label sooner, but UPS was not as fast). At Wednesday I got a mail with the information that they got my R7 and a link where I can look at the repair status... Thince than the repair status is always "received" and nothing else. I'm really unhappy with Acer support and can only advice everyone, who considerates to by an R7 to wait until this problem is officially settled (unless your not interested in WLAN).
It's frustating to buy a brand new Notebook for 1000 € and first struggle to resolve the problem by myself and then to wait and wait and wait... The money is gone, but no well-working pc received...

[Smurk]

Here´s the answer about compatibility from Acer online support:

Antwort Von Email (M. Missy) (19/08/2013 15:55)

"In your unit we tested the following cards:
Broadcom BCM43228+BCM20702
Atheros AR9462

A Intel Wlancard was not testet by us.
So we couldn´t give an answer to you if the intel card will work or not."

Btw. if you´re trying to identify your Aspire R7´s WiFi unit without luck, try this software: AIDA64

[Hairybroness]

Hi All,

I've been following this thread since the first few pages.  I was researching the laptop prior to buying.  I figured a solution would present shortly.  Well, I got the laptop and noticed a couple things.  First, while slower, my wifi speeds are decent enough.  At home and at work I get speeds from 9-15 mb/s from any reasonable location.  I know that the device running our wifi at work is a $35 cheapo....  My home unit is probably 3 years old, apple variety.  I surely didn't set up anything fancy with regards to channels/frequency.

That being said, this functional state is only if I don't allow windows updates!  I haven't taken the time to track down the specifi one, but one of the dozens of updates that wants to flood the laptop breaks the wifi.  Restoring back to a save point prior to the update does not fix the issue.  Only a clean restore gets things running again.  I've tested this at least three times.  From there, I learned exactly how many batches of updates to allow before setting that service to manual and not allowing anymore. 

FWIW, this may help some of you.

(BTW, loving Win 8 - it takes some getting used to, but I've been bored with all the other operating systems.  Time for something new.  If I wasn't using a touch screen that maneuvers like the R7, I'm not sure if I'd appreciate it as much.  I'm sure 8.1 will make it even friendlier. )

[mlindstrom]

@Hairybroness

Thank you very much for the information about the Windows updates.  Are you able to provide specific details as to which update(s) are causing the problem.  That would not only help us (who are having similar problems), but also possibly Acer.  Hopefully they would begin an investigation as to why the Windows update is messing with their wifi functionality (and potentially find a fix).