2013 Archives

[njcurveball]

I don't know the technical details behind the huge speed difference between the two bandwidth ranges, but I can tell you that if you are connecting using a 5MHz band, you should expect connection problems and incredibly slow speeds.  Hope that info helps.

Not that much for me. My router is configured for 2.4 MHz. I cannot put it to 5 MHz because then other devices like cell phones will not work.

Thanks for the tip! Seems like an Antenna problem or a wireless adapter issue. Since the repair included the Antenna, it appears there are going to be many bad units sold in the future.

I even saw a review on the Best Buy site stating the SAME PROBLEM. It is pretty bad when almost 3 months go by and there is not a fix in place for units currently being sold.

[njcurveball]

Thanks Dereko!

It says "Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter", driver version 6.30.59.144, date 29-3-2013.

This pretty much seals the deal it is an Antenna problem BECAUSE everyone has the same driver and it is something the consumer cannot fix. Time to take it back and warn others! If they could fix this, the version certainly would not be from March!

If you are reading this, RETURN THIS MACHINE! STAT! GET YOUR MONEY BACK! If Acer wants your credit card, run the other way! Why take the chance of getting a refurbished unit and wasting more of your time?

If Best Buy were selling bad Hamburger meat and a few people were getting sick, it would be pulled off the market! This is horrible customer service!

I use to tell everyone AVOID ACER, I listened to that advice until now! This is my first AND LAST ACER unit! 3 days of hard work that they are not paying me for, just to see it is a wasted effort and the machine was a lemon from the start and all their support team will tell me is reinstall windows, reinstall drivers, then send it back any way!

[scolburn]

Unfortunately, the Atheros card in my Aspire 5600U seems to have a similarly poor performance.  The handware specifics are:  Qualcomm Atheros ARBWB222 WNA Ver. 10.0.0.27 2012-11-08.

[njcurveball]

Man it looks like Acer went the cheap route with their hardward and a very good reason to stay away from them in the future!

Just got the response to return the unit to Acer. Why? I did not pay for a defective unit. I will get a full refund from Best Buy! I don't need the aggravation of getting another unit that does not work.

Horrible! ACER! Just Horrible! Admit the problems and fix them. Don't pass off the problems to your customers!

[njcurveball]

Forgot to mention, if I ship it back and the carrier damages it, then I would have to pay for that! So at a minimum I pay for insurance for the "free" repair.

We recommend that you insure your package, any damage incurred in shipping will not be covered under the Standard Manufacturer's Warranty. If your product is damaged in shipping, you will need to contact your carrier to file a claim.

ACER needs to ship working units TO BEST BUY! The consumer should be able to exchange it right at the store for something that works!

Horrible ACER! Horrible Customer Service!

[urdaddi]

I was looking to purchase 3 of these units about 2 weeks ago for a small business I work with. I usually try to research before making a purchase. In doing so, I have read a lot of the threads in the Acer forums. The issue that the Aspire R7 seems to have with wifi is extremely disturbing, and the lack of any kind of real Acer response to this issue is simply horrible.

Making a purchase for something with the knowledge that you are going to HAVE to ship it to the manufacturer, only for a HOPE of an issue to be corrected is a terrible way to do business. Call me old fashioned, but when I buy something it should work as intended and as TOLD how it would work.

Acer has lost the sale of 3 of these units, and pretty much any future business that I may have. Additionally, I am in a position where I recommend IT items to other small business. Guess who will be getting left out of those recommendations.

Shame on you Acer, very bad business manners.

I would like to thank all of the people who have posted in this thread.

[njcurveball]

Here is my last update on trying to fix this obvious hardware FLAW!  I followed every step sent to me by Acer, just to make sure!

1.) updated the BIOS

2.) updated all of the Drivers

3.) performed Windows refresh

This was in addition to 3 days of testing just about every combination of setting.

Here are the important facts, the unit is brand new. I purchased it from Best Buy. Why should I ship it back to Acer at my expense and include insurance in case the delivery guy drops it? Does this make sense to anyone? At a minimum, Best Buy should have replacement units available. It still makes my time and my gas to drive there to replace a machine with a KNOWN problem from at least the beginning of June.

No thank you Acer. Your offer of me taking the time and money to send it back is nice, but this unit is going to Best Buy and the money going back on my credit card.

Such a shame. I love, love, love the hinge. The different viewing angles make up for a lot of design flaws, but it cannot make up for such an integral part of a laptop. Imagine getting a great looking car, but the engine only could go 50 mph!

Now imagine being told by the dealer it needs to go to another state for a repair and it will be back in a week to 10 days while you have nothing to drive.

I also have an opportunity to recommend hardward purchases for a large company. This was my first experience buying Acer as I had always warned against the machines since they cut costs on key parts. Sure enough I get one that doesn't work cause they cut costs on key parts.

If anyone can forward this to someone at Acer who cares, my suggestion is not to cut costs on anything to do with the WIFI or the Display. No consulting fee required.

Grade for the unit, B+, grade for customer service, B+, grade for telling me the only option is to ship it out for repair, EPIC FAIL!

[dragosd2000]

Dereko, so they changed your antennas and now the wireless works? Anyone can confirm this?

[PBert]

I am travelling with the replacement R7 that Acer sent me. It is almost 3:00 am in Cleveland and I jsut pulled into a Super 8 motel. The first nagging thing on my brain (after calling my wife) was to test the wifi.

Well I am getting a great signal here. Not sure where the wifi transmitter is but in my room I am getting a solid 54 to 65 Mbps speed and am able to zip through web pages.

A pleasant surprise.

Will try the HoJo in Albany NY tomorrow night and see what happens there.

Maybe I can call Acer and see what was actually done to the unit they sent me as the replacement. Maybe it has the antenna upgrade? (The wifi card is still the Broadcom.) (Also - at home it still seemed to get the same slow to no connection as the original one.)

[dragosd2000]

Just noticed something weird. If I plug an ethernet cable into the R7, the speed is 100mb/s, all good there, the usb adapter is limiting that. But if at the same time I connect to my wireless network, the speed jumps from 13mb/s or whatever it is to 130mb/s or 52mb/s. I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that the computer is connected to the internet by cable and using that connection as a default, because the moment I unplug the cable and start using the wireless, the speed drops to 13mb/s and fluctuates again