Acer Aspire v5 wireless range problems

I have V5-573P-9899.  I believe that same card and similar issues.  I have trouble connecting close or far and when the machine connects it goes very slowly (28kbps style) and that happens when it is close to access point.  The repair center has look at it three times now since I have owned the computer and still does not work.  I was just testing after having received it back from the repair center for the third time and it still does not work.  The tech support person said that I could get a replacement computer if the issue persisted past the 3rd time of being at the repair center.  I have spend time and effort and I still can't use the computer for surfing the web, something that is very important.  I have tested the computer in different networks and the same issue persists.  My now five year old laptop has better wifi capabilities.  I have to say, I am with this the machine but more that Acer has not been able to fix it.  Three tries to repairs and no cigar . Something is not right here.

hi,

I have exact the same issue.

the primary wi-fi "white" wire is broken and that's just after a few months of use laptop.

no, I can use another "black" wire antenna for ch0 due to it'll disconnect BT, which is needed in my case

if yoiu don't use BT than it might work for you, otherwise ... no go

if you have tester than you can check for resistance to know exactly which wire is connected to the antenna and which isn't - so simple as that.

the expected resistance is 2 Ohm

no, another wi-fi cheap will not help with broken wire issue

I plan to ship my laptop to repair center for this matter as I have no idea how to fix this inside display. It'll cost me s/h about $25 IMHO. what else can be done in this case?

---

ricky124 wrote:
Send it to the repair cente. If tthe same issue persists, they will pay shipping and handling fees. All, after they tried to repair my computer 3 times, they gave me a new one. I actually received and upgraded model with an sshd, smaller at 500 gigs vs my 750 gigs but noticeably faster. Also, I went from 6 gigs of ram to 12 and what I loved the most was that I also go a dedicated graphics card. I got lucky after all my hard work and a few hours on the phone with techs.

I'm happy to report no Wi-Fi issues. It has an Intel WiFi card and it works very well.

---

I had the same issue with a V5 - looks like it's a design or assembly flaw with certain Acer Laptops.  The wire was severed cleanly so likely pinched by the 2 sides of the hinge plastic when initially assembled.  So much for quality control.

I pulled it apart and soldered it back together - seems to be ok now.  Strangely, the white wire (primary antenna) was the one broken though I didn't get any better performance when switching to the black (secondary) antenna.  The 2 ant. wires run up through the right side hinge (which is where the white wire broke) and the white goes left across the bottom of the screen and up to the top where it terminates.  The black just runs up the right side of the screen.  Perhaps the longer white wire is what makes it the more important antenna.  In any event it's working now.

I would be interested in how many others with this problem find their antenna wire is broken (i.e. those brave enough to pull their machines apart).  Note that when soldering, the outer shield part of the wire should be connected and the inner part connected separately, such that they don't touch.  I used some heat-shrink tubing to keep things insulated.  Beyond that there wasn't much to it.  The wifi card is pretty close to the right hinge underneath the computer so you can just pull the wire through, solder it, and re-slot it through the hinge and back to where it goes. FYI, the screen just pries apart - quite easily actually. 

I concur that no change of card will solve this, nor change of driver, nor tweaking with power settings, etc.

I've been having this same issue of range connectivity. It started about 1 month ago when I wasn't able to connect to internet from the living room anymore. I can only connect to the internet if I'm about 2 meters from the router. I've tried everything; trying all the different settings on my WLAN Controller and Battery settings. I guess the only way to fix it is to call for technical assistance. 

Finally found the solution after 2 years!

Like many of you, I could only connect to the internet if I was about 2 meters from the router. I've tried everything; trying all the different settings on my WLAN Controller and different power and bluetooth settings. And of course updating the driver – the same old solution everyone suggests! Nothing worked for me.

In the end – here’s how I fixed it. I unscrewed the back of the laptop and opened it up. Inside I found the wifi card – marked WLAN. Then I switched the white and black wires. Apparently this switches to the secondary antenna. Probably, the main antenna was faulty in some way.

Apparently there is also a way to switch these antennas without opening the back (see:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2511082/problem-wlan-component-laptop-cables.html)

But this was quite easy too.

Same problem with my wifes Aspire V5-573PG, what a *****!

I have been struggling with new drivers, power saving settings etc with the same no result as you all.

Thanks to you I found out that the antenna was impaired, did the easiest thing and swapped black and white cables on the WLAN card inside.

Now it´s working fine again with no range problems. Probably the range for the Bluetooth is gone instead.

Thanks again guys!!

And shame on Acer for this design flaw and for not telling people about it.