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Using the Dell™ TrueMobile™ Wireless Utility: Dell TrueMobile WLAN Card User's Guide

Opening the Utility
Viewing the Link Status of Your Wireless Connection
Disabling the Radio
Diagnostics

Opening the Utility

For Dell notebooks that have the Dell TrueMobile WLAN Mini PCI Card (internal), the TrueMobile Wireless Utility starts automatically every time the notebook starts. When the system startup process is complete, the Wireless Network Connection icon appears in the taskbar notification area (Windows XP environment) or the system tray (Windows 2000 environment). For Dell notebooks that use the Dell TrueMobile WLAN PC Card, the utility does not start and the Wireless Network Connection icon does not appear until the card is inserted into the notebook. The appearance of the Wireless Network Connection icon varies, depending on the strength of the signal being received from the available networks. If the Wireless Network Connection icon is not in the taskbar notification area/system tray, it can be made to appear there by selecting the Show wireless icon in systray check box when the utility is open.

Windows 2000 Environment

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the utility icon .
   
   
   

Windows XP Environment

1. Click Start, then click Control Panel (Classic View).
2. Double-click the TrueMobile Wireless Utility icon .
   
   

Viewing the Link Status of Your Wireless Connection

Windows 2000 Environment

1. Open the TrueMobile Wireless Utility.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Link Status tab.

Windows XP Environment

1. Open the TrueMobile Wireless Utility.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Link Status tab.

The quality of the connection (signal strength and noise) of the particular network you are connected to is indicated by the horizontal bars and the decibel level values that are displayed at the bottom of the Link Status tab. The connection quality is also indicated by the appearance of the Wireless Network Connection icon in the taskbar notification area. The description of the signal strength appears when you hover the cursor over the icon.

The table below shows the quality level and suggested action for improving the signal quality for each icon image that may be displayed. If the signal strength indications are anything other than very good or excellent, you should take the appropriate suggested action.

	Four vertical green bars indicate that the signal strength is very good or excellent.
	Three vertical green bars indicate that the signal is good.
	Three vertical yellow bars indicate that the signal strength is low. Suggested action: Move closer to the access point.
	Two red vertical red bars indicates that the signal strength is very low. Suggested action: Move closer to the access point.
	Uncolored vertical bars indicate that there is no signal being received. Probable causes: The notebook is trying to establish an initial connection but has not yet succeeded. You may have moved out of range of the access point. Suggested action: Wait Move closer to the access point.
	Uncolored vertical bars with a superimposed red letter x indicate that there is no radio connection. Probable cause: The radio is disabled. Suggested action: Enable the radio. To enable the radio, right-click the Wireless Network Connection icon in the taskbar notification area (Windows XP environment) or in the system tray (Windows 2000 environment) and click Enable Radio.

Disabling the Radio

To disable the radio on your Dell TrueMobile WLAN Card, right-click the Wireless Network Connection icon in the taskbar notification area/system tray and click Disable Radio. To enable the radio, right-click the icon and click Enable Radio. On newer Dell TrueMobile enabled notebooks, the radio can be enabled/disabled by pressing Fn + F2.

Diagnostics

You can run a number of diagnostics on your Dell TrueMobile WLAN Card to verify its operational and functional status.

NOTE—The network connection is lost when you run the diagnostics. When the test run is over, however, your network connection is automatically reestablished.

Windows 2000 Environment

1. Open the TrueMobile Wireless Utility.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Diagnostics tab.
3. To see a description of the test, click each test and look in the Recommendations area.
4. All tests are selected by default. To run an individual test or some but not all of the tests, clear the check box for those tests that you do not want to run.
5. Click Run.
6. If your Dell TrueMobile WLAN Card fails any of the diagnostics tests, see Troubleshooting.

Windows XP Environment

1. Open the TrueMobile Wireless Utility.
   
   
   
   
2. Click the Diagnostics tab.
3. To see a description of the test, click each test and look in the Recommendations area.
4. All tests are selected by default. To run an individual test or some but not all of the tests, clear the check box for those tests that you do not want to run.
5. Click Run Tests.
6. If your Dell TrueMobile WLAN Card fails any of the diagnostics tests, see Troubleshooting.

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