I have a LinkSys WRT54G2 router w/ G network... perhaps that's the problem. The network only shows up once in the task bar.
Hello, I have an XPS 8100 and have been very satisfied for the most part, but have had a persistent problem with the wireless card, the Atheros DW1525 WLAN PCIe Card. The wireless signal swings wildly between 3 bars and 5 bars - and the computer is close to the router. The card only weakly picks up other signals and it is often weak and spotty. I compared with my Dell Inspiron 13 (which has an Intel wireless N card), and it is literally 5x as fast on speed tests, picks up a lot of other signals, and is always 5 bars.  I tried to reinstall the Atheros drivers from the Dell support site, and that seemed to do the trick for a while.... the card was picking up as many signals as my notebook and at the same strength and speed. But after a Windows Update, the problem returned. I tried to reinstall the drivers again but got blue screen errors when I attempted to install Atheros' drivers... I spoke to a Dell tech, did a full factory image restore, and while I'm not getting blue screens now, the signal continues to be weak and spotty. I have Windows 7 64 bit... I've looked all over for solutions but have found nothing. If anyone could provide some tips or a solution, I'd be very grateful. Thanks.
Weak/Spotty Reception with DW1525 WLAN PCIe Card - Windows 7 64-bit