Poor WiFi for Lenovo U300s Ultrabook

[chriscc]

Hi guys. I just got a U300s but to my dismay, the WiFi is very, very poor. And I emphasize this.

Previously, I had an Acer netbook, pretty basic at that. It could connect to the WiFi from the table I sit in my room. Same with my Tab 10.1. However, the Lenovo wouldn't connect. I must move out of my room before it can pick up the signal. I then compared with my moms Dell laptop, and hers could receive the signal as well from my room.

Is this an isolated case, or an inherent one whereby the U300s has a below-par WiFi reception capability? It's just sad that RM4500 has been spent on something I cannot make full use of in my room, where it is convenient for me to do my work etc.

On a side note, the ultrabook gets hot as well. Since it's metal, the heat is almost piercing when I rest it on my thighs. Is this normal as well? I thought the U300s has some state of the art heat dissipation technology.

Also, how many hours can you guys squeeze out of your machine? Mine barely reaches 4 hours on 70% brightness and the other settings at default.

Thanks!

[jeepin06]

I just returned my u300s because of the WiFi, mine would connect and disconnect constantly. Mine never got to hot but I never got over 5 hours of battery either. Was hoping to order another one but not sure if that's a good idea. When your laptop is closed does the top cover flex relatively easy inward near the Lenovo logo?

[chriscc]

Ok. So that means there are others out there with this problem. I mean, it's kind of sad that THE most expensive ultrabook in the market has an inherent WiFi connectivity issue.

Yes, one thing is that it cannot find connections from places where other laptops can, and the other is that the connection drops quite frequently, and that too randomly. Never had this happen to any of my previous laptops before.

I guess I can't expect Lenovo to fix this, since I presume all their ultrabooks suffer from this. I am from Malaysia by the way.

Also sad that 8 hours advertised is far out from what I get, which is below 4 hours. You may not feel the heat because where you are might be cold/air-cond. In Malaysia, it's hot & humid.

I have not paid attention to the flexing cover. I am away currently, once I get home I will check and update.

Thanks for replying and I hope to receive replies from other forumers with U300s as well.

[fiesta]

You may need to check that both wires on wifi card are properly connected and tightly attached. In afew cases, wires were loose, causing this wifi issue.

Regarding the heat, were do you use your ultrabook and were is it usually placed? Since Malaysia is hot and humid, what is the room temp? is there free air circulation around unit?

[chriscc]

Well, what do you mean? I have to open up the laptop to access the wireless card?

Anyway, if this is a genuine problem faced by users worldwide, will Lenovo own up for their mistake?

Also, can this be because of the metal body? Other laptops that I use are plastic made, so is that a factor i.e. metal laptops have a slightly lesser WiFi reception capacity?

[jeepin06]

I spent a lot of time of the phone with Lenovo support and they recommended that I send them the laptop for service. My response was forget it I will just return it, it wasn't even a week old and they wanted me to send it in for repairs for atleast week. I don't know what to due now, I loved everything else about the laptop but with out the Internet it was stupid...Lenovo really needs to address these issues. Not sure if I should try my luck with another or look at the ux31 or xps13

[fiesta]

Hi there!

No i don't think the metal body is the issue.If you don;t want to open the laptop yourself, i dont blame you!

 I suggest you contact your vendor, actually just go straight up there and if you prefer, have them take a look at the wifi card.

Run the One Key recovery option and restore to initial back up, first, after backing up all your data. A Restoration might just give us a hand here.

'The thing is, if it had a genuine wifi issue, it wouldn't be able to either see networks or connect at all. The low connectivety and dropping, leads more likely to loose wires.

To be on the safe side, id suggest to have vendor techs check this out, and if it doesnt work out, ask for a replacement and make sure these issues dont stil excist before taking a new unit home.

lenovo provides replacement within this period of time.

Keep us posted.

[Mekelba]

Wondered why my connectivity was recieving "poor" and "fair" in my house on my living room couch so I decided to run some research. And came across this thread. In a house with 3 other laptops (Mac Book, HP, and Sony Vaio) running "excellent" internet wifi reception, I realized that I needed to walk closer to my router for full bars. Upon walking away 12 to 15 meters from the router the signal quality drops dramatically. With the most expensive laptop between the 4, I'm a bit dissappointed at this issue as mobility was a key factor in my purchase.

[jet9292]

this is a fact now, my u300e is also experiencing this. the other 4 laptops in my house can use the internet from my kitchen except the u300e i just got. the range of the wifi is ridiculously poor.

[jet9292]

also, i wanna ask, is there a laptop out there that is similar to my u300e (especially in weight), but without this wifi problem, i would like to replace this laptop so i need suggestions.