In this article measurements of small scale electron density fluctuations in dithering high confinement ͑H͒-mode plasmas obtained by collective scattering of infrared light are presented. A scan of the fluctuation wavenumber was made in a series of similar discharges in the Wendelstein 7-AS ͑W7-AS͒ stellarator ͓H. Renner et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 31, 1579 ͑1989͔͒. The experimental setup and discharge properties are described. H ␣-light observing an inner limiter was used to separate low confinement ͑L͒and H-mode phases of the plasma; the separated density fluctuations are characterized. It was found that L-͑H-͒ mode fluctuations dominate at high ͑low͒ frequencies, respectively, and that they possess well-defined and distinguishable scaling properties. Wavenumber spectra for Land H-mode measurements are calculated and fitted by power-laws and exponential functions. The separated measurements can be fitted with the same exponents in Land H-mode. Correlations between the density fluctuations, the H ␣-signal and magnetic fluctuations as measured by Mirnov coils were analyzed. Correlation calculations using 50 ms time windows ͑several dithering periods͒ with time lag steps of 100 s showed that all the fluctuating quantities are highly correlated and that the maximum correlation occurs for high frequency density fluctuations. Performing separate Land H-mode correlations on a 20 s time scale between magnetic and density fluctuations leads to the result that the minimum correlation time scale in L-mode is of order 100 s, while no correlation exists for H-mode.