[SOLVED] Archer C9/Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 slow wifi connection

[Nighthawk117]

Hi guys,

I have a TP Link Archer C9 router and a TP Link AX3000 Wifi card (Intel Wifi 6 AX200). I'm connected via the 5Ghz band, the router is positioned in the centre of the house on the floor below and the PC is in a room just above. I get 5 bars for signal strength in Windows but my connection speed is relatively low at 104Mbps. Any ideas why and what I can do to increase the connection speed?

Thanks

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

What is your pc build? I recently had the same problem with connection speed while also having a strong wifi signal. Turned out to be my antenna had a faulty wire to the motherboard. A new antenna brought it back to 540mbps

 

[bill001g]

The problem with wifi and signal levels is that you might be getting strong signal from your router but you might also have a very strong source of interference from neighbors routers.

Although it tends to be a pain I would try to test with the router and the pc in the same room. If is is the same speed then it is more likely some setting you can change. If it is a lot faster then it is one of those wifi environmental things that are hard to find.

Note do you actually see the exact value 104 in a connection status in windows or is this some number from speedtest. If you get a 104 connection number it generally means you are running on a 20mhz wide radio band with not so good signal levels.

It would not be uncommon to only get say 130-150mbps on the setup like you have at normal distances but some people can get 300mbps on the same setup.

 

[Nighthawk117]

The problem with wifi and signal levels is that you might be getting strong signal from your router but you might also have a very strong source of interference from neighbors routers.

Although it tends to be a pain I would try to test with the router and the pc in the same room. If is is the same speed then it is more likely some setting you can change. If it is a lot faster then it is one of those wifi environmental things that are hard to find.

Note do you actually see the exact value 104 in a connection status in windows or is this some number from speedtest. If you get a 104 connection number it generally means you are running on a 20mhz wide radio band with not so good signal levels.

It would not be uncommon to only get say 130-150mbps on the setup like you have at normal distances but some people can get 300mbps on the same setup.

I get 104Mbs in Windows for the Link Speed (Receive, Transmit was a little higher), so not Speedtest, purely network connection. The router is set to Auto for Channel Width, there are two options 20Mhz and 40Mhz.

I misread, the 5Ghz band has options for 20Mhz, 40Mhz and 80Mhz. I'm not sure which it's using, is one preferable?

 

[kanewolf]

I get 104Mbs in Windows for the Link Speed (Receive, Transmit was a little higher), so not Speedtest, purely network connection. The router is set to Auto for Channel Width, there are two options 20Mhz and 40Mhz.

I misread, the 5Ghz band has options for 20Mhz, 40Mhz and 80Mhz. I'm not sure which it's using, is one preferable?

Generally 40Mhz is the safest setting for 5Ghz.
104Mbit link speed is pretty slow.
The problem with WIFI routers is they are designed to broadcast horizontally. If you are directly above the router you might be in a "doughnut hole" of the signal. Since that router has external antennas, you could try orienting one of them horizontal so that the signal is vertical.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

If you have a phone, sitting near your pc, what speeds is it getting?

 

[Nighthawk117]

Generally 40Mhz is the safest setting for 5Ghz.
104Mbit link speed is pretty slow.
The problem with WIFI routers is they are designed to broadcast horizontally. If you are directly above the router you might be in a "doughnut hole" of the signal. Since that router has external antennas, you could try orienting one of them horizontal so that the signal is vertical.

I had a couple of them orientated at a 45 degree angle, it seems to perform similarly to horizontal.

 

[bill001g]

You need to find some way to force it to use wider than 20mhz channels. Some routers are too smart and think they are avoid neighbors signals.

All I can suggest is you try various setting on the router first. Also try changing the radio channels on the router maybe there is some strangeness going on.

You can also attempt to set the channels width etc on end device but most do not even have the option and having it on auto tend to be the best since you can't actually override the router setting.

Something though is causing it to negotiate such a very slow rate. The fairly standard rates you see are more like 150,300 or maybe 867 using a 80mhz band.

 

[kanewolf]

I had a couple of them orientated at a 45 degree angle, it seems to perform similarly to horizontal.

Same thing applies to the antennas on your PC. Point them perpendicular to the direction of the router.

 

[Nighthawk117]

What is your pc build? I recently had the same problem with connection speed while also having a strong wifi signal. Turned out to be my antenna had a faulty wire to the motherboard. A new antenna brought it back to 540mbps

It's a relatively new 10850K build, I'm actually using a TP-Link Wifi card with an Intel chipset. My motherboard (MSI Mag z490 Tomahawk) doesn't have built in Wifi. Wifi adapters are the only thing that have ever died on me so I was reluctant to have it built into the motherboard.

I got it about a year ago because I was getting connection drops with an old Wifi AC USB dongle. It fixed the issue and haven't had a single drop since.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Generally 40Mhz is the safest setting for 5Ghz.
104Mbit link speed is pretty slow.
The problem with WIFI routers is they are designed to broadcast horizontally. If you are directly above the router you might be in a "doughnut hole" of the signal. Since that router has external antennas, you could try orienting one of them horizontal so that the signal is vertical.

I downloaded a Wifi Analyser app, it didn't tell me the connection speed but it said channel width was 20Mhz. I've changed this to 40Mhz as suggested and my speeds are much higher. They seem to change depending on how I look at the computer but I'm consistently getting over 200Mbps now. Current 243/240 Mbps receive/send.

 

[Nighthawk117]

It was the 20Mhz channel width that was causing me the problem, my connection speed is consistently a lot faster now. Thanks guys for all your help, much appreciated.