Bought a PCI Wifi card to get 300mbps and it's capping at 5! Help!

[drwhykk]

As title says, I am unable to have a wired connection and bought a USB wifi. Tried it out and out of my maximum 350mbps connection it was getting 125. I did some digging and someone recommended a PCI wifi card from amazon that they said should easily get me 300mbps. I installed it, tried to troubleshoot but it keeps capping the connection at 5.5mbps. What's going on?

PC:
Windows 10 Pro
i7-4790
8GB RAM
ASUS ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150

Router:
AT&T: BGW210-700

PCI Wifi card:
TP-Link AC1300 Arche T6E

Router settings:
5Ghz
AC/N
149 Channel
WPA2
80Mhz bandwith

I've tried multiple router settings, my other electronics (phone, laptop, etc all get 300+mbps).

Please help!

 

[boosted1g]

Do your other devices get 300mbps when in the same room as your PC? 5ghz band has a much shorter range then 2.4 ghz band does.

Is your PCI card in the back of your PC with your PC blocking signal from the router?

 

[drwhykk]

Yes, the Router is in living room and PC in dining room next to it. There's no walls or anything in between them. (Maybe 14-15 feet away).

My phone is literally on same desk getting 340+ nothing blocking vision or PC.

I've also tried 2.4ghz band and nothing

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

WiFi is very temperamental. You can't see the signal directly, so it can be a big game of guess and check to identify the best reception area and antenna orientation.

The interface you use to connect a wireless adapter to a PC is completely irrelevant to both the quantity and quality of signal any antenna will receive, however as different devices have different antenna and amplifier circuitry, they will impose a certain level of uniqueness in their suitability to the environment you use them in.

A big problem with add-in-boards, such as the PCI card you purchased, is that they are situated near the back of the PC, and often have the antenna(s) directly mounted to their retention bracket. As the previous poster mentioned, this can seriously impact both the quality and quantity of signal getting to your card. If you insist on going this route, I suggest bigger antenna with extension wires so you can situate the antenna where it is most effective.

You mention that your USB adapter was bringing in 125 Mbps. Was this not suitable to your task? How much speed do you need? Do you need a particular speed for a particular task, or are you just shooting to get the maximum connection speed your router allows because all of the other devices are reporting high connection rates? You're never going to get full speed sustained. For that you would have to be within a few feet of the wireless access point. A wire would not be out of the question if that were the case.

Have you considered power line Ethernet? This generally runs circles around WiFi when it comes to quality, provided the two powerline modules have a decent connection.

In the mean time, I suggest fiddling with the orientation of the antenna on your PCI card, getting any and all obstacles impeding it's line of site to the router, or switching back to the USB wireless adapter.

 

[mjslakeridge]

Did the card come with a cd/dvd with drivers for you to install? Are there any updated drives available on their web site?

 

[drwhykk]

Did the card come with a cd/dvd with drivers for you to install? Are there any updated drives available on their web site?

Yes, came with both. Installed both.

 

[drwhykk]

WiFi is very temperamental. You can't see the signal directly, so it can be a big game of guess and check to identify the best reception area and antenna orientation.

The interface you use to connect a wireless adapter to a PC is completely irrelevant to both the quantity and quality of signal any antenna will receive, however as different devices have different antenna and amplifier circuitry, they will impose a certain level of uniqueness in their suitability to the environment you use them in.

A big problem with add-in-boards, such as the PCI card you purchased, is that they are situated near the back of the PC, and often have the antenna(s) directly mounted to their retention bracket. As the previous poster mentioned, this can seriously impact both the quality and quantity of signal getting to your card. If you insist on going this route, I suggest bigger antenna with extension wires so you can situate the antenna where it is most effective.

You mention that your USB adapter was bringing in 125 Mbps. Was this not suitable to your task? How much speed do you need? Do you need a particular speed for a particular task, or are you just shooting to get the maximum connection speed your router allows because all of the other devices are reporting high connection rates? You're never going to get full speed sustained. For that you would have to be within a few feet of the wireless access point. A wire would not be out of the question if that were the case.

Have you considered power line Ethernet? This generally runs circles around WiFi when it comes to quality, provided the two powerline modules have a decent connection.

In the mean time, I suggest fiddling with the orientation of the antenna on your PCI card, getting any and all obstacles impeding it's line of site to the router, or switching back to the USB wireless adapter.

Thanks for the response, here's a few notes that maybe can help you understand my situation better.

The card came with software that shows "signal strength". It's sitting at 95-100%.

The card is in the back unfortunately but even when I bring out the case and turn it so the back faces the router, no improvement.

I am not allowed to make any holes in my walls (it's pre-installed by apartment complex and we have to use their set-up) and if I run a cable it would be from one wall, across the living room and dining to the PC (wood floors not carpet).

Lastly, I can understand the decrease in speed but to go from 300 to 5 seems like something is wrong. The reason I am not "satisfied" with the 125 mbps is that I'm paying for 350 and love to game and stream, so it's a waste not to use it to it's full potential. As an example, my surface pro two rooms away behind 4 walls is still getting 280.

Is there a better model or USB antenna that would get me closer to 300? I'm not tied to this PCI card and can return it to amazon no problem.

 

[mjslakeridge]

If you are only 15 feet away from the router with no walls in between, I doubt whether it is an antenna orientation issue. What software are you using to detect the speed? I had some free software called Lan Speed Test (I think). It gets installed on the various devices, and one device acts as the "server" and then you can send files of various sizes back and forth between the various devices. The instructions were not that clear (it is free), but I figured it out eventually.

The other possibility is that the PCIe Wifi card is bad, but if that were the case it probably wouldn't work at all.

 

[drwhykk]

If you are only 15 feet away from the router with no walls in between, I doubt whether it is an antenna orientation issue. What software are you using to detect the speed? I had some free software called Lan Speed Test (I think). It gets installed on the various devices, and one device acts as the "server" and then you can send files of various sizes back and forth between the various devices. The instructions were not that clear (it is free), but I figured it out eventually.

The other possibility is that the PCIe Wifi card is bad, but if that were the case it probably wouldn't work at all.

I'm literally right clicking the connection properties and it says Speed: 5mbps,

I run speed test on multiple websites and its 1-5mbps.

Same method I use for all my other devices 🙁

 

[mjslakeridge]

So you are measuring the internet connection speed. Try measuring the LAN speed. The software I was referring to above is linked to in this past Tom's thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1797977/network-speed-test.html

I can't see how, but perhaps your gateway is limiting your internet connection speed for just that device. If your LAN speed is also slow, that would rule that out.

 

[drwhykk]

So you are measuring the internet connection speed. Try measuring the LAN speed. The software I was referring to above is linked to in this past Tom's thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1797977/network-speed-test.html

I can't see how, but perhaps your gateway is limiting your internet connection speed for just that device. If your LAN speed is also slow, that would rule that out.

Ran test got:

Upload: 17,569
Download: 4,009

 

[boosted1g]

This is a situation where powerline adapter would likely work very very well. Good chance your outlet is on the same circuit as the one your outer is.
an av1200 powerline adapter should get you at least 500mbps speed from the router.

Since it is in one great room though what I would do is get a long ethernet cable and a cable staple gun and just attach it above the baseboards right near the drywall (and follow the trim boards around any doors of course). The holes made by the staples will be irrelevant when you leave. Even better if you can paint the wire the color of the walls.
Assuming the landlord understands what you are asking, most would be totally ok with that.

 

[drwhykk]

This is a situation where powerline adapter would likely work very very well. Good chance your outlet is on the same circuit as the one your outer is.
an av1200 powerline adapter should get you at least 500mbps speed from the router.

Since it is in one great room though what I would do is get a long ethernet cable and a cable staple gun and just attach it above the baseboards right near the drywall (and follow the trim boards around any doors of course). The holes made by the staples will be irrelevant when you leave. Even better if you can paint the wire the color of the walls.
Assuming the landlord understands what you are asking, most would be totally ok with that.

I thought about the ethernet cable the problem is it would have to pass though a sliding glass door and two other doorways to get to the PC. It's confusing without having the floor plan but trust me, it's a very very long distance and would require two or three door frames to reach.

In regards to the Powerline adapter (which I didn't even know existed) how reliable is this? Is it better/worse than wifi? and is there anyway to test if the circuit is correct at my apartment? I may look into this and return the WIFI PCI card.

 

[boosted1g]

This is a situation where powerline adapter would likely work very very well. Good chance your outlet is on the same circuit as the one your outer is.
an av1200 powerline adapter should get you at least 500mbps speed from the router.

Since it is in one great room though what I would do is get a long ethernet cable and a cable staple gun and just attach it above the baseboards right near the drywall (and follow the trim boards around any doors of course). The holes made by the staples will be irrelevant when you leave. Even better if you can paint the wire the color of the walls.
Assuming the landlord understands what you are asking, most would be totally ok with that.

I thought about the ethernet cable the problem is it would have to pass though a sliding glass door and two other doorways to get to the PC. It's confusing without having the floor plan but trust me, it's a very very long distance and would require two or three door frames to reach.

In regards to the Powerline adapter (which I didn't even know existed) how reliable is this? Is it better/worse than wifi? and is there anyway to test if the circuit is correct at my apartment? I may look into this and return the WIFI PCI card.

When you briefly went over your layout you said there is no walls in between so it seemed like it would not have to pass through any door to get there.

If you pay your own electricity bill then your apartment should be isolated from the rest of the building and it should work well.
If electricity is bundled into your rent then this may or may not work very well for you.
If your apartment building is very old (like wiring from 60+ years ago) then it may not work very good.
There is really no decent way to tell if powerline will work for you until you without just trying it. If it all possible I would buy one locally to at least test it.
For gaming powerline is actually better then wifi. Any wireless signal is going to have increased latency (so higher ping) then a wired signal, thats physics. Latency/ping is actually more important for gaming than mbps; in fast action games you need a small amount of data to get there quickly, not transfer a large amount of data.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Is power line Ethernet more reliable than WiFi? The easy answer is, yes, it's more reliable than WiFi, as you should be able to attest to how unreliable WiFi is, especially from one device to another. The exception would be where the power line Ethernet modules are too far from one another or can not generate a clean, usable signal for some reason. Also, they don't necessarily have to be on the same breaker, but should be on the same 120 V feed of your 240 V mains. There are phase couplers if your outlets are not attached to the same 120 V feed, but they require somebody who knows how to work in an electrical panel to install them.

Ultimately, the results you're seeing from your PCI card could be a case of one or both of your WiFi devices not playing well with the other. Just because manufacturers follow specs, doesn't mean they can't both be at opposite ends of the same spec for compatibility purposes.

If you do get power line Ethernet units, they have to plug directly into the wall. No power strips, no surge suppressors, etc. They need a direct connection.

 

[drwhykk]

Thanks for the last two remarks.

@boosted1g Yeah, maybe I wasn't clear. There's no walls in between the PC and the router but there is two long rooms worth of cables with door frames leading to other parts of house I would have to cross to get the hardwire connection. I do pay my own bill, and it's a new apartment complex (>2 years old) so should be good to go!

Glad to hear that Powerline will work from both of your responses. I have gone ahead and returned the PCI Wifi card (~$50) and purchased those $66 ones from amazon you linked. Will post back in 2-3 days with results.

 

[drwhykk]

This is a situation where powerline adapter would likely work very very well. Good chance your outlet is on the same circuit as the one your outer is.
an av1200 powerline adapter should get you at least 500mbps speed from the router.

Since it is in one great room though what I would do is get a long ethernet cable and a cable staple gun and just attach it above the baseboards right near the drywall (and follow the trim boards around any doors of course). The holes made by the staples will be irrelevant when you leave. Even better if you can paint the wire the color of the walls.
Assuming the landlord understands what you are asking, most would be totally ok with that.

I thought about the ethernet cable the problem is it would have to pass though a sliding glass door and two other doorways to get to the PC. It's confusing without having the floor plan but trust me, it's a very very long distance and would require two or three door frames to reach.

In regards to the Powerline adapter (which I didn't even know existed) how reliable is this? Is it better/worse than wifi? and is there anyway to test if the circuit is correct at my apartment? I may look into this and return the WIFI PCI card.

When you briefly went over your layout you said there is no walls in between so it seemed like it would not have to pass through any door to get there.

If you pay your own electricity bill then your apartment should be isolated from the rest of the building and it should work well.
If electricity is bundled into your rent then this may or may not work very well for you.
If your apartment building is very old (like wiring from 60+ years ago) then it may not work very good.
There is really no decent way to tell if powerline will work for you until you without just trying it. If it all possible I would buy one locally to at least test it.
For gaming powerline is actually better then wifi. Any wireless signal is going to have increased latency (so higher ping) then a wired signal, thats physics. Latency/ping is actually more important for gaming than mbps; in fast action games you need a small amount of data to get there quickly, not transfer a large amount of data.

Reporting back, power line system arrived and is running.

I'm getting 230 down which is a significant improvement but still not close to the 350 cap.

This is a significant improvement on the 130-160 range I was getting from the $30 USB and the non-working PCI card which I returned. The only issue I have with this system is the size of the hardware on the walls and it's $67 price tag but I don't think I will get much closer to 300/350mbps with any other system around same price.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Glad to hear you're seeing improvement.

You're going to have to accept the limitations of what you have to work with. You want full wire speed, but without the wire. You can get close, but you're never going to get 100%. In fact, even with proper wired Ethernet, you never get the full connection speed as your actual data throughput. There is protocol overhead, plus latency introduced on both ends by the equipment queuing up the data and the other end receiving it. 230 is more than needed for any possible task online. You might ask yourself if you even need to be buying 350 Mbps worth of bandwidth if you can't use that much. How many online download servers even allow one user that much bandwidth when downloading?

Have you ever established a baseline for the best attainable data throughput your can achieve from your router? Running an Ethernet cable to the router from the PC and testing that way should tell you if you're grasping at something that isn't even there. If you haven't established the maximum your PC can receive from your router, you don't even know that the power line Ethernet units are the culprit for your 230 Mbps cap.

If you have other PCs on the network, attached to the same router (preferably wired), you could also do some local testing with a free utility such as iPerf and see what your local throughput is.

 

[drwhykk]

Glad to hear you're seeing improvement.

You're going to have to accept the limitations of what you have to work with. You want full wire speed, but without the wire. You can get close, but you're never going to get 100%. In fact, even with proper wired Ethernet, you never get the full connection speed as your actual data throughput. There is protocol overhead, plus latency introduced on both ends by the equipment queuing up the data and the other end receiving it. 230 is more than needed for any possible task online. You might ask yourself if you even need to be buying 350 Mbps worth of bandwidth if you can't use that much. How many online download servers even allow one user that much bandwidth when downloading?

Have you ever established a baseline for the best attainable data throughput your can achieve from your router? Running an Ethernet cable to the router from the PC and testing that way should tell you if you're grasping at something that isn't even there. If you haven't established the maximum your PC can receive from your router, you don't even know that the power line Ethernet units are the culprit for your 230 Mbps cap.

If you have other PCs on the network, attached to the same router (preferably wired), you could also do some local testing with a free utility such as iPerf and see what your local throughput is.

Thanks for the info.

Yeah my choices in area where 350mbps for $60/month for 24 months or 50mbps for $40/month. There wasn't really much of a middle ground and when I had 50 previously it got rough with multiple people with Netflix running and gaming, etc.

At this point I'm being picky like you said, 230 is more than I probably will ever use/need. In fact, now that i think about it maybe even the 150mbps was plenty for half the price even for gaming. What do you think?

 

[mjslakeridge]

Lucky you! I pay about $50 per month for 6Mbps download, although I actually get around 7.5Mbps download and 1.5Mbps upload. That's what I get for living in the 4th largest city in the U.S.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

LOL, we're at 3 Mbps down with a 5 Mbps burst for $50. Happy to be able to get that, after being limited to dial-up for decades in this area.

Before you switch back to wireless, do some latency tests with your power line Ethernet. Latency is generally the most important factor for online gaming, and you should find that the EoP has much better latency numbers than wireless.