Question Need better wifi, help me to decide what to buy network cards

[Thomas4140]

So I've been playing on wifi usb sticks for a long time, didn't had much trouble. I was aware of slow downloading speeds with this stick, at 1.8-2.3mb/s max.
I would like when i buy something new that it would enhance that (a bit) too. My brother is plugged in with a cable on it and it has 4.5-5mb/s with unlimited dl gb's.
But that's not the main reason i want to purchase a new one. My usb stick is plugged into the usb ports and it keeps disconnecting like never before, I've tried like changing it to 3 ports but it keeps disconnecting. i also had high ping issues as of lately, i think the usb stick is worn/used.
The usb stick i use is: TP-Link Archer T4U

So my home situation is my internet router is in my brothers room, but its on the opposite (thick) wall behind me. So his wall doesn't give out on my pc sits at the opposite of it so i cant plug it in.
My parents are against drilling holes, and i dont even have the equipment to do it if i wanted to or expertise (because theres electrics wires in the wall).


So i wanna buy something that doesn't keep falling out, like a pci card that i plug into the motherboard. But i'm not aware what i need to buy in order (in terms of specs) to make it work efficiently and fast. I want something futureproof so i don't have this issues again later. I was thinking about a pci or NETWORK card that you can plug into your motherboard, i heard it isnt that hard too do.

What do i need to know and how to look at the specs so that i'm sure that i buy a good network card and it works? Thanks for help

This are my specs, incase you need to know my motherboard etc:

MOBO: MSI Z97 GAMING 3
GPU: Gigbaby RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC
CPU: Intel CORE I7-4790K 4.00GHZ
PSU: Corsair RM750x 80+ Gold
RAM: 16GB DDR3 - 1600 mhz
OS: Windows 10

Screen: AOC Agon AG273QCX
KB: Corsair Gaming K70 LUX MX Red
Mouse: Logitech G302
Headset: Steelseries Artics 5
SSD: Crucial BX200 SSD 480GB
HDD: 3TB

 

[bill001g]

If it is the wall thickness a new card may not help much.

Maybe consider powerline networks instead.

Before you buy anything try a USB extension cord maybe better placement in the room away from the computer will help.

That is a tiny internet connection for 2 or more people to share you are likely going to have issues no matter what technology you use.

 

[Thomas4140]

If it is the wall thickness a new card may not help much.

Maybe consider powerline networks instead.

Before you buy anything try a USB extension cord maybe better placement in the room away from the computer will help.

That is a tiny internet connection for 2 or more people to share you are likely going to have issues no matter what technology you use.

Dunno, i meant just to drill the holes its kinda thick and its not my home so, but on my mobile phone i have great wifi signal and can stream netflix etc without issues. So i doubt its the problem of the wall. I was thinking of buying network card, is there anything i should take into consideration in terms of it will fit in my motherboard? Or it all uses the same kinda of output for the slot?

 

[bill001g]

If you have a extra pcie slot that is all you really need. You can get some that fit those short pcie slots also.

Mostly it a matter of getting it into the case and not blocking airflow to say your video card.

Since you have a very minimal internet connection you do not need anything too fancy. A card with a 1200 number like your usb stick will likely be more than enough.

 

[Thomas4140]

If you have a extra pcie slot that is all you really need. You can get some that fit those short pcie slots also.

Mostly it a matter of getting it into the case and not blocking airflow to say your video card.

Since you have a very minimal internet connection you do not need anything too fancy. A card with a 1200 number like your usb stick will likely be more than enough.

Ye i have 3 PCI slots (not E) with a number on the end, and then one above my gpu where there's a tiny slot, looks for 2 seperated rectangle slots called pci e. And next to that (small pci e slot) is USB slot so i just need to connect those, the wires i mean ?

 

[Thomas4140]

Since you have a very minimal internet connection you do not need anything too fancy. A card with a 1200 number like your usb stick will likely be more than enough.

My brother have 39.8 mbps and 7-8 upload. What card u would recommend? I want to buy a higher end card but only if i can take it benifits profits. I want to see big difference when spending +40€ up to 100 or would u just recommend me buying a cheap one? I would not want to buy a highend one just to notice barely difference

I also believe my internet only supports the 2.4ghz bandwidth.

 

[bill001g]

This is where you have to learn what the fake numbers mean.

A 1200 card is 300 on 2.4g and 900 on 5g. You can't actually use both at the same time so you get only 300 or 900. A 1750 device is 450 on 2.4g and 1300 on 5g.

The problem is this assumes you router also have this ability. You need to see what your router supports, does no good to buy a fancy card if the router can't use it.

The problem is the method they use to say go from 300 to 450 is to attempt to transmit 3 overlapping signals rather that 2 though a wall. In real world you get very little increase even though these numbers pretend you can get large increases.

I would first be very sure you are running on the 5g band. That way if you only get 10% of the speed it will be 10% of 900 rather than 10% of 300.

The problem is the 5g band has more trouble going though the wall. So in some cases 2.4g even though it is slower can get more data though a wall.

 

[Thomas4140]

This is where you have to learn what the fake numbers mean.

A 1200 card is 300 on 2.4g and 900 on 5g. You can't actually use both at the same time so you get only 300 or 900. A 1750 device is 450 on 2.4g and 1300 on 5g.

The problem is this assumes you router also have this ability. You need to see what your router supports, does no good to buy a fancy card if the router can't use it.

The problem is the method they use to say go from 300 to 450 is to attempt to transmit 3 overlapping signals rather that 2 though a wall. In real world you get very little increase even though these numbers pretend you can get large increases.

I would first be very sure you are running on the 5g band. That way if you only get 10% of the speed it will be 10% of 900 rather than 10% of 300.

The problem is the 5g band has more trouble going though the wall. So in some cases 2.4g even though it is slower can get more data though a wall.

I've bought this one: https://www.alternate.be/TP-Link/Archer-T4E-wlan-adapter/html/product/1553874?lk=19316 It has great reviews and unlike the asus ones (see in list) there doesn't seem te be issues when you reguraly update your windows 10 system with drivers. It has great reviews also recent on amazon aswell. Do you think its a good buy? Its 33 euro with shipping. It seems like the best out of the list i looked at : https://www.alternate.be/html/listi...se&filter_4230=3&filter_-1=800&filter_-1=4000

some people suggested me to get Asus PCE-AC88 but it seems expensive a lot, i would buy/invest it if i where to be sure it would improve my situtation, but i think the speeds are way too high (to profit) for my network anyway. Judging on how my brothers speeds are with ethernet cable plugged directly into the modem. I think i will get the same performance so spending so much more seems like a big step.

 

[bill001g]

TPlink is known for making quality product at a good price. Asus you are paying for the name many times. The best drivers for nic cards tend to be directly from the chipset manufacture. These seem to be the first updated.

Be very suspect of consumer reviews good and bad. Like your problems the house you put them in makes a huge difference. In most cases people are reviewing how well wifi works in their house and not a particular device.

The fancy asus card does you no good if your router also does not support the feature. This would be like buying one of the new 802.11ax (wifi 6) cards but your router is still only 802.11ac.

 

[Thomas4140]

This is where you have to learn what the fake numbers mean.

A 1200 card is 300 on 2.4g and 900 on 5g. You can't actually use both at the same time so you get only 300 or 900. A 1750 device is 450 on 2.4g and 1300 on 5g.

The problem is this assumes you router also have this ability. You need to see what your router supports, does no good to buy a fancy card if the router can't use it.

The problem is the method they use to say go from 300 to 450 is to attempt to transmit 3 overlapping signals rather that 2 though a wall. In real world you get very little increase even though these numbers pretend you can get large increases.

I would first be very sure you are running on the 5g band. That way if you only get 10% of the speed it will be 10% of 900 rather than 10% of 300.

The problem is the 5g band has more trouble going though the wall. So in some cases 2.4g even though it is slower can get more data though a wall.

Ye i agree, i think my router only has the 2.4g bandwidth, since it's the only one listed on network settings and its quite an old router, but it's a router and modem all in one (called b box2) bought from a big company (proximus) here that provides nearly all traffic (theres one competitor f.e) in belgium.

My brother gets 40 Mbps, so around 4.5-5 mb/s on his ether cable plugged directly in modem.
So i assume my card having 300mbit on 2.4 it would be more than capable and wouldn't benefit much: -> for example a more expensive card with 400 or 600mbit on 2.4g bandwith.

Since it only uses 40mbit out of the 300 maximum (cap) ? Am i right or is that the wrong way of reasoning/ thinking about it.?

 

[bill001g]

To get 600 on the 2.4g they need to run 4 data streams. This means it has the router needs 4 antenna.

You need to check the specs on your router. It may not even be able to run the 300. In general you will not even get 1/4 of the numbers especially as they try to do tricky things to get more data.

You can in effect replace the radios in your current router. You would put another router in front of your current one. You can run it in AP mode. For under $50 you can get a number of routers with a 1200 number. If you buy used on ebay they are even cheaper. Using the 5g band will greatly increase you chance to run at your 40mbps maximum speed.

Still your first step is to figure out what you currently have.

 

[Thomas4140]

To get 600 on the 2.4g they need to run 4 data streams. This means it has the router needs 4 antenna.

You need to check the specs on your router. It may not even be able to run the 300. In general you will not even get 1/4 of the numbers especially as they try to do tricky things to get more data.

You can in effect replace the radios in your current router. You would put another router in front of your current one. You can run it in AP mode. For under $50 you can get a number of routers with a 1200 number. If you buy used on ebay they are even cheaper. Using the 5g band will greatly increase you chance to run at your 40mbps maximum speed.

Still your first step is to figure out what you currently have.

It's about the same speed with the adapter, but the weird thing is that is somehow when downloading a game i open a browser and discord in the same time the download speeds drop hugely to 200kb with the PCI card adapter in.

I don't know why this happening, i feel like it never did until my usb adapter became to malfunction. Switching to card didnt change that. Could it be the drivers that limit the speed? I think i unistalled them off the usb adapter but maybe there still malfunctioning? I install drivers with cd provided with network card and i got online within a sec but i still have these issues when multitasking?

Also does it matter how you set the 2 signal thingy's of the card? Do they have to be straight line or u can curve them to the sides? They are slightly in the way / tangled with other cables of usb.