Need Help Getting A Stronger Wireless Signal On New Router+Wireless Card

[foster5]

I just built a computer last week with an Asus pce-68 network card. Installed all the latest drivers on it and it connects to my Netgear R7000 Nighthawk but I only get a 2 bar MAX from only about 20-30 away, IF that. Playing games on my new computer is almost impossible because of the connection.

I read about many people being much, much farther away and with weaker wireless adapters getting full bars. How am I getting only 2 bars? I cant move either my router or my computer. Any other suggestions would be really appreciated because this is really stressful having just put together a 2300$+ gaming pc to not be able to play games.

 

[g90814]

make sure all the antennas are connected tightly, they can come loose in shipping.

 

[bobsilver]

On the R7000 you want top adjust the antennas in this manner. Assuming that the router is lying flat set the center antenna to 90 degrees up. Se the 2 outer antennas at 45 degree angles out from the router keeping then perpendicular to the router as much as possible. That should give you optimum coverage.

Now if that doesnt help then we need to do a little analysis. You will need a laptop or Andriod tablet and 1 of the many wifi analyser programs. These programs will identify signal strength and channels and some will idenify noise level too. This will be key to see if you have interference or just low signal strength.

Also I didnt mention placement of the router. It should be placed about table heigth if you can. Away from other electronics.

Also are you using the 2.4 ort 5g bands? 2.4 has longer range but slower speeds. It is also far more crowded.

And lastly you can try a network speed test using the free lan_speed app. This will write a file on your net and determine speed throughput.

Let me know how it goes.

Bob Silver
NETGEAR Consultant