Network lag with PCI WiFi card

[SamuelWinters]

Hello folks,

I have a desktop with an internal WiFi PCI-E card. Ralink RT2860 judging by looking up the hardware ID.

I'm using Windows Pro 8.1 and it shows full signal strength. I'm using the 2.4Ghz band.

When playing Team Fortress 2, the game would freeze quite often for about 1-2 seconds. Some other internet applications would also exhibit this freeze and catch-up behavior.
I've ruled out the issue being in the router or WiFi interference since using an external WiFi to Ethernet adapter solves the issue.
I've tried using an USB WiFi adapter but it has the same problem.

I'm wondering what the issue might be. Is it a motherboard issue with the PCI bus bandwidth or something else?

Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[boosted1g]

If you have the same problem with a USB stick then it could not be PCI issue.

Wireless bridge devices usually have a pretty decent powered antenna in them.
USB devices are limited to small antennas powered by the limited usb bus, thus the fact that the USB stick did not perform well is expected.
The PCI card or its driver must not have been very good.
The bridge device is better then the other two options so I would either stick with that or an even better option is a powerline network adapter.