Question NEW Home - Wifi Network Recommendations

[MEMOFLEX]

Hi all,

I am about to move into a new home and will be reliant on a wifi network for the first time rather than via ethernet and I am looking for some recommendations on both a PCIE add in card and a router. The PCIE card is for my desktop which is my primary concern but I also want to try and maximise coverage for other devices where possible.

The house I am moving into is a new build in the UK and is a 3 story town house. The internet comes in on the ground floor which is where the ISP router will be located but there is a built in ethernet cat 6 passthrough which bridges to the living room on the floor directly above. I am looking to install the purchased router in the living room and use the ISP router in modem only mode. My desktop PC will be located in the room directly above the living room. As this is a new build then we are not dealing with any thick stone walls and only 1 floor to pass through.

I do utilise my PC for gaming which is my main drive to try and ensure that I can get the best connection / minimise latency that I can whilst being mindful that nothing will be as good as my previous wired connection.

From looking online then PCIE adapters like the TP-LINK Archer TXE75E or the ASUS AXE59BT seem to be my best bets but I am happy to take recommendations if there are other add in cards that would be better performers.

From a router perspective then I was looking at something along the lines of the TP-LINK Archer AXE75 but again if there is better router for my needs then please let me know your thoughts.

I am looking to not spend anymore than £250 - 300 if possible but should the ideal solution step outside of this then I can consider making the jump.

If any further information is required then let me know and thanks in advance for any help.

Roman

 

[bill001g]

Those are the best type of wifi cards to use on a desktop. It helps to move the antenna away from the back of the case.
How well wifi works mostly is going to depend on how many other people living near you are using wifi. Wifi6e with the 6ghz radio band will help a bit since there is lots of bandwidth.......for now until everyone starts to use it and wifi7 comes out and tries to hog it all.

I would actually run the isp modem/router as your main router and then run the second "router" on the upper floor as a AP. If you set the SSID the same on both device for similar radio bands you would get more radio coverage in your house. Won't make any difference for you desktop but things like your phones should switch between the sources......well if they feel like it sometimes they stay connected to a weaker source.

 

[punkncat]

For what it's worth my son lives in a home with a similar situation and was having issues with signal strength. We ended up getting the Asus PCE-AX3000 and it has performed admirably for the price. IDK how it compares to the Asus you linked above but to say that I feel the brand in general is selling items worth consideration for price to performance.

I mean, to be fair I have some TR-Link stuff in use and it just works as well, so...

 

[MEMOFLEX]

Those are the best type of wifi cards to use on a desktop. It helps to move the antenna away from the back of the case.
How well wifi works mostly is going to depend on how many other people living near you are using wifi. Wifi6e with the 6ghz radio band will help a bit since there is lots of bandwidth.......for now until everyone starts to use it and wifi7 comes out and tries to hog it all.

I would actually run the isp modem/router as your main router and then run the second "router" on the upper floor as a AP. If you set the SSID the same on both device for similar radio bands you would get more radio coverage in your house. Won't make any difference for you desktop but things like your phones should switch between the sources......well if they feel like it sometimes they stay connected to a weaker source.

Thanks for the response bud. Sounds like I will be good with either of those add in cards then!

There are only 5 houses in a row with a substantial gap to the next houses so these are the main concerns. I think there will always be an element of battling against others wifi signals but I guess we can only go with the most recent tech and manage accordingly.

The layout of the house means that there is only a utility room, garage and downstairs WC on the ground floor and so I am not that bothered about decent signal on that floor. The key rooms and rear garden are all on the first & second floors so in the spirit of simplicity I will probably just use the modem to route config initally but that is a good shout for the future potentially. Once I am in properly I can look to see what works best - once I have the desktop sorted of course!!

 

[MEMOFLEX]

For what it's worth my son lives in a home with a similar situation and was having issues with signal strength. We ended up getting the Asus PCE-AX3000 and it has performed admirably for the price. IDK how it compares to the Asus you linked above but to say that I feel the brand in general is selling items worth consideration for price to performance.

I mean, to be fair I have some TR-Link stuff in use and it just works as well, so...

Thanks for the advice. I will have a look at the ASUS card suggested as I am always open to suggestions.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

I gather that all of the PCIE add in cards use a PCIE x1 interface which should just get pulled from the motherboard lanes not the cpu ones? (Sorry not really networking but is related and not sure it is worth another thread)

I am on z370 platform (ASUS MAXIMUS X HERO) still and from my understanding this will not effect the top x16 lane with my GPU in anyway.

 

[bill001g]

Yes that is how the slots on most motherboards now work and I would assume the z370 is new enough that it works that way also.

It is pretty easy to verify load gpuz and make sure you have 16 lanes to the video card.

Even if you would somehow only get 8 lanes it likely would not affect your video card much. When 4090 first came out they wanted to see if it would run on PCIE 3 motherboards. Since most boards you can't just change it they cheated and put tape on the card to block 8 lanes. It doesn't have much impact to run a 4090 on pcie4 x 8 so other video cards likely also have no issues.

 

[MEMOFLEX]

Yeah I am pretty comfortable with hardware (outside of wireless networking) but I thought I would take the opportunity for a sense check. Thanks for the confirmation. Appreciated