Question Question on Wi fi speeds and what I can do

[debgram]

My modem pushes out over 400 Mbps Arris TM1602 - Spectrum internet - Windows 11 -

Linksys Max-stream Duel band wifi 5 router

Next-Gen AC WiFi with breakthrough MU-MIMO technology for powerful streaming and gaming.
Covers up to 1,800 sq. ft and 15+ devices
Up to 2.6 Gbps WiFi speeds
Delivers up to 2x the speed of non MU-MIMO routers*

So 2.4 GHz should get up to 800Mbps and 5 GHz up to 1733 Mbps. I get 780-866 now and 156-173 on the 2.4.

MB Asus Rog Strix B360-F - the network card Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (7) I219-V and the highest speed is 1.0 Gbps
So my question would a stronger/better network card work and what would you suggest? I don't want to go over $100 if possible, thanks

 

[bill001g]

Not sure what you are asking. If you are using a ethernet cable to connect to the router then the wifi doesn't matter.

The router is only half the connection the nic in your machine is the other half which you don't list.

So first that router is trying to use 4x4 mimo and it is very rare that any nic card has more than 2 antenna. In addition to get a 800 number on 2.4 they are using a non standard data encoding that is not supported by many devices.

Now if you have some wifi nic card you want to replace you need to find a card that has 4 antenna which is very rare. A huge part of the issues is overlapping 2 signals is a pretty big increase in speed over just 1. Adding a third and forth give much less. The optimum price/performance point is 2x2 mimo which is why most devices support that.

Your best option if you want fast speed is to use a ethernet cable. Most devices that run only on wifi, like a phone, don't really get a lot of benifit from a really fast connection. It only really matters when you download large amounts of data and most portable devices have very small storage.

 

[debgram]

Not sure what you are asking. If you are using a ethernet cable to connect to the router then the wifi doesn't matter.

The router is only half the connection the nic in your machine is the other half which you don't list.

So first that router is trying to use 4x4 mimo and it is very rare that any nic card has more than 2 antenna. In addition to get a 800 number on 2.4 they are using a non standard data encoding that is not supported by many devices.

Now if you have some wifi nic card you want to replace you need to find a card that has 4 antenna which is very rare. A huge part of the issues is overlapping 2 signals is a pretty big increase in speed over just 1. Adding a third and forth give much less. The optimum price/performance point is 2x2 mimo which is why most devices support that.

Your best option if you want fast speed is to use a ethernet cable. Most devices that run only on wifi, like a phone, don't really get a lot of benifit from a really fast connection. It only really matters when you download large amounts of data and most portable devices have very small storage.

Why I was asking about the wi fi is that we intend to get security camera's outside in our back yard and I want to be sure there's a strong connection. We had tried a booster from linksys but we sent it back because it wasn't putting out anything more than what our router was doing, in fact, the router is listed as stronger than the booster. Linksys service said the booster would still boost that but I didn't see it so we returned it. I am using an ethernet cable for the internet but wi fi for my phones and printer.

 

[bill001g]

Then all that stuff doesn't matter. Your current devices can't even use the fancy encoding your router supports. Many wifi cameras run on 2.4g with only a single antenna. 2.4 tend to go through walls better and almost all cameras compress the data a lot before they send it so they do not need really fast connection speeds.

So first none of this has anything to do with how far the signal goes. That is purely a function of radio transmit power which is regulated by the government. As you found out most router put out very close to the legal maximum. The problem will be more end device like cameras may not put out the legal maximum. So the camera can hear the router but its signal might not be strong enough to get back to the router.

There is no magic device that will make this better. It is either going to work or it is not. Your only real option would be to run a ethernet cable though the wall to a outdoor wifi AP. Still most security cameras need power so you are running some kind of wire to them. You might as well use a ethernet cable to provide the power using PoE and get a data connection at the same time.

 

[hotaru.hino]

Theoretically you can improve the performance of Wi-Fi on the device end by swapping the antenna for a directional antenna, as devices use omnidirectional ones. It's basically like swapping a lantern for a flashlight.

But it's probably not worth actually doing because it's an intermediate level mod at best. It's not something you can just buy off Amazon and put in your device. Also, of course, it means you have to point the antenna towards the router at all times.