[SOLVED] WiFi Speeds?

[Zoladex]

Heya.
I built a PC a couple years back and have since bought a new laptop. I noticed the laptop downloads really fast compared to the PC.
Originally i thought it is just time to upgrade an old WiFi card, but on researching a little, it seems the card is ok. Not the fastest, but not so slow compared to the laptop specs.

Im a little stuck if it is actually a slow card / its not set up right / im missing something with the specs (like how RAM speed shows half the advertised)

PC details:
TP-Link TL-WN881ND 300Mpbs Wireless N (interesting to see still an 'Amazon Choice' item)
Windows Connection: 144Mbps
Fast Test: 16Mbps
Steam Speed~ 5-6MB/s (always the same, even now on a WiFi 3x the speed of my old one)
Clue: in properties it only has one numbered option 802.11b Preamble (Long & Short / Long Only). Im not sure what long/short is but i know 11b is an old Wifi type, should the N type card be using this?
There is line labeled AdHoc 11n (Disable / Enable), currently disabled. Googled this which says enables N type connection to WiFi. Sounded promising but the Fast Test doesn't really change much with it on . Shouldn't there be options like the laptop?

Laptop Details:
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 (Max spec seems to be 867Mbps)
Windows Connection: 400Mbps (seems to vary, seen it at 722Mbps, though thinking this might be for 5.0Ghz channel?)
Fast Test: 200Mbps (again varies)
Steam Speed~ 25 MB/s
Properties on this one show, 802.11a/b/g (Dual band 802.11a/b/g). Line below it shows 802.11n/ac (802.11ac).

Just time for a new card, or maybe a motherboard issue? Any help most welcome.
Thanks

 

[extreme_noob]

Well from what I can tell your laptop uses 802.11ac while your desktop uses 802.11b

 

[kanewolf]

The TL-WN881ND adapter is a 2.4Ghz adapter. 144Mbit link rate is reasonable. If you want better WIFI you will need a dual band adapter.

 

[bill001g]

The 144 number is telling you that you are running 2 streams on 20mhz channels at 64-qam. That is as good as it is going to get on your card running only 20mhz channels. You might be able to force the router to run 40mhz channels. It likely selected 20 because it detected a neighbor but many routers you can force to 40,

That should give you a connect speed of 300. Assuming you do not have a lot of interference you should get about double your current speed.

The other pc runs faster because it is using the 5g band and likely using 80mhz

 

[Zoladex]

Cheers for the replies. I assumed as it was sold as Wireless N is was 11n, little misleading ha.

@Kane do card not only use one band a time?
Cheers Bill, Ha seems im not too well versed with WiFi
As the card is at its limit I will have a look for a quicker dual band card similar to my laptop +800Mhz.

Thanks again!

 

[kanewolf]

Cheers for the replies. I assumed as it was sold as Wireless N is was 11n, little misleading ha.

@Kane do card not only use one band a time?
Cheers Bill, Ha seems im not too well versed with WiFi
As the card is at its limit I will have a look for a quicker dual band card similar to my laptop +800Mhz.

Thanks again!

Yes, a dual band card will use EITHER 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz. If the SSID is different on the two bands it will you can pick. If the SSID is the same, then the 5ghz use is less predictable. It depends on signal strength and features on the WIFI source.