W10 & TP-Link drivers, not going well together?

Fragil1ty · 21 Aug 2015 at 05:28

So I've got the TP-Link N900 and there are two outcomes:

1. I can either install leave the default driver installed which looks like this:

Which is obviously a very old driver (2006) and have no interruptions but have no more than 20mb down (as proven here):

or

2. I can install the driver that is listed on TP-Links website and install it by clicking "update driver" (which is the manual way, I don't like installing through .exes, I've had bad results on Windows 10 thus far) and get full speeds as shown here: (As you can see, the driver is a lot more up to date and gets me better performance).

&

but have occasional interruptions (these interruptions can last 10 - 30 seconds, usually 5-10 seconds though).

The strange thing is though is that the TP-Link driver came out in 06/05/14 (not 2013 as the driver date would have me believe) and it's for Windows 8.1 so it is fairly up to date, I don't think that would be the reason for the issues, but I could be wrong.

Anyone know why this is happening and how to fix them if anything?

lude1962 · 21 Aug 2015 at 08:01

check settings for driver 1 , looks like not set to run at n speeds (some drivers default to a/b)

Fragil1ty · 21 Aug 2015 at 21:14

lude1962 said:
check settings for driver 1 , looks like not set to run at n speeds (some drivers default to a/b)

I don't think it has options like that, this is how the settings look for it:

Fragil1ty · 22 Aug 2015 at 05:37

Could this be a driver issue, like the most up to date driver just not performing as it should ?

I just completely removed and I'm not using the Windows 7 driver, maybe this will hold better results, will report back if anything changes for the better.

lude1962 · 22 Aug 2015 at 13:09

adhoc 11n setting
the wifes hp lappy defaults to a/b changing 11n adhoc setting fixed connection to 74mb

bledd · 22 Aug 2015 at 17:24

Get the driver from atheros.cz
https://www.atheros.cz

Fragil1ty · 22 Aug 2015 at 18:55

bledd. said:
Get the driver from atheros.cz
https://www.atheros.cz

Which one one would I be getting? I'm assuming it would be the AR938x?

lude1962 said:
adhoc 11n setting
the wifes hp lappy defaults to a/b changing 11n adhoc setting fixed connection to 74mb

I'll try this for sure mate, I thought adhoc is when you want to use your wi-fi connection as a hotspot, maybe I'm completely wrong and thinking about something else though, lol.

I'll report back and see if any of this helps though, thanks a lot guys.

Fragil1ty · 22 Aug 2015 at 19:15

Update:

I did tests via http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/ and here are the results,

speedtest results:

ethernet (via: powerline adapters)

65.15mbps down
14.14mbps up
21.38ms ping

wifi (original windows drivers without any settings altered)

58.4mbps9 down
13.97mbps up
41.13ms ping

wifi (original windowsd drivers /w settings altered)

63.74mbps down
12.76mbps up
24.88ms ping

wifi (new atheros driver without any settings)

65.33mbps down
14.47mbps up
46.75ms ping

wifi (new atheros driver w/ settings altered)

60.45mbps down
14.35mbps up
39.75ms ping

I've not had chance to address the issues of whether the wifi card is going to cut out at random times, but it only seems to cut out when I use TP-Link drivers, so I shall once again, report back later on, but hopefully with the new Atheros driver, it should all be well. *fingers crossed*

bledd · 23 Aug 2015 at 03:59

Run a network cable.

Wifi can't compete, power line... Well that's gonna powerline

Fragil1ty · 23 Aug 2015 at 04:21

Update 2:

With the update of the latest Atheros driver, all seems to be well. Not had a disconnect since I update, although I'm not getting the full 450mbps over WiFi but that's not a big deal.

I still get near full speeds around 60-65 at most points throughout the day w/o any disconnects, so that's fine for me.

Thanks for the help guys.

bledd. said:
Run a network cable.

Wifi can't compete, power line... Well that's gonna powerline

I could do this, but I wouldn't want to have wires all around the house and I'm not sure how long I'm going to be staying at my current place, so it's not really viable.

Powerline adapters are good and I've got some, but they cut out sometimes, not often, maybe once a day, but still, I can't deal with the chance that they could. I'm a little weird like that.

bledd · 23 Aug 2015 at 07:55

Fragil1ty said:
Powerline adapters are good and I've got some, but they cut out sometimes, not often, maybe once a day, but still, I can't deal with the chance that they could. I'm a little weird like that.

This is why they aren't good. Network equipment should never drop.