Wifi Adapter Upgrade

DanWWFC93 · Monday at 14:19

Hello all,

Just looking for a bit of guidance in respect of wifi adapters.

The below specification is for the gaming computer which I purchased back in 2018. Very mid to low level range, but does the job for certain games.

Anyway, I have only recently set the computer back up for daily use, but noticed I am getting horrendous download and uploads speeds, less than 10 megabits per second (other devices reach up to 150 on the same network).

I have adjusted various settings and have come to the conclusion that it must be the wifi adapter causing the slow speeds. The adapter I have currently installed is an Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter 1.

I have a couple of questions, firstly, is their anyway in which I can test the adapter for a definitive conclusion as to whether this is the fault and secondly, if it is, what would people recommend as a replacement based on the specs below?

FS-153-OG OcUK Kinetic ZX - Intel Z390 Configurable Coffee Lake Refresh
DDR4 Gaming PC
CA-07H-PT Phanteks Eclipse P300 Glass Midi Tower Case - White 1
CA-22Z-BX Bitfenix Formula Series 650W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply 1
CM-023-PT Phanteks RGB LED Strip Starter Kit (PH-LEDKT_CMBO) 1
CP-66H-IN Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor 1
FG-063-NB System Build Fan - Noiseblocker BlackSilent Pro Fan PLPS - 120mm PWM (SI) [EXNO-001] 2
GX-04L-PL Palit GeForce RTX 2070 Dual 8192MB PCI-Express Graphics Card 1
HD-006-GI Gigabyte 256GB M.2 PCIe x2 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive 1
HD-384-SE Seagate BarraCuda 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - *System Stock* 1
HS-044-AS Asetek Premium Retention Kit Intel LGA115X (35-150-0000014) 1
HS-047-AS Asetek 240mm 570LX Thick Radiator (35-101 -1012209)
MB-57D-GI Gigabyte Z390 UD Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard 1
MY-08M-TG Team Group Night Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - RGB Black (TF1D4 1
NW-043-AS Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter 1
SW-003-BG **Special Offer** Bullguard Internet Security - Anti-Virus and Security - 1 Year 3 PC 1
SW-18A-MS Microsoft Windows 10 Home Advanced - Systems 1
WC-551-EK EK Water Blocks EK-Cable Y-Splitter 2-Fan PWM (10cm)

Tetras · Monday at 14:36

DanWWFC93 said:
I have a couple of questions, firstly, is their anyway in which I can test the adapter for a definitive conclusion as to whether this is the fault and secondly, if it is, what would people recommend as a replacement based on the specs below?

You can run a speed test to check it isn't a specific website/service that is throttling, but ultimately swapping it out is the confirmation. You could connect it to the router using a cable.

DanWWFC93 said:
if it is, what would people recommend as a replacement based on the specs below?

Presumably you have space to just take the old one out and put in a new PCI-E card?

Armageus · Monday at 14:46

DanWWFC93 said:
I have adjusted various settings and have come to the conclusion that it must be the wifi adapter causing the slow speeds. The adapter I have currently installed is an Asus PCE-N15 300Mbps 802.11B/G/N Wireless PCI-E Network Adapter 1.

I have a couple of questions, firstly, is their anyway in which I can test the adapter for a definitive conclusion as to whether this is the fault and secondly, if it is, what would people recommend as a replacement based on the specs below?

Yes that adapter will 99% be the issue, as it only supports "N" wifi standards (also know as Wifi 4), when in all likelihood your router will support Wifi 5 (AC) or Wifi 6 (AX).

One of the cards below will be much better (the one's with external cabled antenna are usually the best option, but are unfortunately out of stock)

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Asus AXE5400 Tri Band PCI-E WiFi 6E Network Card (SKU: NW-12Y-AS) = £44.99
1 x ASUS PCE-AX58BT Dual-Band Wireless AX3000 (WiFi 6) Bluetooth 5.0 PCI-E Adapter (SKU: NW-11A-AS) = £58.99
1 x TP-Link Archer TX3000E Dual-Band Wireless AX3000 (WiFi 6) Bluetooth 5.0 PCI-E Adapter (SKU: NW-21U-TP) = £59.99

Total: £171.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)

DanWWFC93 · Monday at 14:49

Thanks all for the responses - really helpful. I will swap old with new based on the suggestions and then re-test

lee32uk · Monday at 15:40

I would go with a powerline adapter. Much more reliable imo than wifi adapters.

Something like this:

AV1000 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit

Equipped with one gigabit Ethernet port, TL-WPA7617 KIT extends AC1200 dual-band Wi-Fi and gigabit network to every room via your home’s existing powerlines.

www.tp-link.com

freddie64 · Monday at 15:40

Armageus said:
the one's with external cabled antenna are usually the best option

Was going to suggest getting new cabled WIFI antennas (~ £15 from elsewhere) and move them from behind the PC.

Ollie83 · Tuesday at 07:19

lee32uk said:
I would go with a powerline adapter. Much more reliable imo than wifi adapters.

Something like this:

AV1000 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline ac Wi-Fi Kit

Equipped with one gigabit Ethernet port, TL-WPA7617 KIT extends AC1200 dual-band Wi-Fi and gigabit network to every room via your home’s existing powerlines.

www.tp-link.com

I too would suggest a Powerline adapter if going hard wired via Ethernet isn't an option. Wifi is suboptimal for gaming and downloading imho.