WiFi PCIe card not as stable as I like

[Vir]

Hi guys,

So, I put together a new workstation for my girlfriend and put a PCIe wireless card init, the TP-LINK Archer T9E, the workstation is at the 1st floor (all wooden floors).
At the ground floor is a fiber connection coupled with my Apple Airport Extreme.

Our Dell Ultrabook is having a fast connection and our phones too but the workstation is unstable and they are kind of next to eachother. Now and then high pings / lag and slow internet.
I first bought a USB stick tp-link and it was behaving even worse but I thought the T9E would be much better. It seems it isn't right now.

Now I was wondering a few things...
- The wireless card is in the PCI-E 2x slot RIGHT above the PSU, is that a bad idea? Is it better to move it up a little higher?
- Should I point the three antennas downward or sidewards? The AAE is behind me so the antennas can't face towards it but can face backwards, down, up and sides

Any more advice is welcome, thanks!

 

[bremen1874]

For best antenna orientation you just need to experiment. If you've got a metal box (PC case) between the antennas and the router it's never going to work very well.

For a desktop PC I'd run a network cable. If that was absolutely impossible I'd use Powerline adapters. I'd only use wireless if it was the only remaining option.

 

[Avalon]

So, I put together a new workstation for my girlfriend and put a PCIe wireless card init

If you love her, run a cable.

 

[bledd]

Yup.

Wireless is for light browsing / phones / Sonos

 

[edscdk]

I like the USB wireless adapters (with a cable) you can place them away from the PC in a spot where there is least "stuff" between it and the router... Id never recommend the PCI adapters it limits your options

 

[WantoN]

I ran a netgear AC1200 USB stick, it was absolutely fantastic, I mean really great.

Went through two walls and one floor with plenty of electrical interference.

So I do believe in some circumstances the right wireless gear can be good.

But yes, wire it. Or power line it.

 

[Steveocee]

You want your antennas in different directions, the idea is to get separation between the chains. Pointing them at the router won't help.
What frequency is the card working at? It could be 2Ghz is very crowded and your Dell is using 5Ghz hence the better speeds.

A 5Ghz capable card may improve things, moving the 2Ghz channel may improve things, getting rid of the wifi element would fix things.

 

[Avalon]

2.4Ghz has much better penetration than 5Ghz. Either way if you're not serious enough about the relationship to run a cable then just tell her it's over, blame the wifi and move on.

 

[Vir]

Yeah so I tested it with two routers, Apple Airport Extreme and a D-Link 860IL (or something) linked to the TP-Link T9E Archer and I have not been able to get it stable. Have tried a million things, turning/rotating the case so the antennas point in the right direction, configuring the antennas in all sorts of directions etc. but it all didn't help so that it was working really good. I decided to return the package and get a Powerline TP-Link AV1000 2 ports and installed that yesterday.

Had to firmware flash it to not have it drop connection randomly (how can you release a product in this state... ) and now it's absolutely fantastic, stable and fast!

Thanks for all replying!

 

[andicole0]

If you love her, run a cable.

+1
Andi.