Asus Mpcie Adapter

[Sturmgewehr_44]

I just installed the Mpcie Combo III that came with my Maximus VII Formula. I figured it would be useful as a good backup, or in case I wanted to remove my PCE-AC68 PCIE adapter I am also using.

 

It was extremely frustrating to install. Whoever designed it deserves a nice kick in the head. I had to manoeuvre behind my H80i GT and somehow managed to get it installed after toying for several hours.\

 

However, the next challenge was getting the horribly designed copper wireless feeds through the IO.

 

During this, the heads of the connectors disconnected (very easily as well). I was able to reconnect them and everything seem(s)(ed) okay.

 

Is this meant to happen? Would that jeopardise the effectiveness of the antenna it came with?

[Thx And Bye]

Do you mean this thing? (http://www.tekwind.co.jp/upload/images/mpcie.jpg)

Do you mean with copper wires the antennas and with the connectors the small U.FL antenna connector(s)?

Because U.FL indeed comes loose pretty fast if you twist and / or pull them. But if you don't bend anything you can simply reinstall them without problems.

[Sturmgewehr_44]

Do you mean this thing? (http://www.tekwind.co.jp/upload/images/mpcie.jpg)

Do you mean with copper wires the antennas and with the connectors the small U.FL antenna connector(s)?

Because U.FL indeed comes loose pretty fast if you twist and / or pull them. But if you don't bend anything you can simply reinstall them without problems.

It's kind of confusing. I know what you mean.

 

The head on one of the connections (mPcie Combo III has two y-split connections for the antenna (which is magnetic and can attach to steel desk legs or the side of my case for example). The head on both came off, with some of the tubing-like end attached, as shown on the picture you linked. Both were able to be reattached with no issues. The wires were not bent, at least as far as I can tell.

 

I tested the signal strengths with Xirrus Wifi Inspector (Cannot really find anything better) and it does improve on the mPcie adapter with the antenna as opposed to without it. (Which is internally shown to be a PCE-AC56 adapter.) Without the antenna, signals drop by around 20-30%, or I believe around -10 dBm. I believe this indicates it all working.

 

On a side note, the mPcie adapter is picking up my Verizon router's 5GHz band, which is odd considering my AC68 adapter is not. The 2.4GHz band is also significantly worse on this adapter than the 5GHz one, which is another anomaly considering 5GHz generally has less signal coverage???

 

I am also picking up this ominous 'Hidden Network' on both adapters. Could this be some form of VPN? Never seen it before.

[Thx And Bye]

You can always attach other antennas or pigtails to your wifi card, you dont have to use the original ones.

The small connector is, as i already mentioned, 'U.FL' and the bigger one that is used for the antennas is 'RP SMA'.

Also make sure that you have antennas that support both frequencies.

Also 'low loss' pigtails can help you to get a better Signal. And keep the pigtails as short as possible.

[Sturmgewehr_44]

The U.FL did 'break' off.

 

Here's a picture of what happened (it is nearly identical): https://rog.asus.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=37485&d=1402365860

 

However, I was able to just reattach it. No problems at all (It, as I mentioned, effected both ends). The actual external magnetic antenna placement never had any of these issues. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Here's a picture of what the U.FL looks like after being reattached and everything: http://i.imgur.com/4bDABiY.jpg (Sorry for the fairly shit quality.)

 

 

My router is in the same room. Would an antenna effect the signals at all if the router is within three metres or so? My testing says it really does not, at least for the mPCIE Combo III's case. Using the included antenna or the AC68's antenna station thing on the Combo III does not seem to significantly impact the signals no matter if the antenna(e) are on or not. However, my AC68 loses half of it's signal if I remove all three antennae though, which confuses me.

 

How do I tell for sure if an antenna connection is working? I think it is, but with all the variables it is hard to tell.

 

My printer two stories below (I live in a pretty big house, lol) has a wireless connection, and with the antenna on the Combo III, it boosts the signal from 40-68% without it to almost 85-90% with it on. Surely the antenna setup must be working if this happens, right??

 

Edit: Hmm. Does the mPCIE Combo III have some sort of internal antenna in addition to the external foldable antenna thing? I'm wondering because even without the external antenna connected I can reach the printer network (On the other side of the house, with many walls in between.) with around 95% signal (-57 dBm) strength occasionally.