Wifi Card?

[GhostzzU]

Recently ive been getting really bad download and upload, i was thinking it was the ethernet extender i use which is good for ping in games but download and upload is terrible, i use to get 200-300Mbps but when i switched to ethernet extender its now 20-50Mbps, and i cant test wifi because i cheaped out on my motherboard, with no wifi built in, so i was wondering should i get a wifi card? and if so which one?
my motherboard: ASRock X670E PG Lightning
Ethernet extender: NETGEAR Powerline PLP1200-100PAS

[Skipple]

Assuming you have the space, you can simply get a PCIe WiFi card. 

 

[GhostzzU]

6 minutes ago, Skipple said:

Assuming you have the space, you can simply get a PCIe WiFi card. 

 

i was thinking one of these 2 but i dont know if there good and which one is better? https://a.co/d/hMuHlDl OR https://a.co/d/3skoZMk

[Skipple]

2 minutes ago, GhostzzU said:

i was thinking one of these 2 but i dont know if there good and which one is better? https://a.co/d/hMuHlDl OR https://a.co/d/3skoZMk

If you want the latest and greatest, nab one that has WiFi 6E support: https://a.co/d/2yXxcW1

 

If that's not a concern - just grab one that supports the same version as your WAP. 

[GhostzzU]

1 minute ago, Skipple said:

If you want the latest and greatest, nab one that has WiFi 6E support: https://a.co/d/2yXxcW1

 

If that's not a concern - just grab one that supports the same version as your WAP. 

if you dont mind me asking what is wap?

[Skipple]

1 hour ago, GhostzzU said:

if you dont mind me asking what is wap?

Wireless Access Point. The thing that spits out the WiFis.

[Falcon1986]

16 hours ago, GhostzzU said:

NETGEAR Powerline PLP1200-100PAS

There's your problem. Powerline is very unreliable and inconsistent. Its performance is significantly affected by several factors.

 

If the wiring is bad, on a different circuit breaker at either end, is plugged in to a line filter/conditioner or even a surge protector, or you have high-draw appliances on the same shared circuit (e.g. air conditioning, fridge, freezer, microwave, etc.), you'll get bad performance. Usually, a reboot and re-pairing of the modules temporarily fixes the problem since this forces the units to operate on a different frequency with less signal noise. However, all signal noise can't be eliminated.

 

While it has its drawbacks and should be placed as the very last resort for "wired" home network connectivity, some people can live with the occasional reboots here and there. I'd make sure to check for those sources of interference and either turn them off completely or move them to another circuit. Test the connection again until you've eliminated as many things as possible before going with a WiFi replacement.

[GhostzzU]

7 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

There's your problem. Powerline is very unreliable and inconsistent. Its performance is significantly affected by several factors.

 

If the wiring is bad, on a different circuit breaker at either end, is plugged in to a line filter/conditioner or even a surge protector, or you have high-draw appliances on the same shared circuit (e.g. air conditioning, fridge, freezer, microwave, etc.), you'll get bad performance. Usually, a reboot and re-pairing of the modules temporarily fixes the problem since this forces the units to operate on a different frequency with less signal noise. However, all signal noise can't be eliminated.

 

While it has its drawbacks and should be placed as the very last resort for "wired" home network connectivity, some people can live with the occasional reboots here and there. I'd make sure to check for those sources of interference and either turn them off completely or move them to another circuit. Test the connection again until you've eliminated as many things as possible before going with a WiFi replacement.

whats a better option over powerline?

[Skipple]

Just now, GhostzzU said:

whats a better option over powerline?

Actually dropping a CAT6A run. 

[GhostzzU]

9 minutes ago, Skipple said:

Actually dropping a CAT6A run. 

like run a ethernet cable across my house?

 

[Skipple]

59 minutes ago, GhostzzU said:

like run a ethernet cable across my house?

 

I mean that's an option. In-wall was what I was referring to by "drop" but they both do effectively the same thing. 

[GhostzzU]

6 hours ago, Skipple said:

I mean that's an option. In-wall was what I was referring to by "drop" but they both do effectively the same thing. 

what about mesh system? like this one https://a.co/d/9l1viDb

[GhostzzU]

On 1/24/2024 at 3:25 PM, Skipple said:

Actually dropping a CAT6A run. 

wouldnt that lower my speeds? i heard anything   more than 20ft lower  speeds

[Skipple]

11 hours ago, GhostzzU said:

wouldnt that lower my speeds? i heard anything   more than 20ft lower  speeds

I'm not sure where you heard that, but Cat6A is rated 10Gb/s up to 100m so unless you are running across a commercial building you shouldn't have issues.

[GhostzzU]

6 hours ago, Skipple said:

I'm not sure where you heard that, but Cat6A is rated 10Gb/ up to 100m so unless you are running across a commercial building you should have issues.

oh dang, didnt know alright ima look into it, thanks for your help

[Falcon1986]

19 hours ago, GhostzzU said:

oh dang, didnt know alright ima look into it, thanks for your help

Just to clarify and to ensure you understand what was said and don't have unrealistic expectations: Properly certified Cat6A ethernet cable can achieve 10Gbps up to 100m if you have 10Gbps NICs at both ends and there is no failure of cable integrity after you lay it down. It should run fine at 1Gbps if you only have 1Gbps network speeds.

 

If your network speeds will never go beyond 1Gbps or you have no multi-gig NICs, certified Cat5E will be just fine. BTW, Cat5E can achieve 10Gbps at short lengths of less than 10m (again, if you have the NICs to support it), but this is outside of their certified specification.

 

Finally, any wired connection (whether it's via ethernet, fiber, coax) will always be more reliable and consistent in speeds than any WiFi solution. So if you have the opportunity to run ethernet, you should. If you absolutely can not, then you'll have to settle for something else that might not be as reliable and consistent in speeds.

[Skipple]

3 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

certified Cat5E will be just fine

Meh - For 500 ft of riser cable at Home Depot ,CAT6A is $20 more than CAT5E. I would just future proof and drop 6A, all else being equal. 

[Falcon1986]

1 minute ago, Skipple said:

Meh - For 500 ft of riser cable at Home Depot ,CAT6A is $20 more than CAT5E. I would just future proof and drop 6A, all else being equal. 

If you're going to make use of all that cable and terminate yourself with tools you've invested in, then go right ahead. Future-proof to your heart's content!

 

But I get the feeling that the OP only needs a single run. A pre-terminated quality cable (Cat5E or Cat6) fitting the length removes a lot of time, skill and extra tools that he/she is probably only going to ever need once.

[Alex Atkin UK]

5 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

If you're going to make use of all that cable and terminate yourself with tools you've invested in, then go right ahead. Future-proof to your heart's content!

 

But I get the feeling that the OP only needs a single run. A pre-terminated quality cable (Cat5E or Cat6) fitting the length removes a lot of time, skill and extra tools that he/she is probably only going to ever need once.

I'd always recommend against terminating your own cables, had so many problems with that, not least that its not easy to figure out which supplier of RJ45 plugs are actually good and 99% of the crimping tools are garbage too.

So if you have to buy a decent crimping tool and overspend on RJ45 connectors, that's not an insignificant cost if you're only doing one or two cables.

[Skipple]

6 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I'd always recommend against terminating your own cables, had so many problems with that, not least that its not easy to figure out which supplier of RJ45 plugs are actually good and 99% of the crimping tools are garbage too.

That's why keystone jacks are a thing. I wouldn't terminate to RJ-45 male if it can be avoided.

[GhostzzU]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:18 AM, Skipple said:

I'm not sure where you heard that, but Cat6A is rated 10Gb/s up to 100m so unless you are running across a commercial building you shouldn't have issues.

Hey, i did it, i ran a cat6 cable thorugh my wall and my speeds went from 30-50mbps to 930mbps, thank you so much

[E-waste]

On 1/23/2024 at 4:24 PM, GhostzzU said:

should i get a wifi card?

Sure.  This is a good idea.  I recommend detachable antennas so that instead of transmitting and receiving a signal from a full 360° radius, you instead use directional antennas.

 

Not omni-directional, which is what ALL wireless devices come with for obvious reasons, directional antennas, depending on the dBi rating will concentrate the signal into a smaller narrower radius, but still output the same amount of power.  This means you can direct the signal in the exact direction as the wireless access point, and get a significantly stronger and faster (higher throughput) connection.

 

dBi is the measurement used to describe how narrow the signal will be, and higher numbers will be more effective.  At minimum, 10-12 dBi is a decent place to start, but if you really want to get serious with the signal strength, 15-20 dBi would really do the trick.  I don't even remember exactly what dBi rating relates to what signal radius so you can find charts online.

 

Another idea that also helps is instead of the antennas being stuck behind your pc case and a wall, is instead to use an extension cable to re-locate the antennas on a desk or tall stand.  Some have a base to stand up the antenna.  Not only does this give you a far better signal with better antenna placement, but it also puts the antenna a bit closer to the source.  In comibination with a 15+ dBi directional antenna, (or more if the wifi card you pick out has mulitple) you'll have an incredibly reliable signal that could be faster than even a device positioned closer to the wifi router, as a much larger portion of the power is all concentrated to go to the correct direction.