Help switching to Wireless

[Faceman]

I know next to nothing about networking, so I am hoping to get the crash course, or at least be pointed in the right direction.

 

I have forever used wired internet on my desktops, but the layout of my place is not going to make this possible, so I need to switch to wireless.

 

The router will be downstairs on the first floor.  I will be upstairs on the 3rd floor, putting quite some distance between my desktop and the router.

 

My instincts are telling me to get a PCI/PCI-E wireless adapter, just need to figure out which one.  I would really prefer something that is as unobtrusive as possible because of my build aesthetic.  I'm hoping they make one with a black PCB.

 

I current have Xfinity Comcast Internet and paying for 30MBps speed, which I do get when wired.

 

Currently I am getting 30 down and 6 up via wired internet on my desktop. 

 

When using my laptop with its built in wireless, I get very inconsistent results, anywhere from 10-25 down and 3-5 up.

 

I will be moving to Dallas, TX and switching to Time Warner Cable, I am expecting to get up to 100Mbps speed.

 

I am wondering what will be the best way to maximize that potential speed taking into consideration the distance between my computer and the router.  So far I'm looking at the Asus PCE-N15, or this Rosewill USB Wireless Adapter.

 

Will be using Windows 8.1.

[Thebman712]

USE POWERLINE

 

it basically uses your house's power lines as a copper ethernet cable and will be more stable speeds and connectivity

[Arty]

I know next to nothing about networking, so I am hoping to get the crash course, or at least be pointed in the right direction.

 

I have forever used wired internet on my desktops, but the layout of my place is not going to make this possible, so I need to switch to wireless.

 

The router will be downstairs on the first floor.  I will be upstairs on the 3rd floor, putting quite some distance between my desktop and the router.

 

My instincts are telling me to get a PCI/PCI-E wireless adapter, just need to figure out which one.  I would really prefer something that is as unobtrusive as possible because of my build aesthetic.  I'm hoping they make one with a black PCB.

 

I current have Xfinity Comcast Internet and paying for 30MBps speed, which I do get when wired.

 

Currently I am getting 30 down and 6 up via wired internet on my desktop. 

 

When using my laptop with its built in wireless, I get very inconsistent results, anywhere from 10-25 down and 3-5 up.

 

I will be moving to Dallas, TX and switching to Time Warner Cable, I am expecting to get up to 100Mbps speed.

 

I am wondering what will be the best way to maximize that potential speed taking into consideration the distance between my computer and the router.  So far I'm looking at the Asus PCE-N15, or this Rosewill USB Wireless Adapter.

 

Will be using Windows 8.1.

your going to need a better router then

i recommand any of the 3 nighthawk teers  along with that pcie e

[TheSLSAMG]

USE POWERLINE

 

it basically uses your house's power lines as a copper ethernet cable and will be more stable speeds and connectivity

Powerline is also dependent on how good your home wiring is, and if it's not up to snuff, Powerline won't do much for you.

[Thebman712]

Powerline is also dependent on how good your home wiring is, and if it's not up to snuff, Powerline won't do much for you.

yes, i was going to mention this, but i figured that if he is moving into a new house it would have to have at least decent wireing

 

if he does have decent wireing then it will be far better than wireless

[TheSLSAMG]

I've used the PCE-N15. It does fine in my house, gets proper upload and download speeds with my internet service (50/50 promised, 50/60 actual) but of course it doesn't look very nice. You could probably Plasti-Dip the PCB on it black with no adverse effect, just let it dry for the proper amount of time before trying to use it.

 

Or at least, my PCE-N15 worked fine until I tried to reinstall it in the dark and I accidentally put it into a PCI slot.

[STRMfrmXMN]

I know next to nothing about networking, so I am hoping to get the crash course, or at least be pointed in the right direction.

 

I have forever used wired internet on my desktops, but the layout of my place is not going to make this possible, so I need to switch to wireless.

 

The router will be downstairs on the first floor.  I will be upstairs on the 3rd floor, putting quite some distance between my desktop and the router.

 

My instincts are telling me to get a PCI/PCI-E wireless adapter, just need to figure out which one.  I would really prefer something that is as unobtrusive as possible because of my build aesthetic.  I'm hoping they make one with a black PCB.

 

I current have Xfinity Comcast Internet and paying for 30MBps speed, which I do get when wired.

 

Currently I am getting 30 down and 6 up via wired internet on my desktop. 

 

When using my laptop with its built in wireless, I get very inconsistent results, anywhere from 10-25 down and 3-5 up.

 

I will be moving to Dallas, TX and switching to Time Warner Cable, I am expecting to get up to 100Mbps speed.

 

I am wondering what will be the best way to maximize that potential speed taking into consideration the distance between my computer and the router.  So far I'm looking at the Asus PCE-N15, or this Rosewill USB Wireless Adapter.

 

Will be using Windows 8.1.

Well I just got this N900 TP-Link adapter today and my download speeds have gone up significantly compared to my old USB one. They aren't perfect (as in not wired speeds) but they're within about 10% of what we get on wired. Works out of the box with 8.1.

 

You could also get something like Powerline which can work depending on where your wall sockets are and how long an ethernet cable you can use and how well your house has been wired up.

 

Also, why Dallas Texas? I remember we were talking about all the places you had lived and all that.

[Faceman]

Well I just got this N900 TP-Link adapter today and my download speeds have gone up significantly compared to my old USB one. They aren't perfect (as in not wired speeds) but they're within about 10% of what we get on wired. Works out of the box with 8.1.

 

You could also get something like Powerline which can work depending on where your wall sockets are and how long an ethernet cable you can use and how well your house has been wired up.

 

Also, why Dallas Texas? I remember we were talking about all the places you had lived and all that.

I got a job at a new-ish college there in the marketing department.

 

I will be moving into my father's wife-in-law's cousin's house in their 3rd floor guestroom suite area.  Yea...  So that is my situation.  I haven't really scouted the place out much other than them sending me some photos of the house back when it was on the market.  It is a modern house, built in this century, so I will explore power lines, never heard of it before, but will look into it.

 

I am happy with my 30 down, 6 up speeds, so if I could match that, I will be happy.  I just want consistency.

 

That TP-Link does look nice, I will look into it more.

[STRMfrmXMN]

I got a job at a new-ish college there in the marketing department.

 

I will be moving into my father's wife-in-law's cousin's house in their 3rd floor guestroom suite area.  Yea...  So that is my situation.  I haven't really scouted the place out much other than them sending me some photos of the house back when it was on the market.  It is a modern house, built in this century, so I will explore power lines, never heard of it before, but will look into it.

 

I am happy with my 30 down, 6 up speeds, so if I could match that, I will be happy.  I just want consistency.

 

That TP-Link does look nice, I will look into it more.

Ah, well, hopefully as is well in the Lone Star state!

But if the house was made recently then I would assume the powerline would work really well, though I'm not 100% certain. Never used it myself.

[Faceman]

Ah, well, hopefully as is well in the Lone Star state!

But if the house was made recently then I would assume the powerline would work really well, though I'm not 100% certain. Never used it myself.

Yea, I've never even heard of that being an option.

 

I will be moving there sometime later this month, so I will get to explore all of my options then.  I need to find out what kind of router they have, etc..

[STRMfrmXMN]

Yea, I've never even heard of that being an option.

 

I will be moving there sometime later this month, so I will get to explore all of my options then.  I need to find out what kind of router they have, etc..

If they have the router given by their ISP then you should to the Linus thing and replace it Did that for my grandparents and they got nearly what they were paying for.

[Faceman]

If they have the router given by their ISP then you should to the Linus thing and replace it Did that for my grandparents and they got nearly what they were paying for.

Yea, I actually just watched that video the other day and was finally like, "welp, better start researching the switch to wireless."

[Faceman]

So I finally made the move! 

 

I'm living in Dallas, TX now.  I have now officially held residency in all three time zones of the U.S.

 

I now know some of the specs in the house.

 

The modem is a Belkin N450 F9K1003.  This thing is BAD when it comes to wireless, and wireless range.

 

We are paying for 100MBps, so that is my ceiling in terms of performance.

 

When I plug a device directly into the modem via ethernet, my speeds are 60 down, 6 up.  Which is very good, basically double down speeds compared to what I got in Florida via wired.

I also bought a TP Link PowerLine adapter starter kit, which does work reasonably well.  I have this powerline kit plugged into the modem downstairs, and all the way on the opposite end of the house in my room, which is then connected to my desktop.  With this, I am getting a consistent 35 down and 6 up.  I am happy with these speeds as they are what I was getting back in Florida and I am happy with this, even if its not what we are paying for.

 

 

The biggest issue is Wireless performance. When using my Asus Zenbook UX305FA I went around the house testing wireless performance because it is pretty clear that wireless is a big problem for all the devices in the house.  When testing with the Zenbook in the same room as the router via wireless, I was getting 50 down.  Still pretty good.  As soon as I leave the room that the modem is in, that is when performance starts to drop.  One room over, I go from 50 to 30.  Next room over from 30 down to 20, main foyer/living room, it drops down to the 10-18 range.  When I go upstairs, it drops down to single digits, and all the way in my room it barely has a connection and does 0-1Mbps Down. 

 

Something else that was very strange, that has to do with the powerline adapter.  Because I didn't want to lug my desktop and set it up for testing room after room, I decided to test the speeds room after room with the powerline adapter plugged into my laptop.  This is when results got very inconsistent and peculiar. Using the powerline adapter within the same room as the modem, I was getting 30 down.  When I move to the next room over, I dropped down to 20.  Going to the living room I dropped further down to the high teens.  Again in a different room on the same floor as the router, but on the opposite side of the house, dropped to the low teens.  This is find very strange, because it also showed similar characteristics of moving further away from the modem dropped speeds, but at the same time, my room/desktop is on the absolute furthest end of the house and I am getting a consistent 35.  Is it possible that the internal networking card of my Laptop is poor, which resulted in these reduced speeds?  I also hypothesized that maybe the powerline adapter takes a few minutes to get a consistent connection, I tried the testing again, giving it time to get acquainted, but the results persisted.  Any ideas what causes this?  As this is not the intended use of the powerline thing, I am not too concerned with it, just thought that the results were very funky.

 

Wireless is clearly the biggest problem and I need to find a modem that will give strong, consistent signal strength throughout the house.  Someone recommended the Nighthawk AC1900, I was wondering if that is overkill, or if its strong enough?  I would rather just invest in one product and have it be the right one, $200-$250 is the budget, but obviously, less is better.  Its kinda tricky because the computer room is at the bottom front of the house, so not centralized.  I need to find a product that has enough range to cover a 4,000Sq Ft house.

 

Also, should I be concerned that even plugged directly into the modem I am not getting 100Mbps?  Is it possible that the modem is the bottleneck to getting the full 100 being paid for?