Do wifi cards change the internet speed?

[muttsang]

Hello,

 

I just moved into a new flat and turns out they don't have an Ethernet port. I do have a WiFi card in my desktop computer but it looks like it is not picking up the signal and not providing the actual amount of internet speed that i should be actually getting. I think that it's because i have a cheap 20 pound WiFi card and I am thinking of buying a more expensive one with more antennas and which can actually grab the WiFi signal strongly. 
My actual question is do different WiFi cards have different capacities of grabbing the WiFi signal and provide strong/weak connection? (i.e the differences in download and upload speed)

Thanks,

muttsang

[Lurick]

They can provide better signal and throughput up to a point but once you hit the limit of your internet speed package then they don't provide any benefit in that regard.

[Pixel5]

what do you mean with you dont have an ethernet port?

 

the modem you got from your provider should have an ethernet port and also its hard to say if better wifi could be faster if we dont know how fast your internet connection is supposed to be.

[RAM555789]

I see your in a flat, so is wifi provided as part of the utility, or do you have your own wireless access point provided from your ISP?

[NickPickerWI]

To answer your question, yes, they can impact your up and down times.

 

Long answer:

 

The different ratings (N300, AC1600, 300 Mbps, 1300Mbps, etc) impact how much you CAN get from the card - this ties into what service you have and the rating of your wireless router. You will never exceed the router speed, or the speed of the service from your ISP.

And a card from TP-Link will perform differently than a card from Asus even with the same ratings - more expensive cards tend to pick up the signal better, with better circuits and better antennas.

Also, if you're in an area with a ton of other people running WiFi, it can interfere with your WiFi and drop your speed. If you're in an area where there's a ton of outside signals, it can interfere with your WiFi as well.

I live in a quad-family apartment in a neighborhood with tons of quad-family apartments and full-on apartment complexes, and I live very close to an airport. My WiFi sucks no matter what I do.

 

[muttsang]

1 hour ago, Pixel5 said:

what do you mean with you dont have an ethernet port?

 

the modem you got from your provider should have an ethernet port and also its hard to say if better wifi could be faster if we dont know how fast your internet connection is supposed to be.

sorry i did not clarify. I am in a flat of a student accommodation. They told me that they had a speed of 250mbps so they did not use ethernet ports in the rooms. Turns out that the wifi is being shared with more than 80 students and each flat has it's own router that maintains the wifi signal constantly. In my case the wifi download speed fluctuates from 2 mbps to 20 mbps only, when i should be getting around 50-70 at least. I saw that the wifi card was not catching the signal properly in my computer so i was just asking if changing into a better wifi card would be helpful.   

[muttsang]

58 minutes ago, RAM555789 said:

I see your in a flat, so is wifi provided as part of the utility, or do you have your own wireless access point provided from your ISP?

the wifi is provided by the flat (student accommodation)

[muttsang]

35 minutes ago, NickPickerWI said:

To answer your question, yes, they can impact your up and down times.

 

Long answer:

  Hide contents

The different ratings (N300, AC1600, 300 Mbps, 1300Mbps, etc) impact how much you CAN get from the card - this ties into what service you have and the rating of your wireless router. You will never exceed the router speed, or the speed of the service from your ISP.

And a card from TP-Link will perform differently than a card from Asus even with the same ratings - more expensive cards tend to pick up the signal better, with better circuits and better antennas.

Also, if you're in an area with a ton of other people running WiFi, it can interfere with your WiFi and drop your speed. If you're in an area where there's a ton of outside signals, it can interfere with your WiFi as well.

I live in a quad-family apartment in a neighborhood with tons of quad-family apartments and full-on apartment complexes, and I live very close to an airport. My WiFi sucks no matter what I do.

 

thanks for the explaination. See the thing is that i live in a student accommodation flat and They told me that they had a speed of 250mbps so they did not use ethernet ports in the rooms. Turns out that the wifi is being shared with more than 80 students and each flat has it's own router that maintains the wifi signal constantly. In my case the wifi download speed fluctuates from 2 mbps to 20 mbps only, when i should be getting around 50-70 at least. I saw that the wifi card was not catching the signal properly in my computer so i was just asking if changing into a better wifi card would be helpful.  

[Pixel5]

the question is if the problem really is your receiving wifi card which you could replace in order to test it or if its the access point.

[muttsang]

1 minute ago, Pixel5 said:

the question is if the problem really is your receiving wifi card which you could replace in order to test it or if its the access point.

yes  sorry i wasn't able to clarify that in the first place.

I have contacted the ISP and they have given me some step by step process to follow and see if it works or not. But still it could be because my WiFi card isn't picking up the signal that strongly. 

[Bcat00]

4 hours ago, muttsang said:

yes  sorry i wasn't able to clarify that in the first place.

I have contacted the ISP and they have given me some step by step process to follow and see if it works or not. But still it could be because my WiFi card isn't picking up the signal that strongly. 

Just bite the bullet and get a better wifi card.

 

Those cheap old 20$ wifi cards can't get anything decent in terms of signal speed to begin with so making sure your ISP isn't throttling the connection is pointless to begin with. 

 

You gotta have the gear first before you can take advantage of a service.