Killer Wireless 1535 terrible signal range?

For a few weeks I've owned the Acer Predator Triton 700. And I'm happy with it as a whole for gaming. But, anytime I want to use it for say watching netflix in the kitchen while cooking or doing dishes it will dramatically lose signal strength and I can't watch videos that need streamed. This is also the same problem I have anywhere other than the computer room or the living room. Everywhere else I run into this issue.

I ruled out my router as I can watch netflix just fine with my phone and tablet anywhere in the house. So I'm guessing it's my wireless card in my laptop? So is there something I might be able to do to fix the issue? Replace it a better wireless card perhaps? I have the Killer 1535 in my laptop.

 

Hello Terreos,

I'm sorry that you are having issues with your 1535. The 1535 should have superior Wi-Fi signal strength on 5 GHz networks, and about average strength on 2.4 GHz networks, so it should certainly be outperforming your other devices. Have you tried updating to the latest Killer Control Center from our site?

We suggest you download the latest Killer Control Center, found here - http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/item/killer-control-center-x64

Keep in mind that the Killer Control Center contains our latest drivers, and supersedes the Killer Network Manager that you might find pre-installed on your machine from the manufacturer.

Once you have the latest Killer Control Center handy, please follow these steps:

Note: It is important to be aware that, when troubleshooting, you should always shut down your computer by clicking the Start button in the lower left-hand corner, clicking the Power symbol, and clicking Shut Down. You should always reset or reboot your computer by doing the same, but clicking Restart, instead. The power button on most laptops, and some desktops, is not configured to shut the machine down, but rather to sleep the machine. Sleeping the machine does not accomplish the same thing as shutting it down or restarting it.

• Uninstall any Killer Performance Suite and Killer Drivers entries in your Apps & Features menu
• Restart your machine
• Run the installer package that you just downloaded
• Restart your machine once more

You should now have the latest drivers, and the latest Performance Suite installed. Please let us know if this solves your issue. If it does not, you can reach out to us directly here - http://www.killernetworking.com/about/contact - and we can further troubleshoot the issue.

-- Anthony with Killer Networking

 

I did already try this thank you. But it doesn’t do anything to improve the issue. I pulled out one of my old laptops to see if it had the same issue. And it works just fine where the killer 1535 isn’t getting signal. And for reference the old laptop uses an Intel WiFi card.

So I’m guessing it’s the software of the killer network suite is the issue. So how exactly do I use it? I couldn’t find a guide on the features and how to use it. I tried winging it to see if I could make changes to it, but I find the software sloppy and have no idea what does what?

 

Open device manager > Network Adapters >Right click Killer 1535 and select properties. Click on Advanced tab and change roaming aggressiveness to Lowest and Prefer 5GHz band options and that will fix the issue.
Also, remove Killer Control Center from Startup and manually start it by clicking it on desktop. W10 Network manager acts weird when KCC app is auto started at log on. You get strange disconnects or random issues.

 

that's strange. I just bought the latest Intel Wireless-AC 9260 and the range was so bad that I immediately switched back to the Killer-AC 1535. It hast the best range in terms of Wireless Cards. Are you able to like open your laptop and ensure that the antennas are properly and firmly connected to the wireless card?

 

I hate Intel cards. Who knows if there's any exploits for intel wifi cards in the wild?

 

Well this did wonders. Thank you. So can you explain what exactly all of this did? When it comes to hardware of computers I'm generally very savy and knowledgeable about it. So gpu, cpu, screens, keyboards, etc. All of that I understand and know how to fix issues of that nature and tweek. But, network type stuff is something I never got into.

Not sure if this is my first killer card as I've never bothered to look or even consider it when buying a machine.

Vasudev's fixed worked. This is a first for me because I've never had to deal with this for the two years I've lived in my house. Every device I've had got signal all through my house. A weaker signal in the basement of course, but it was useable. And the bed room and kitchen were always fine until this laptop. And ironically the last laptop was an Intel chip.

Atleast now I'm not going to be buying a new wireless card to no avail. Was almost considering getting a new router as I still have the crappy one that came with my internet provider. There's another can of worms I have no idea to make a good choice on. lol

And yes I could open the laptop up. It doesn't seem like it's necessary. I was going to open this laptop up and do a repasting of the cpu and gpu, but my device seems to be running a good bit cooler than what reviewers claimed and at this point doesn't seem needed. So I'm holding off until I've had it for awhile before opening it up.

 

Killer card needs to be tweaked for best performance.
I didn't come up with the tweaks it was @judal57 who was beta testing Sniper version of Killer and he passed it to me secretly and I used its diagnostics tool to make a report and send it to Killer Networking. I think @Killer_Networking asked me how did you obtain this copy of beta software and the SW was fundamentally different from Killer Network Manager. After 4 days they release the SW publicly. @judal57 was shocked and surprised to see that happen in quick time frame.

 

If that's the case it would be nice if they let you know that ahead of time. Been into customizing pc and laptops for years and until today networking has always been working or not working. Really not something I thought needed tweaked. Guess I've been lucky for a long time.

That would be discouraging for a someone who doesn't even know about what kind of wifi card is in there laptop. I just looked on the box for this machine and it has everything about it, but no mention of the wifi card. And then being told to reinstall the software would be really frustrating since like you said it needs tweaked to work best out of the box.

Though I noticed the Killer updates there software alot so atleast it's encouraging to see that.

 

You just need to do the tweaks once in windows and those persist even after complete uninstall. Only Clean install of Windows will revert to default factory settings.
I think Anthony from @Killer_Networking can take this as a feedback for product improvement.

 

I will have to give these troubleshooting methods a shot, though only as a last ditch effort, as they may not be ideal.

Changing the roaming aggressiveness will prevent the adapter from switching to a better network when one is present, which could be problematic for some users, especially those that use public Wi-Fi. Prefer 5 GHz could also be problematic for some, since 2.4 GHz can still often provide superior range, and "No Preference" should allow the adapter to choose the best available. It's strange that either would improve Wi-Fi signal.

The disconnects from the Killer Control Center running at startup may be referring to older versions of the Killer Control Center? We had some similar issues in the past, but nothing reported like that recently.

 

I never connect to Public Wifi, I carry a dongle always.
Well I felt 5GHz band gave me superior speed and range when I'm away from the router, say 20-30 feet and I sit in a corner of a room.
Only Killer was able to connect to 5GHz when iphone 7,s7, Intel cards suffered with stability issues and huge battery drain.
If I'm in LoS and very far away from the router I manually connect to 2.4GHz.
You can actually choose No preference for Band setting(like you suggested) since I only told OP who has dual band router and 5GHz will have very less traffic and interference from nearby routers in the vicinity.
Only option that needs changing is Roaming Aggressiveness to Medium Low or lowest for better stability if you run into issues. Otherwise no need to fiddle Killer WIFI card settings.
I noticed that KCC app on startup causes connection instability briefly upon starting W10. I didn't have the issue in 1.0.14xxx versions, the problem started in 1..0.15xx and above. Can you look into this?
Thanks for your input.

 

Definitely! So as not to hijack this thread, though, can you try doing a completely uninstall and reinstall (which would be my first suggestion) with this guide - http://killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/kb/faq/58-clean-install-any-driver - and then contact me at [email protected] so that we can look into instability, if you're still seeing it after the uninstall/reinstall?

-- Anthony with Killer Networking

 

Thanks.
I always do a complete uninstall using Revo followed by a reboot. Afterwards I use CCleaner to delete obsolete reg keys and install the new driver package from Killer which is MD5 hash verified.
Maybe I'll try adding KCC to startup & see if there's any issue. I removed the startup delay of Win10 using regkeys from Winaero. If the issue persists I'll drop a email to your official email.

 

This has fixed my issue! Thank you!

I’ve got Killer 1535, and during a amazing BF1 game online, it would randomly drop the connection to the server. I’d probably be a level 30 by now if it wasn’t for being kicked out of servers, or dropped connection.

My latency is less than 20ms, and my internet a lot faster than the average joe.

I’ve been dealing with Killer issues, and dropped connection for to long now.

And it’s finally gone!

 

Its good to hear that. @judal57 suggested me this.
Newest drivers needs minimal tweaking at all. Usually setting Roaming aggressiveness to Lowest fixes most issues.

 

Hi @Phoenix

I have recently installed this card (9260) into my Dell XPS 9570 and have an issue if you are able to help with please? The Bluetooth range is poor, so much so its sat next to an old Dell XPS 17 with an N-1030 Centrino card in it that is able to connect to a BT solar inverter whereas this new one with BT5 and supposedly much better range, cant unless I move it closer. Is there a way to boost the BT power on it somehow, I cant seem to find any settings to increase it?

I've tried the ariel leads both ways around and they are all connected properly.

Appreciate any pointers you may have, and I do have a Killer 1535 that came with the machine just in case this cards got issues.

 

Nothing I can help you with this crappy WLAN card other than suggesting to use the latest drivers

Killer 1550/Intel WLAN Driver v20.60.1.1/ Bluetooth v20.60.0.4

After downloading, make sure to right click on the file then go to properties then hit UNBLOCK from the bottom right if the file was blocked since it came from the internet

Extract the ZIP file to a folder then manually install the INF driver from device manager by right clicking on the WLAN card, choosing update driver, then pointing it to the folder that you just extracted

Next, uninstall your current bluetooth driver from the Programs & Features then reboot

then install then new Bluetooth Driver then reboot

 

Ok - remove the Intel and reinstall the Killer card then, I have the 9260 in now and a removed 1535 that came with the machine?

Thanks

 

Where did you buy it, reason I ask is QC failed units get sold by factories on side. My unit connects holds a pretty strong Bluetooth connection. I can get to my driveway before it cuts out with my LG Tone HBS810 (BT4.1) while my laptop is in a room on the top floor further back. Also unless your client supports BT 5.0 you can’t make use of that new feature set.

 

AmazonUS, as it wasn't available on the UK site, and took ages to get here. Fed up with it now!

 

Yeah better stick to factory card or buy from a reliable source. Amazon is no longer reliable with third party sellers. I frequent the Samsung forums and see some people complaining of fake/other brand SSDs etc, make sure it’s sold by Amazon itself. Apple has already warned of fakes this year in relation to Mfi certified cables on Amazon. It’s becoming like eBay honestly.

As much as I hate to say it and I despise Killer, who doesn’t make any of these cards and only rebrands them, buying from them or Provantage might be the only way to truly source a reliable 9260ac units as others are risky. I bought mine $25 on eBay but was fortunate. Others may chime in if they know reliable sellers.

 

Ok thanks for that. My old laptop with a Centrino N1030 is rock solid with the device it connects to and the 9260 only works in a closer room, no matter what I try to do. Its as if its in a low power mode but I cant get to change the settings. Makes sense about the old device not having BT5 on it as well.

 

Yeah it should be no worse than your old card. Seams like a hardware issue. If you had no issues stick with your old card or re source the 9260ac from Provantage or Killer if you really want it. Note, unless you have issues with the old card might not be worth the hassle as HT160 and BT5.0 require router and client support respectively. Currently only the QCA9984 based routers have properly working HT160 like the Netgear R7800 and Synology RT2600ac. Few Bluetooth 5.0 clients exist at the moment like newer Android/iPhones (8 series) and the Anker Soundcore Spirit X earbuds.

 

Understood, and thanks again

I mistakenly thought the BT would have more power and range to connect, but it has to be both clients to make the most of it to work properly.

 

Ok so I've reinstalled the Killer 1535 card after removing the Intel 9260, drivers and cleaned up, then reinstalled the Killer drivers. The BT connection is about 5 metres better on this card than the Intel 9260 and the connection to the BT inverter is critical but kind of works from my table but not reliable.

A bit disappointed as these new machines are meant to be an improvement, and its only a bluetooth device after all! My other option is a USB device with a better antennae, open to any recommendations if anyone's had this kind of issue.

Tried changing the 2.4Ghz channels, all up to date BIOS and all out of ideas now!

 

Get killer Driver uninstaller from its website under KB articles. As for BT, use W7 drivers instead of W10. The signal should be much better!

 

Ok, going to give that a try, thanks Vasudev. Willing to try anything at this point!

 

use revo free to nuke existing BT drivers with advanced scanning.