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    Wifi card upgrade - recommendations?

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by moon angel, Feb 23, 2020.

  1. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    Hi everyone,

    I'm finding that the 5 GHz performance on my laptop is rather lacking. I can force it to connect 5 GHz and I will get faster download speeds that way, for example downloading games, but when actually trying to have a stable connection such as to an online game if I force 5GHz I find I get disconnected a lot.

    I note that my iPhone stays in 5 GHz network all the time and seems to have a perfectly stable connection.

    So I'm wondering if a better Wi-Fi card might help the situation. Of course it could be the router that I have (virgin media hub three) but that will be more difficult to change.

    Currently I have a Realtek 8821CE PCI-E Wifi card. https://www.everythingrf.com/products/wireless-soc-s/realtek/787-969-rtl8821ce

    Please does anyone have any recommendations? Will a new card even help or may it be my laptop? (specs in sig).

    Thanks.
     
  2. tilleroftheearth

    tilleroftheearth Wisdom listens quietly...

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  3. Starlight5

    Starlight5 Yes, I'm a cat. What else is there to say, really?

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    @moon angel get an AX200 indeed. Here's a cheaper seller. AX200 is hands down the best wi-fi adapter available at the moment, no need to look for alternatives - there are none.
     
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  4. hacktrix2006

    hacktrix2006 Hold My Vodka, I going to kill my GPU

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    AX200 for defo. I use the Killer 1650 version but its an intel AX200 wifi card with just bloat added.

    So go for the AX200 you will not regret it
     
  5. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    Wow, okay well that was easy! Thanks very much for the responses. Those seem pretty cheap on eBay UK so I will pick one up.
     
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  6. hacktrix2006

    hacktrix2006 Hold My Vodka, I going to kill my GPU

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  7. Starlight5

    Starlight5 Yes, I'm a cat. What else is there to say, really?

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    This is a DIY-quality card made to satisfy demand of people with older machines that don't have enough space for minipcie to m.2 adapter. Real AX200 doesn't come in miniPCIE form-factor, at all. OP's machine has m.2 slot anyway.
     
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  8. Aivxtla

    Aivxtla Notebook Evangelist

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    @hacktrix2006 Looks like they probably used the smaller AX200 1216 version and soldered it to a mPCIE board, could still be an actual AX200, just a hacky unofficial version lol for older laptops/boards. Idea wise, seems easier and more practical than having the standard AX200 2230 version with a separate mPCIE adapter in between.

    As for this particular sample, they should have just not put that fake info cover on top of the hack job though. It’s missing a second antenna though lol bad solder job looks like.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2020
  9. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I thought something looked a little off there. Thanks for the info, I will make sure to get one from a reputable seller.