intel 8265 vs killer 1535 objective and subjective comparison

I get connection issues when my signal strength drops below -78dB. Until now I used the killer 1535 without the killer software just the drivers. The killer software suite only seems to provide a program based bandwidth control which I don't need enough to risk other issues. Decided to try the intel 8265 due to many comments online saying that the intel cards are better which as far as I can tell amounts primarily to DPC latency issues with killer cards.

Unfortunately the intel 8265 was not an upgrade due to signal strength being weaker. Heres a breakdown:
Intel 8265
-77dB to -81dB
Killer 1535
-74dB to -78dB

Surprisingly the intel 8265 held respectable performance in game despite being in the signal strength range where the killer 1535 would struggle alot. Perhaps the signal strength measurement is somewhat one-dimensional in a complex reality where other factors are at play as well. The intel offered a pleasing amount of options in device manager however mac address was not present. MAC address was still easily changeable with registry and 3rd party programs even with the newest drivers that intel claims to lock this feature. When changing mac the 2nd nibble had to adhere to the XX10 format as usual with windoze 10.

My decision to stick with the killer 1535 comes from in game performance. While the intel held its own doing better than the killer would at -79dB average, the killer maintained a few decibels of signal strength over the intel. A few decibels is actually nothing small and the subjective measurement in game was that the killer was able to maintain a glitch free game while the intel had some minor glitches every 10 seconds or so.

As a curiosity I am testing with latency mon while writing this and will post the numbers from the 1535 card when I plug it back in.

highest execution times from latency mon durring light web browsing and streaming music
Intel 8265
tcpip.sys 0.100296 ms
ndis.sys 0.090795 ms
NETIO.SYS 0.001016 ms
Killer 1535
tcpip.sys 0.127140 ms
ndis.sys 0.532106 ms
NETIO.SYS 0.000647 ms


The sample length of 3-5 minutes of web browsing might not be suitable for comparison. I will retest the 1535.

Killer 1535
tcpip.sys 0.102135 ms
ndis.sys 0.397262 ms
NETIO.SYS 0.000734 ms

 

Try using WLAN Optimizer with all settings checked on the Intel card.

 

Disable Packet Coalescing on the Intel card if you want a little lower/more stable latency. That option was designed so packets aggregate and are transmitted together to reduce CPU overhead and increase data transfer bandwidth, but obviously waiting for packets to aggregate causes a latency increase. TLDR that option trades latency for better bandwith/lower CPU usage. From what I see in your results that ndis.sys latency is pretty big relatively on the 1535 but not bad.

 

There's no such option on the Intel card. At least it's not in device manager in the advanced section for the Intel card.

I'm with stupid.

 

It should be available like in the screenshot from my laptop I posted below, that option has been there since the 7260ac era on Intel adapters in my experience.

OP, just a thought but set Roaming Agressiveness on both the 1535 and 9260ac to the lowest and check if latency spikes go down. At least the 1535 I have heard is pretty agressive with that.

 

Ok I found it. Oops.

 

I always turn of packet coalescing. I use NetStatMon to specify the access point that I connect to so roaming aggressiveness doesn't apply. The WAN Optimizer tool is something new I havent heard of before though. Trying to figure out anything else that might increase signal/lower latency.


It's kind of sad because the intel has much lower execution times which is a big deal for me being a competitive gamer. Half a milisecond is actually a huge deal considering 240fps needs to pop out a frame every 4.166 ms and I tend to run low graphics settings so that the render can complete in ~2ms.

 

I appreciate your time on testing this!

It’s far more scientific than mine.

Over the last 50 laptops I’ve had my hands on it was the Killer solutions that I was problem solving. Whether it was mine, clients or friends, it lacked consistency.

Intel was plug and play with only a single issue and that was in a cheap 2013 $400 Acer laptop. I replaced it with a better dual band intel WiFi and it was flawless and still working today.

I never doubted the range and speed of killer over intel but from strictly my experience, its reliability cannot hold a candle to Intel.