USB Wifi card for my old Notebook, terrible reception.

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › USB Wifi card for my old Notebook, terrible reception.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#236259 25-May-2018 22:17

Ive tested other devices and they are doing a lot better.

Supposedly the inbuilt chip supports IEEE 802.11n-2009 5ghz, and AC. But I think either the chip has faded or the generic intel was shizer to start with.

Would one of these improve my situation? Im also looking to buy a Huawei 5Ghz router.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL0722/TP-Link-TL-WN722N-150M-Lite-N-High-Gain-Wireless-U

I dont want to buy anything expensive, but I thought this might improve my situation given its high gain and has an antenna. And $20 is about the price Id bother to pay before accepting crappy net reception.

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13457 posts

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#2022681 26-May-2018 06:11

by an AC adapter or dont buy anything

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022785 26-May-2018 09:26

Noob question, what is an AC adapter? Can you get them in cheaper versions? IM presuming you mean A and C as in the protocols?

Something like this? https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETEDM1058/EDIMAX-EW-7811UTC-AC600-Wireless-USB-Adapter-80211

So Ive listened to you guys.

Amd buying a used 5ghz modem, hg659, although I notice it doesnt have external antennas for me to do DIY hacks to.

I have one 2x ethernet for TV area, 1x10m for the kitchen table for when maximum speeds needed, made a HUGE difference on ARC Map GIS through a major DMZ, Firewalls, Servers and back again. I wouldnt say instant, but compared to something that sometimes takes 1 minute now takes 2-3 seconds, very impressed. Other 20 second things like moving around a map now are instant. The Org has a really cruddy IT team, no specific networking roles. And they are a very important Org to Auck rofl.

And now Ill get one of the AC adapters for the bedroom and older notebook. If it has N at 5Ghz it should be ok. But getting a better signal down there is where the AC adapter Im hoping will help?

I dont want to use ethernet as I lie around bed with this device and would find if the speed was up around 60Mbps instead of 24.

So first things to get that I dont have is the new router, secondly this AC adapter.

I noticed Asus has some really nice 4 antenna Wifi devices but they out of my budget. But I saw a usb to 2 Antenna job for $75, cant find it any longer.

Anyway please advise on a budget friendly AC adapter.

Thanks.

DarkShadow

1647 posts

Uber Geek

#2022790 26-May-2018 09:42

Just get the router first and see how well your laptop works before you buy a new adapter?

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022793 26-May-2018 09:53

DarkShadow: Just get the router first and see how well your laptop works before you buy a new adapter?

Oh yeah for sure, I might get the speed I need just with 5Ghz on the new router, although distance (not so much of an issue) and penetration are less on 5Ghz than 2.4Ghz? Is that a non issue in a 2 bed single floor long hallway apartment?

But also given the price of the router I had planned on opening it up and adding extension to both band antenna cables, so I can add external antenna cables Via Coaxial. With the 5Ghz one I intend to run a very long long coax cable and mount it half way between the router and the bedroom. Something similar to this tutorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A75SJ3NP5dA

Thanks again guys. Love learning new tricks.

freakngeek

356 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2022796 26-May-2018 09:55

The above adaptor is old school 11n (150Mbps) NOT 11ac
But if you are skimping on the USB adaptor I hightly doubt you would have bought a 11ac capable router/AP (apologies if I'm wrong)

And 11ac on an old laptop = laptop is probably the bottle neck

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022798 26-May-2018 10:01

Would this TP Link router with external antennas be a better buy at $50 than say the Huawei at $15?

https://www.trademe.co.nz/computers/networking-modems/wireless-networking/routers/auction-1641981560.htm?rsqid=cc17f7cd5801456fae7f81423a9f917b

TP-Link Archer C2 AC750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router, its dual band and supports 802.11ac

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022799 26-May-2018 10:04

freakngeek:

The above adaptor is old school 11n (150Mbps) NOT 11ac
But if you are skimping on the USB adaptor I hightly doubt you would have bought a 11ac capable router/AP (apologies if I'm wrong)

And 11ac on an old laptop = laptop is probably the bottle neck

Haha yep snap, see my post just after yours. Thank you.

It would be very easy to extend the TPlinks 5ghz antenna down the hall, where the huawei router, needs a bit more mucking around connecting external antenna lines then running a long coax. Simply put for $35 more would the TPlink be worth the less hassle involved?

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TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022805 26-May-2018 10:19

Wow the Asus Ac1200 has four antennas and is cheap used or imported. Dual band, AC. I think I found a winner.

If I cant get that then basically any external antenna Dual Band, AC router that I can get for the cheapest should do the job?

Dumb question but does 5Ghz improve N? Or should I get a USB dongle for the old notebook so I have AC?

Its certainly easier to extend the router coverage or place repeaters than to try and get ultra sonic wifi chip on my notebook. :-)

freakngeek

356 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2022840 26-May-2018 10:30

Build you own router to anything you like this is a good starter:
https://mikrotik.com/product/RB911-5HacD

No easier access to extend the antenna's

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022854 26-May-2018 10:42

freakngeek:

Build you own router to anything you like this is a good starter:
https://mikrotik.com/product/RB911-5HacD

No easier access to extend the antenna's

And it looks fun hehe. Most of the routers antennas look easy access to be honest.

But until I get a 5Ghz router Im not going to buy the rest.

Im also considering the wall based AC range extenders. But if an antenna run down the hall does the same job, Im wondering if a repeaters $100 price mark is worth it, when I need to get a dongle for the old notebook for AC as well.

There are so many ways to skin a possum here.

The google wifi device looks pretty cool, but is it real world grunty?

I honestly think if I can get one of those Huaweis for $10, just extend the 5Ghz Antenna down the hall, add a $20 USB AC dongle for my notebook, that would be plenty? Im not looking for 100Mbps down this end of the house, 50Mbps via Wifi on this notebook and Id be very happy with that.

freakngeek

356 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2022865 26-May-2018 10:56

So I can't tempt you to spend more and get this kind of performance:

and at 20m with 3x wallks

Netgear r7800 + Intel 9260

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2022874 26-May-2018 11:13

Oh nice, are you on a 900 plan?

I am familiar with netgear stuff from my old internetworking days in Telatra, we would replace a lot of Netgear stuff with Cisco gear (as they were our discounted supplier and provided us all with varying certifications free).

I was actually looking at this netgear plug mount AC extender.

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-AC750-Range-Extender-EX3700-100NAS/dp/B00R92CL5E?th=1

Note sure why some shops sell them for as much as $140, ouch. $83 on pricespy, but even that, $29US does not equal $83NZD. Its not just notebooks and the like we get double fisted for, clearly even small items carry huge middle man overloads.

Anyway, Im looking for a Dual Band External Antenna AC router, Ill test that speed with my notebook and AC usb dongle. If not sufficient, I might add this netgear down this end of the house in the hall way, which is line of sight (not that, that matters much with wifi).

Ill keep everything else done via Ethernet.

Does that sound like a good plan?

If all goes well I might upgrade my plan along with an Xbox One X and a Sony HDR TV. My old Sony 1080p is getting a bit meh on the colours. Looks gorgeous externally still, they have great styling. But the panel I really crave vibrant colours and contrast, no I cant afford an OLED hahaha. Not at 70inches, maybe the Samsung S3 tablet rofl. Actually an Xbox One S would prob do me as it can carry HDR, which is more important to me personally than 4k. Although I do enjoy my UHD movies. But UHD and HDR together are off the chart expensive. So its pick one or the other. I personally prefer HDR. I think 4k is overkill. The sweet spot imo is 1440p and HDR.

freakngeek

356 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2022917 26-May-2018 11:36

No I like to tinker with network gear, I'm on VDSL, but shift files about and like to do it quickly

But if you had Gigabit UFB then you'd be wasting the bandwidth unless you can dish out Gigabit WLAN
The above was limited to 1Gbit LAN connections, could go faster with Port Aggregation on router, switch and Server as no 10Gbe WLAN routers (yet), but no way I'm buying a R9000 at that price

Ofcourse I live in the whipwhops and have no neighbours so using up 160mhz worth of 11ac channels is OK
Might not be so WIFI friendly in the city

BTW, stay clear of extenders, you'll just come back here like many other and post your having issues

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2022956 26-May-2018 12:56

freakngeek:

The above adaptor is old school 11n (150Mbps) NOT 11ac
But if you are skimping on the USB adaptor I hightly doubt you would have bought a 11ac capable router/AP (apologies if I'm wrong)

And 11ac on an old laptop = laptop is probably the bottle neck

Old laptop, might be using USB2 ports which maxes out 19MB/s.

This is at less than half the real world speed of modern wifi.

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#2023028 26-May-2018 14:33

surfisup1000:

freakngeek:

The above adaptor is old school 11n (150Mbps) NOT 11ac
But if you are skimping on the USB adaptor I hightly doubt you would have bought a 11ac capable router/AP (apologies if I'm wrong)

And 11ac on an old laptop = laptop is probably the bottle neck

Old laptop, might be using USB2 ports which maxes out 19MB/s.

This is at less than half the real world speed of modern wifi.

Yes I was wondering about this but for a different reason. Why do all of the Ethernet dongles, use USB 2.0?

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