New WiFi Adaptor, still not fast enough

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David321

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#255563 18-Aug-2019 15:41

Hi all,

I have recently change my internet plan to Vodafone HFC Max, where I have been told I can expect speeds of up to 900-1000 (download) and 500 (upload). As my laptop is an old Toshiba Satellite L750 running windows 7 it's WiFi capabilities maxed out at about 50Mbs, so PB Tech recommended the Asus USB-AC53 WiFi adapter (https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETAS0153/ASUS-USB-AC53-Nano-MU-MIMO-Dual-Band-AC1200-USB-Wi).

I bought this and have just got it home and installed it, however after disconnecting from the 2.4ghz signal and connecting to the 5g signal with the new adapter and running a few speed tests online I am not getting anywhere near the speed I thought I would be, I am getting about 60-100 download and 70-100 upload. I have run speed tests on my Galaxy S9 after doing speed tests on the laptop and my phone is getting about twice the speed as the laptop on the same connection.

Does anyone have any idea why this might be?

Thanks.

_David_

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#2301275 18-Aug-2019 15:48

Wireless speeds are theoretical maximums in ideal conditions, before protocol overheads. Your expectations are too great.

David321

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#2301280 18-Aug-2019 15:56

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Wireless speeds are theoretical maximums in ideal conditions, before protocol overheads. Your expectations are too great.

So why is my phone so much faster over WiFi than my laptop, should they not both be reading the same speeds?

_David_

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#2301281 18-Aug-2019 15:56

Also can be limited by hardware thoughput etc.... no point getting 100 when HDD might only do 50. :)

If you want real speed, stick to cable. Want convenience, wifi.

Its a tough one trying to have both.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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#2301282 18-Aug-2019 15:58

The Toshiba L750 is now about nine to ten years old. I would say the processor doesn't even have the power to do much more than that - also the WiFi adapter is probably plugged into USB 2.0, which is limited to speeds of about 480 Mbps - before all the overheads, etc. Knowing the processor is old, USB 2.0 is old, the OS is old, I'd guess you are getting the max you can get on those conditions.

Your phone is a new generation of WiFi, hardware and protocols. No, they are not going to get the same speeds.

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#2301286 18-Aug-2019 16:02

To add to all of that you simply can't get anywhere close to 900Mbps over WiFi. It's impossible with your hardware (and in general it's not possible unless you're wanting to pay big $$ for 4x4 capable hardware)

On a 3x3 device you can get around 600Mbps in the real world using 80MHz channels.

As that dongle is only 2x2 in the real world it's simply not possible for that to get above 400Mbps - and in your case with an old USB2.0 port I'd expect a lot less.

What speeds do you get over Ethernet?

Gordy7

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#2301288 18-Aug-2019 16:03

Your WiFi speeds are in the right ball park.

The only way you will get close to your expected 900/500 is to use a network cable between your computer and your router.

Edit: Your computer Lan must also be rated for 1Gbps.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

RunningMan

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#2301289 18-Aug-2019 16:06

And that adapter only has USB 2 and no external or larger antenna(s). It would need to be very close to the AP for decent signal, and even then will be limited by USB 2, and the throughput of the USB driver on the device it is plugged in to.

How are you actually doing the throughput testing? If you're just using a web based speedtest, probably maxing out the capabilities of the rest of the computer.

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#2301290 18-Aug-2019 16:06

David321:

I have recently change my internet plan to Vodafone HFC Max, where I have been told I can expect speeds of up to 900-1000 (download) and 500 (upload). As my laptop is an old Toshiba Satellite L750 running windows 7 it's WiFi capabilities maxed out at about 50Mbs, so PB Tech recommended the Asus USB-AC53 WiFi adapter

Also note that not even connecting via ethernet will be any good, because the Toshiba L750 uses a 100 Mbps adapter.

If you don't have other computers around that can use gigabit over ethernet, I think you are paying for a connection you ever use at best 10% in terms of speed. Save money, and change to a slower plan.

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#2301291 18-Aug-2019 16:07

RunningMan:

And that adapter only has USB 2 and no external or larger antenna(s). It would need to be very close to the AP for decent signal, and even then will be limited by USB 2, and the throughput of the USB driver on the device it is plugged in to.

The laptop has USB 2 only, so even if the OP swapped for a USB 3 adapter the connection would still be over USB 2.0.

Username01

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#2301294 18-Aug-2019 16:18

Are you using the usb 3 socket ...... the one on the left-hand side of the unit ?

Also ensure you've enabled ac on the driver...

Also .... things may get heated.

Cheers!

Gordy7

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#2301295 18-Aug-2019 16:22

Toshiba Satellite L750 only appears to have a 100Mbps Lan... so a Lan cable speed test will also be limited.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

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#2301303 18-Aug-2019 17:07

@David321 HFC is 100Mbps/s upload max not 500

From the VodafoneNZ site

Actual user speeds will vary and are affected by various factors including how you’re connected to the internet (using a Gigabit Ethernet cable is better than WiFi, which could have a large impact on speed), the hardware and software used, number of devices connected, time of day, and where the data is downloaded from. In really good conditions, we expect you’ll get download speeds of up to 700-900 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 90-95 Mbps.

https://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/ultra-fast-hfc/

David321

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#2301335 18-Aug-2019 18:12

Hi all, thanks for the help so far, I thought I would clear a few things up and see if I should still be expecting the same results.

The laptop is USB 3 capable, I had put the adapter into the USB 3 slot but get the same results, I think the adapter might only be USB 2 capable.
The laptop have a brand new Samsung SSD so that should not bottle neck the speed.
The laptop also has a gigabit Ethernet port, when I connect with a cable I am getting about 650mbs and on WiFi threw the adapter I am getting between 50 and 100.

I know WiFi will always be slower but should it be that much slower considering the hardware in this laptop, I know its old but with a brand new motherboard and brand new SSD and USB 3.0 and an i7 processor I thought it would perform a little better with this adapter than what its doing now??

_David_

richms

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#2301337 18-Aug-2019 18:25

i7 means nothing, they are not up to the 10th generation of them, and a new budget i3 will wipe the floor with the old 2nd and 3rd gen ones.

USB has greater overhead than PCI express does. In my older laptops I have swapped out the aweful wifi card which was usually a 2x2 2.4GHz only 802.11n card with a modern AC capable intel card I got off aliexpress for not much $, but you run into the issue that a laptop that old may not be a m.2 sized card, but an older mini PCIe card size, and there is also BIOS whitelists on many laptops that prevent you putting any old wifi device into the slot and having it boot up.

Richard rich.ms

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#2301360 18-Aug-2019 20:16

David321:

Hi all, thanks for the help so far, I thought I would clear a few things up and see if I should still be expecting the same results.

The laptop is USB 3 capable, I had put the adapter into the USB 3 slot but get the same results, I think the adapter might only be USB 2 capable.
The laptop have a brand new Samsung SSD so that should not bottle neck the speed.
The laptop also has a gigabit Ethernet port, when I connect with a cable I am getting about 650mbs and on WiFi threw the adapter I am getting between 50 and 100.

I know WiFi will always be slower but should it be that much slower considering the hardware in this laptop, I know its old but with a brand new motherboard and brand new SSD and USB 3.0 and an i7 processor I thought it would perform a little better with this adapter than what its doing now??

If your laptop was capable you would be getting 947mbit or so over the ethernet connection.

Because you aren't then you know your computer isn't up to the task.

USB will almost always be much slower than Ethernet, take into account other software / hardware / drivers that could impact it and all bets are off.

You know your internet is fine since you get faster speeds on your mobile phone.

Purchase something at most 2 years old that support AC preferably 3x3 or 4x4 MIMO and you will get better speeds.

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