good wireless adapter?

[neatfeatguy]

Long story short:

Wife had me take up the carpet and padding and install laminate (which sucked). My router and modem are across the room (20ft) and when there was carpet, I just ran the ethernet cable under the carpet near the base board. With the laminate and the layout of the room (it's how she wants it), there is no place to hide a cable to run it 20ft to my computer. There are no walls between the router and my computer to block a signal, just a 20ft gap with no way that I'm allowed to run a cable.

Instead of reading up on reviews and hoping folks are being honest, I thought I'd have better results asking here from folks that may have first hand experience. So, I need to make the switch to wireless. Does anyone here have any experience with any brand/model wireless adapters that work well?

Last time I was on wireless (this was 8-9 years ago) even at 20ft away the ping was awful and I was constantly fighting with channels to get a better signal. I even went as far as installing Tomato and overclocking the router to try and boost the performance. But nothing helped.

Anyone needing to know, my router is an Asus AC1900

 

[evernessince]

Long story short:

Wife had me take up the carpet and padding and install laminate (which sucked). My router and modem are across the room (20ft) and when there was carpet, I just ran the ethernet cable under the carpet near the base board. With the laminate and the layout of the room (it's how she wants it), there is no place to hide a cable to run it 20ft to my computer. There are no walls between the router and my computer to block a signal, just a 20ft gap with no way that I'm allowed to run a cable.

Instead of reading up on reviews and hoping folks are being honest, I thought I'd have better results asking here from folks that may have first hand experience. So, I need to make the switch to wireless. Does anyone here have any experience with any brand/model wireless adapters that work well?

Last time I was on wireless (this was 8-9 years ago) even at 20ft away the ping was awful and I was constantly fighting with channels to get a better signal. I even went as far as installing Tomato and overclocking the router to try and boost the performance. But nothing helped.

Anyone needing to know, my router is an Asus AC1900

That's a pretty decent router. Good speed and range. Mind you, the T Mobile branded version can be had for $50 and is the same spec wise, only with some features removed that have nothing to do with the performance. No requirement to own T Mobile anything either.

Really which network card you are going to want to get depends on your data requirements. Personally I'd avoid USB adapters as they throttle at fairly low speeds and are less reliable (although we are talking 99.5% uptime vs 99.9% uptime).

There are hundreds of PCIe cards like this that all utilize Intel wireless NICs that are affordable: https://www.newegg.com/edup-ep-9636...4-_-wireless adapter pcie-_-pcie|wireless-_-3

This is the best variant IMO that comes with an extermal antena, good heatsink, and a known brand: https://www.newegg.com/tp-link-arch...=wireless_adapter pcie-_-33-704-507-_-Product

Even Asus sells a rebranded version with the same Intel wireless NIC: https://www.newegg.com/asus-pce-ax3...=wireless_adapter pcie-_-33-320-448-_-Product

I wouldn't personally recommend the ASUS version though as it lacks a heatsink which will impact performance during any sustained network load. Unless you have extreme requirements in either speed or range one of these cards are a good choice.

If you need the best in terms of performance, the PCE-AC88 is the best card on the market. I purchased one to do wireless backups and I can get 1.8 GB/s to my archival PC three floors down. That said, sometimes the card would overheat so best to avoid if you are doing continuous heavy load like that. ASUS really should have spent the extra $0.20 cents on such an expensive card.

 

[Caring1]

You could have run the cable behind the baseboard and installed a wall plate either end to make it neat and appear professional.

 

[neatfeatguy]

You could have run the cable behind the baseboard and installed a wall plate either end to make it neat and appear professional.

There's the walkway between my desk that leads between the room it is in and towards the bathroom, then just to the left of my desk are the stairs. Running the cable under the carpet along the wall base worked before because cable ran under the carpet where the walkway is. The carpet hid the cable without you even knowing it was there as you walked over it.

The wife doesn't want any kind of cable hider to be used over the flooring in that 4-5ft span of open space between the bottom of the stairs and over to my desk. She also won't let me rearrange the room so my desk is ideally situated by the modem and router.....I can't win. Here's a crude paint layout of the room. As you can see the cable ran along the wall base next to the stairs (under the carpet) and up out of the carpet behind my desk. Now there's no carpet and I can't come up with a way the wife agrees with to run a cable.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Maybe try to run the wire around the other way, granted you might need a longer cable, but you can still hide it in the wall.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Brands really don't mean anything. Because all network adapters have to conform to the same industry protocols and standards, one brand really does not stand out as better than another. Assuming when you say computer, you mean PC, I recommend a 802.11ac, dual band, PCIe card that uses external antennas - one similar to this. IMO, USB adapters are not reliable because they use USB. Also, because most PC cases are made of metal, one with external antennas moves those antennas outside the metal "cage" - a good thing. As evernessince noted, many such adapters have removable or separate antennas that can then, with extension cables, be placed up high on a desktop or even mounted up a wall. But with yours going in the same room, I don't thinks that is necessary. Many, like this one, include Bluetooth which is nice if your computer does not already support it.

 

[defaultluser]

Run Ethernet over Powerline.

It's a lot more consistent than wireless , and my 4-year-old ttPLink adapters are still running quite well.

Speediest Powerline adapter starter kit we've tested

Wider data bandwidth makes this set of Powerline adapters so fast, and it edged ahead of its rivals in our real-world tests.

www.techadvisor.com

With my 1200 units, I hit 330 consistently on 70-year-old wires., so you can likely expect 400-500 out of the 2000-rated units.

 

[Shou Miko]

Run Ethernet over Powerline.

It's a lot more consistent than wireless , and my 4-year-old ttPLink adapters are still running quite well.

Speediest Powerline adapter starter kit we've tested

Wider data bandwidth makes this set of Powerline adapters so fast, and it edged ahead of its rivals in our real-world tests.

www.techadvisor.com

With my 1200 units, I hit 330 consistently on 70-year-old wires., so you can likely expect 400-500 out of the 2000-rated units.

One thing to keep in mind with powerline adapters is you cannot see how your internal power cables in the walls are doing.

I would personally be worried even with 70yr old wires they wasn't design for this and will your insurance over if something goes wrong and the adapters cause the issue?

 

[evernessince]

Run Ethernet over Powerline.

It's a lot more consistent than wireless , and my 4-year-old ttPLink adapters are still running quite well.

Speediest Powerline adapter starter kit we've tested

Wider data bandwidth makes this set of Powerline adapters so fast, and it edged ahead of its rivals in our real-world tests.

www.techadvisor.com

With my 1200 units, I hit 330 consistently on 70-year-old wires., so you can likely expect 400-500 out of the 2000-rated units.

Powerline units have a few caveats. Namely you want to be on the same circuit or you are looking at a tiny fraction of the performance (as shown in the review you linked). Powerline kits run over your power lines and thus are subject to their wiring. Second is the price. $80 - 90 for 500 mbps when you can get a wireless kit that does many times that for $35 - $50.

 

[defaultluser]

One thing to keep in mind with powerline adapters is you cannot see how your internal power cables in the walls are doing.

I would personally be worried even with 70yr old wires they wasn't design for this and will your insurance over if something goes wrong and the adapters cause the issue?

These lines are all rated for 1500w. there is no big issue putting a higher-frequency rider in the existing network, running at a few watts.

The worst thing these will do is trip the breaker, if it has some big spike issue (never happened for me).

If you think these sort of things are a problem, you would also see DSL modems burnout the standard telephone lines they run over (it's the same basic idea, and has worked for 30 years now).

 

[silentbogo]

Powerline is garbage. In your case any recent Intel adapter will do.
Before moving to my own place I had an Intel 8260ngw, and it did work flawlessly for several years. 7260 is my go-to on work laptops. For new rigs - AX200.
Your board has an M.2 slot for WiFi card, and I think SMA pigtails should be in the box(if not, they cost $1/ea or something like that).
You may be able to find AX201, which is essentially the same thing only w/o BT. Overall you can make it within $25 budget no problem.
With 8260 paired w/ ASUS AC1300G I had pings near-identical to LAN, no lag, and speeds at worst 720Mbit/s through the wall (router was in a hallway outside my room, so 5GHz was a bit blocked). Good enough to play quake or download dozens of GBs from our work servers over 200Mbit/s fiber.
Later had to switch to ASUS PCE-AC55BT, and it was total garbage due to lackluster adapter-card, rubbish SMA connectors and abysmal antenna. Did a little DIY magic to make it good again, since it was based on that same 8260(only in mini-PCIe form factor).

 

[defaultluser]

Powerline units have a few caveats. Namely you want to be on the same circuit or you are looking at a tiny fraction of the performance (as shown in the review you linked). Powerline kits run over your power lines and thus are subject to their wiring. Second is the price. $80 - 90 for 500 mbps when you can get a wireless kit that does many times that for $35 - $50.

Bullshit on that. by the time you nurse your way into getting a wireless network above 300 mbps real-world, ( need matching MIMO adapters to your access points, plus the right room layout, or 5ghz is going to say "no,go fuck right off").

The Powerline adapters are just plug-and-play...the longer the distance, the slower the network will be (but Wireless has the same issue, unless you spend ball-to-the-walls on a mesh network).

Powerline adapter kit: $100, and you get 400-500 in most homes

Intel wireless AC 2x2 adapter plus entry-level AC 2x2 access point ($100 total) will start you out at a little over 200 in an empty room, with hundreds of dollars spent on higher-end routers plus matching cards to deal with the real-world prorogation effects of 5ghz.

 

[jboydgolfer]

This card has great speeds, connectivity, & range. Plus its bluetooth as well

 

[silentbogo]

Bullshit on that. by the time you nurse your way into getting a wireless network above 300 mbps real-world, ( need matching MIMO adapters to your access points, plus the right room layout, or 5ghz is going to say "no,go fuck right off").

Apparently you've had some really bad experience with Wifi, but things aren't as bad as you think. Ever since 802.11n arrived - I've pretty much dumped wired for household devices and personal PCs for over 8 years. Only NAS and servers were still on a cat5e leash. ASUS RT-N66U with modded antennas - 5GHz coverage on the entire 2nd floor and 2.4GHz coverage all the way to my neighbor's garage. RT-AC1300 - 5GHz on the entire 2nd floor and enough 2.4G coverage to reach a repeater downstairs.
Recently got a TP-Link AX10 for my apartment, and while cheap - it's still not too shabby. Only had issues with firmware updates and f#$d up MAC address binds once, but performance-wise it's flawless. Even got WPA3 update along with their implementation of mesh networking not too long ago. The only reason my main PC is on wired ATM, is because my router is around the corner behind 2 thick concrete walls, and I need my gigabit fiber to work to its full potential (plus my 24U rack with second wired router is right next to me, so why the hell not?)

 

[jboydgolfer]

ive only ever run CAT 6-7-8 , Always RJ45, id not be caught dead running wireless.
but since buying my new Asrock motherboard, which has built in wireless, i havent noticed a difference, i agree with the above atatement.

30 years of cords, finished

 

[evernessince]

Bullshit on that. by the time you nurse your way into getting a wireless network above 300 mbps real-world, ( need matching MIMO adapters to your access points, plus the right room layout, or 5ghz is going to say "no,go fuck right off").

The Powerline adapters are just plug-and-play...the longer the distance, the slower the network will be (but Wireless has the same issue, unless you spend ball-to-the-walls on a mesh network).

Powerline adapter kit: $100, and you get 400-500 in most homes

Intel wireless AC 2x2 adapter plus entry-level AC 2x2 access point ($100 total) will start you out at a little over 200 in an empty room, with hundreds of dollars spent on higher-end routers plus matching cards to deal with the real-world prorogation effects of 5ghz.

Most people already have a wireless router like the OP, who's is MIMO capable. Mind you as I stated earlier, you can get an identical product for $50 with the same good range and performance. That's far from entry level mind you. You are going to need a wireless router for other devices regardless, you obviously can't hook up everything via ethernet like your TV, phone, and tablets. It's a misleading comparison to add the cost of the router to one and not the other when if you are running powerline you still need a wireless router.

"400 - 500 in most homes"

As the article you linked stated, that simply is not true. It really depends. Read the reviews for those products, they say it all and it mirrors in the professional reviews.

As I stated in my original comment, I can get 1.8 GBps (over the network, not internet) three floors down with the ASUS PCE-AC88. That's Gigabytes, not bits. My router is good but not the best. On the T-Mobile AC1900 it was possible to get 600 MBps three floors down.

You seem to be thinking this is 2012 but it is not and fast wireless speeds do note require much money nowadays and aren't super hard to achieve.

 

[bonehead123]

1. No to anything el-cheapo, no-name made in you-know-where crapola...
2. No to anything with TP link in the name... almost as bad as #1 above
3. No to anything less than the most recent WiFi6/BT5.xx, either the AC or AX variants as a minimum (assuming your other hdwr already supports it) if you really want great coverage & speeds...

Yes to the PCE-AC88 being one of the best cards on the market... I have 2x and they are super fast, no fuss no muss installs, has the external antenna base if you need it, and the drivers are really nice too. Yea it costs a bit more than cheaper cards, but it has & continues to perform extremely well over the past year for me & my son, during which I was working from home, up & downloading TONS of data while connected to the local & remote office networks, and he was on zoom calls for his schoolin needs, all at the same time

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Powerline is garbage. In your case any recent Intel adapter will do.
Before moving to my own place I had an Intel 8260ngw, and it did work flawlessly for several years. 7260 is my go-to on work laptops. For new rigs - AX200.
Your board has an M.2 slot for WiFi card, and I think SMA pigtails should be in the box(if not, they cost $1/ea or something like that).
You may be able to find AX201, which is essentially the same thing only w/o BT. Overall you can make it within $25 budget no problem.
With 8260 paired w/ ASUS AC1300G I had pings near-identical to LAN, no lag, and speeds at worst 720Mbit/s through the wall (router was in a hallway outside my room, so 5GHz was a bit blocked). Good enough to play quake or download dozens of GBs from our work servers over 200Mbit/s fiber.
Later had to switch to ASUS PCE-AC55BT, and it was total garbage due to lackluster adapter-card, rubbish SMA connectors and abysmal antenna. Did a little DIY magic to make it good again, since it was based on that same 8260(only in mini-PCIe form factor).

my second rig, msi z87 gaming ac has a 7260 card on the board. nice wifi card. On amazon you can get a pci-e 1x card to slot a Mpci-e card into. i have used one and they are pretty sweet. would the ax200 go in the same slot as the 7260?

 

[newtekie1]

Powerline is definitely an option for the OP. The computer is in the same room as the router, so likely on the same circuit. So it is likely OP will get good speeds with a good speed powerline kit. Just make sure to get one of the MIMO ones. A decent 2000Mbps kit is about $100. Though don't expect anywhere near 2000Mbps. However, what I've experienced, even in my home built in the 60s and the kit run from my house to the detached garage, is that the signal is much more stable than wifi. My case is probably worst case, as the adapters aren't even in the same building, but I still get a pretty consistent 30Mbps but I don't get lag/ping spikes like I get with wifi. And one of the things you have to remember with powerline networking is you have to plug the adapter directly into the wall. I see so many people complaining about them working poorly that have them plugged into a surge protector.

The other option is a good WiFi adapter. The PCE-A88 is a good adapter that is also going to cost you about $100. One issue here though is the AC1900 router is only a 3x3 router, while the PCE-A88 is a 4x4 adapter. They will work together no problem, it is just that the PCE-A88 is going to be limited by the 3x3 configuration of the router.

And at the same time I have a hard time recommending, or buying for myself, AC networking equipment when AX/WiFi6 is here. A PCE-AX58BT is $60 and would be faster if you had a WiFi6 router, but it will be slower than a PCE-A88 with your current router.

But then again, maybe it's time to upgrade your router too...damn technology rabbit holes. An ASUS RT-AX3000 is only $160 right now, which is pretty darn good for a WiFi6 router. Pair that with the PCE-AX58BT for $60 and you've upgraded your setup to a WiFi6 setup for $220. But is that worth it just because you can't use a cable with your desktop anymore? But this would also benefit you down the road if you get a WiFi6 laptop or any other device that supports WiFi6.

If I was in OP's position, I'd probably try the 2000Mbps MIMO powerline kit first. If it didn't work that well, I'd return it and go the new WiFi6 router and adapter route.

PCE-AC88 is the best card on the market. I purchased one to do wireless backups and I can get 1.8 GB/s to my archival PC three floors down

I can get 1.8 GBps (over the network, not internet) three floors down with the ASUS PCE-AC88. That's Gigabytes, not bits.

This is 100% total bullshit. It is literally not possible to get 1.8GB/s with the PCE-A88. Even under the best conditions, in theory, the PCE-AC88 can only do 2167Mb/s(that's bits), or a theoretical max of 270MB/s(that's bytes). If you are getting 1.8GBps, you have a wireless connection speed of 14.4Gbps. So, some how, you are getting beyond wired 10Gb ethernet speeds using a Wireless AC connection.

 

[evernessince]

This is 100% total bullshit. It is literally not possible to get 1.8GB/s with the PCE-A88. Even under the best conditions, in theory, the PCE-AC88 can only do 2167Mb/s(that's bits), or a theoretical max of 270MB/s(that's bytes). If you are getting 1.8GBps, you have a wireless connection speed of 14.4Gbps. So, some how, you are getting beyond wired 10Gb ethernet speeds using a Wireless AC connection.

My bad, gbps. Did it really warrant this kind of response? Simply rude.

I'd still definitely recommend going the wireless route before the powerline kit. It's both cheaper and faster, especially when you can get a $35 - $50 card with a theoretical max speed of 2400 Mbps at that price. If there are issues then powerline should be tried although I have a knock off of the router he has and it's very stable.

 

[newtekie1]

My bad, gbps. Did it really warrant this kind of response? Simply rude.

I'd still definitely recommend going the wireless route before the powerline kit. It's both cheaper and faster, especially when you can get a $35 - $50 card with a theoretical max speed of 2400 Mbps at that price. If there are issues then powerline should be tried although I have a knock off of the router he has and it's very stable.

You made it a point that it was GB/s not Gb/s.

And also, there is no way you are getting 1.8Gbps 3 floors away. It just isn't happening. Anyone that has used wireless knows you are bullshitting. It's unlikely you are going to get that speed even in the same room.

 

[silentbogo]

would the ax200 go in the same slot as the 7260?

Only if your 7260 is an M.2 variant. I don't think AX200 had mini-PCIe versions.

 

[Caring1]

There's the walkway between my desk that leads between the room it is in and towards the bathroom, then just to the left of my desk are the stairs. Running the cable under the carpet along the wall base worked before because cable ran under the carpet where the walkway is. The carpet hid the cable without you even knowing it was there as you walked over it.

.... Now there's no carpet and I can't come up with a way the wife agrees with to run a cable.

View attachment 205103

Very similar layout to my unit but I run the ethernet cable over the carpet
Either move the Modem/ Router closer to the desk or go wireless.
If the modem/Router is connected to a phone jack as my place is, you could get it moved to the wall near your desk, that just means the existing point would be patched over or used as the secondary line.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Not sure how your laminate has been installed, but there are special skirting boards that have space for cables.
Could be a bit tricky where the opening is though...

Wireless has improved a lot since you last used it, but it obviously depends on your router as well. If you still have an old 802.11n router, then you're not going to see any of the benefits of getting a fancy Wi-Fi card. You didn't mention what router you have, so maybe that's a good place to start?

 

[xtreemchaos]

this is what i use GIGABYTE Dual-Band Intel WiFi 6 2x2 MIMO Wireless PCIe Adapter with Bluetooth 5 LN104060 - GC-WBAX200 | SCAN UK
great card ive no complaints. its cheaper on ebay around £30.