Hi all, I'm in need of a new network card, looking to spend around $50 or so. I have terrible NBN with typical speeds of around 5Mbps so there is no need for something too flash. PC is located about 7m from router and unfortunately wired is not an option.
Currently leaning towards this: TP-Link Archer T6E AC1300
Any thoughts? Cheers
Not sure on the exact model it was given to us by Telstra 3 or so years ago. We have a fixed wireless connection in a rural-ish area.
FWIW I have the inferior version, the Archer T4E and it works fine for day-to-day usage and HD video streaming.
But with NBN speeds that low (5mbps is unusually low, even copper based ADSL2+ is typically 12mbps) that is a huge WAN bottleneck and you should probably get some technical assistance from your ISP.
Thanks, it is a fixed wireless connection in a rural-ish area and we have called them countless times to no avail unfortunately.
and you've confirmed hard wired that it is the NBN's fault not your WiFi's fault, yeah?
7m from the router and not hard wiring it seems alien to me, I've got a OG Google WiFi mesh setup (with wired backhaul, not the shitty Nest "upgrade") and I still have everything that can be hard wired, then everything that can't be is on 5G band if possible, with the remainder old crap on 2.4G
I would lodge a complaint, that's definitely below the NBN speeds expected, even from fixed wireless.
The fixed wireless rollout has been crap, my parents went through a horrible time with NBN, kept having the ISP say "it won't work" and bugger off again, but they're meant to escalate it with NBN if the speeds are that slow.
Yeah, 5Mbps is like ADSL1 or terrible ADSL2 with massive line length or something, no NBN connection should be that bad, well maybe satellite, or fixed wireless in peak times - you don't mean 5MBps? That'd be more in line with a 50/20 connection (they should get 6+MBps)
Regarding the PCIe card, I've got one of these - Asus PCE-AC55BT PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter
They seem to be discontinued and the second hand prices of them are similar to what I paid new, but if you looked for a newer model whether from ASUS or someone else, getting BT as well as the external antenna on a cable is a big plus.
It is also Intel chipset too so gets updates straight from Intel for both WiFi and BT (BT needs an internal USB header) so I'd advise to check chipsets and get one with an Intel chipset if you're spending the money.
There's heaps of WiFi6/AX BT combo cards with external antennas available for $60-80ish eg: Gigabyte 2x2 802.11ax Dual Band WIFI 6 + BLUETOOTH 5 card or Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200, 2400 Mbps 802.11ax/ac + Bluetooth 5 Desktop PCIex WiFi Card
Unfortunately all the WiFi5/AC units seem to have the shit direct screw on antennas as a cost saving measure rather than the ones on a cable you can position for better reception (ie: not hidden behind your metal RF blocking PC case)
Without the external antenna you might as well just get a USB 3.0 one and plug it into the front of your case where it'll likely get better signal - so I'd suggest pricing up an external antenna kit if you want one of the cheaper cards, biting the bullet and spending a little more for an AX card with the proper antennas, or if you must cheap out just go with a USB one seeing as the cheap PCIe ones aren't actually any better without that antenna
Thanks a lot!
mod team sorted it, automated thing canned it
Edit:
TL;DR
Either spend a little more for an AX/WiFi6 card ($60-80) or save the money and get a USB3.0 one (AC1200/1300, not the nerfed slower ones like AC450 - and must be USB3.0 to get the speed) - without the external antennas the "cheap" PCIe ones aren't really any than USB3.0
your only 7mtrs from the router - why is wired not an option?
If you've already got other bottlenecks, don't bother with a PCIe card and just go for a cheap TP-Link USB wifi adapter.
$15 from eBay or Amazon and you're set
what is the router ? what the NBN package to be such low speed ?