I've got a four-year-old PC with a Z590 AORUS ELITE AX motherboard, and I've noticed that my Wi-Fi connection isn't great. My ISP recently upgraded my router, which delivers 1 Gbps on my phone, but my PC only gets about half that speed. I'm wondering if installing a Wi-Fi card would help improve this situation or if there's another solution I should consider. I'd prefer to go with Ethernet, but running a cable from my router to my PC is not feasible for me.
4 Answers
Can you explain what leads you to believe there's a problem? What are you noticing?
Have you checked if your Wi-Fi antenna is properly installed? A common issue is folks forgetting to plug in their antennas, which can lead to poor signal strength.
Yes, I have the antenna connected, but the cable is so short that I can't really move it to improve the signal.
From what I gather, your motherboard already has a Wi-Fi card (Intel AX201), which is typically decent. If you're seeing around 500 Mbps in real-world tests, that's not too shabby. Upgrading might not lead to a significant increase unless you're really close to your router, but it could be beneficial in some situations.
Your Wi-Fi card supports Wi-Fi 6, which is quite capable. Unless your ISP's router supports the latest Wi-Fi 6E or 7, it's unlikely a new card will drastically improve speeds. One big factor to consider is the position of your Wi-Fi antenna since metal cases can block signals. If you're still aiming for reliable speeds, using powerline or MoCa adapters for Ethernet could be a worthwhile option, although those can be somewhat pricey.
Thanks for the detailed info! I’ll look into those alternatives if I decide I need an upgrade. As for my download speed on Steam, it’s closer to 40 Mbps, which seems low compared to my speed test results.
My PC is getting about 50% of the speed that my phone does, even when they’re both in the same room.