RTL8821CE weak signal

[nelinho]

I have bought this laptop 4 months ago and I've been experiencing issues with the RTL8821CE wireless adapter since then. With the release of the latest driver some of them have gone away but the signal remains very weak, the range is very short compared to other devices, even smartphones.

I searched on this forum and tried all kinds of suggested solutions and none worked. I suspect the problem to be "that HP put the single antenna cable on the wrong terminal on many units", as Paul_Tikkanen said here: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Wireless-and-Networking/Replacing-WiFi-Bluetooth-Adapter/m-p/...

I didn't want to open up the laptop to fix this issue and it seems that it could be fixed by changing the "Antenna diversity" setting:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Wireless-and-Networking/Weak-WIFI-Signal/m-p/6341381/highligh...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Wireless-and-Networking/Poor-Wifi-Signal-RTL8723DE/m-p/670255...

The problem is that the current driver doesn't provide that setting, could you perhaps contact Realtek to see if they can release a new driver that provides it or if it can be changed through a register on Windows?

[DonPhillipe]

Apparently since I am a new contributor it won't let me post a link.  So you'll have to manually search for this info on Google:

Realtek 2024.0.8.101 driver

You will find a result of a website in the name of station-drivers (dot com) which will show you a driver for a device :

Realtek RTL8723BE Wireless LAN Version 2024.0.8.101 WHQL

However if you will read the information on this driver you will discover that this driver also covers the chip:

Realtek RTL8821CE

Thanks again HP - another laptop with scores of users I am sure having this same problem, one that is ignored by HP and finally randomly fixec by a driver update almost a year of product launch.   Who's testing these things anyway?   At least no overheating battery of funky DC connector this time.   Oh HP, how do I love thee, let me count the ways 😉

[kflash08]

I upgraded my wireless card in my HP 250 G4 several months ago with the Realtek RTL8821CE, replacing the crummy Broadcom BCM43142 that originally came with it. I haven't had any issues with the Realtek, but I can offer advice.

The RTL8821CE only has one antenna terminal on the card that handles both the WiFi bands as well as Bluetooth, so there shouldn't be any settings that allow you to select which antenna to use.

Are you connected to a 5 GHz WiFi? The 5 GHz band is weaken by solid objects more than the 2.4 GHz, thus reducing signal strength and overall coverage. Assuming that your router is dual band, try connecting to your 2.4 GHz WiFi and see if the signal improves.

You may have to change the channel that your WiFi is broadcasting on as other WiFi's in your area maybe interfering and degrading your signal strength.

You may have to increase the transmit power of your WiFi via the router settings, which may help improve signal strength.

These are the drivers that I'm currently using. If your drivers are newer, you can try downgrading to these.