Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCle adapter - hugely degraded performance

[NotFreddie]

-  I have a HP Laptop 14-cf3512sa, x64-based PC, 12 RAM, 500Gb SSD and Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCle adapter was previously providing 70 Mbps download & 19 Mbps upload - now down to 15 Mbps download & 4 Mbps upload. (my other NEW HP laptop shows previous download/upload speeds are still working)

-  Been working reasonably fine for the last couple of years until our local Wi-Fi was updated/upgraded to 5G. Now the wi-fi adapter performance has dropped off to an abysmal low level, as shown above, and is only really workable when within a couple of metres of the hub.

-  Anyone else suffered similar downgrade in wi-fi adapter performance? And yes I know the bad (terrible) rep that these Realtek adapters have!

-  What would be a good compatible (not too expensive) replacement adapter for me to purchase to resolve this? Or is there another 'fix' I can/should try to apply first?

-  I'm not bothered about losing Bluetooth connectivity just need good speed connections at home for this laptop.

Thanks, in advance, for any sensible responses.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

The only suggestion I can offer would be to update the Wi-Fi driver to the latest version HP has for that model Wi-Fi adapter.  I also included the latest Bluetooth driver as well.

Realtek RTL8xxx Wireless LAN Drivers

Version 2024.10.230.1 

sp155768.exe

Realtek RTL8xxx Series Bluetooth Driver 

Version 1.10.1072.3000

sp155460.exe 

[NotFreddie]

Thanks for your response but, unfortunately, I already have that driver update in place - I've even tried rolling back to a previous version - that was no use - then back  to re-updating with the 2024.10.230.1 version.

Is it worth going down the card replacement road? And if so, any recommendations? 

Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome. 

Unfortunately, there isn't a better card you can upgrade to without doing an extensive disassembly of your notebook including the display bezel in order to upgrade the wifi adapter. 

You may have to resort to using a USB dual band wifi adapter 

[NotFreddie]

Any particular USB dual band wifi adapter you'd recommend for my needs? Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Since you can still use the Bluetooth from the Realtek Wi-Fi adapter, I would go with this model which seems to be pretty small and has twice the throughput of the RTL8821CE.

TP-Link 1300 Mbps High Gain Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter, 3dBi Dual Omni Directional Antenna, Supp...

[NotFreddie]

Thank you - I'll give that one a bash and see how we go! 👍

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

It's a shame that you have to resort to this, but I don't know of any other easy ways to get around the problem, other than continuously hunting for newer drivers to come out.

They actually have one on the ASUS ROG website:

 2024.10.230.2 

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