Wi-Fi speed lower then Ethernet

[Kailef]

So I just upgraded my internet speed from 18Mbps to 200Mbps. I know my laptop, which is the HP Pavilion 17-e119wm has a 10/100 connection so I know the max internet speed I can get using the existing Ethernet port is 100Mbps. I'm getting roughly 90-95Mbps range. The Wi-Fi speed is barely reaching 20Mbps on good days and not even 5Mbps on bad days. I know it's not the range because the Laptop is not even 2 feet away from my Modem.

So what's going on with it and how can I fix it to get close to the max internet speed I should be getting?

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

The parts list for your notebook indicates that is comes with a Ralink RT3290LE 802.11b/g/n 1x1 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 combination adapter.

The maximum throughput for that card I believe, is 72 MBPS.   That is typical for 1 x 1 wifi adapters.

20 MBPS is rather low.  I would think with an excellent signal, that card should be pulling 40 - 60 MB, but it might be due to W10 and old drivers.

I'm surprised the wifi card is even working on W10 if you are on the latest version (1803).

What I suggest you do is to replace the Ralink wifi card with the Broadcom AC dual band wifi adapter.

Looks easy enough to do on your model...see chapter 5 of the service manual below -- starting on page 52.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04069163

Take a look at the Ralink wifi card in there now, and confirm that there are two antenna cables connected to the card.

There should be on your model.

It is important to make sure there are, because a dual band wifi card needs two antenna cables connected to it.

If there are, here is a wifi card that should really pep up the connection speed...should even be greater than the ethernet speed...

Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo      HP part # 724935-001

The card is readily available on Amazon or eBay.   Do your search by the HP part number, not the model of the wifi card.

I believe the maximum throughput of the Broadcom 4352 is 867 MBPS.

Before you install the new wifi card, ensure you uninstall the Ralink wifi card wireless driver and bluetooth sofrware/driver.

The wifi driver is uninstalled by going to the device manager, click to expand the Network adapters device manager category, right click on the Ralink wifi adapter, select Uninstall and check the uninstall driver box.

Bluetooth software may be listed in the Windows control panel>programs.  If it is listed there, uninstall it.

Then shut down the PC and install the Broadcom wifi card.

Here are the latest wifi and bluetooth drivers for the Broadcom wifi card...

7.35.351.0 Rev.A

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp78001-78500/sp78044.exe

12.0.1.921 Rev.A

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp75001-75500/sp75330.exe

[Kailef]

So basically, the best thing to do is buying this: https://smile.amazon.com/HP-724935-001-Broadcom-BCM4352-802-11ac/dp/B014VUDYJ8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qi...

But first I should uninstall those drivers for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Then take the PC apart and make sure I have 2 antennas. If I don't, what antenna should I buy or can I buy another antenna to make that card work?

Buying the part and installing it is no problem. I'm pretty tech savvy and even built my own desktop gaming PC so I'm sure I can handle installing the new card in the laptop.

[Kailef]

I thought the 802.11n would be capable of producing up to 450Mbps though. My new internet provides both 2.4ghz and 5ghz speeds and the router settings at the moment have both the 2.4 and 5 combined onto one SSID. It does have the option to disable the N on 2.4 and only enable it on the 5ghz, but I don't know if that would fix it.

I know right now the Wi-Fi connect properties shows it connecting through the 802.11g.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I believe the best a wifi N card can do is 450 MBPS.

There are different model N cards. 

Some only work on the 2.4 GHz band such as the 3290, and some are dual band. 

The wifi card your model has cannot run on the 5.0 GHz band. 

I have my router set up with one ssid on the 2.4 band and another one on the 5.0 band.

That way, I can enable N only on the 2.4 band, and I have the 5.0 set to mixed because I have dual band N and AC devices, so I can't set it to AC only.

Some single band wifi cards are 2 x 2 such as the Intel 2230, and those connect at 144 MBPS.

Most of the 5.0 GHz N cards only connect at 300 MBPS, and the internal N cards that connect at 450 MBPS usually have 3 antenna cables connected to the card (mimo).

Going back to upgrading the wifi card...

Need two antenna cables.

Yes, the one on the link you posted is correct, but you can probably do better price-wise...for example...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-WLAN-Broadcom-BRCM1068-802-11ac-2x2-BT-4-0-Mini-PCI-E-Card-724935-001/19...

I'm pretty sure your PC does have two antenna cables but if not...you would have to basically disassemble the entire notebook including the display panel area to properly run the second antenna.

You would need this antenna/transciever part number...

Antenna Kit (includes left and right wireless antenna cables and transceivers) HP Part # 720659-001

[Kailef]

Hey, thanks man for the eBay link. I didn't think to check eBay. I also double checked and slid the cover off after removing the battery. Found the WLAN and it does indeed have 2 antennas. Looks like a simple job. Never took my laptop apart before. Only worked on one Laptop before and that was my cousin's young son pushed the AC adapter port inside the case. Got that all fixed as it just came unlodged from the spot it locks into. 

Gonna go ahead and order this and it'll save me buying a wi-fi dongle that'll just take up a USB port.

[Kailef]

Now if only I could figure out why my Fire Stick internet speed is barely reaching 60 Mbps on Wi-Fi while it'll hit 190-200 Mbps when using an ethernet adapter.

Thanks again for the assistance. I was hoping the current wifi card would have worked and reached the same speed going at least 70-80 Mbps which I could tolerate, but a new WLAN that can take advantage of the full 200 Mbps is much better.

Didn't realize it, but it also has room for another memory stick. I may have to add another one of those later too. Is this thing upgradable to put a much better video card in so that it can do gaming too?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Unfortunately you can't upgrade the video.

The graphics is part of the motherboard.

The only way to upgrade the graphics would be to replace the motherboard with one listed in the service manual that may come with better graphics.

That would be a very expensive project.

Please post back and let us know how the Wi-Fi card upgrade went.

[Kailef]

I sure will. Already ordered and paid for. Should be here by the 22nd. So we'll see.

Now if only I could find someone as helpful and smart as you over on the Amazon forums where I'm trying to figure out why the Wi-Fi speeds are bad on the Fire Stick when it's not even 5 feet from the modem. Getting roughly 45-55 Mbps down / 35 Mbps up on both the 2.4ghz and the 5ghz SSID's, but in the living room a good 50 feet away where I have an Ethernet Adapter and a 100 ft cable hooked up to it is giving it a good 180-190 Mbps.

[Kailef]

Ok so there's an issue Paul. I got the card installed. Unfortunately, the card doesn't tell where antenna 1 and antenna 2 goes. So I guessed and hooked them up. Card worked but only getting about 13Mbps down. I figured maybe I had antenans on wrong so I shut it down and reversed the antennas.

Sure enough, I boot up and get 220Mbps down and 28.5Mbps up. I figured it worked so I tested another server just to be on the safe side and got around 13-14Mbps down. I figured maybe it was just that server so I go back to the server I got 220 on and it only got 13-14Mbps.

I rebooted the modem and the laptop. Still getting 13-14Mbps. 

Any idea what's going on? Why get 220 once and now can't jump over 13-14 and that's being on the 5ghz where it shows 802.11ac

Also another question. The one you linked on Ebay that I purchased is BRCM1068 and the one you posted before according to my manual is BCM4352 and it was on Amazon. They're different cards. Should I have got the 4352 one?