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How to maximize speeds with a Broadcom AC card and R7000?
Hello all,
I've upgraded my motherboard to a Asus Maximus VII Impact with an onboard Broadcom 802.11AC Network Adapter. I believe it is model BCM43XAC_NT61 based on the device ID.
On my 5GHz band network, it will connect and if I right click teh network and click Status the speed is listed at 866.5 Mbps. If I hover the mouse over the network, it only lists it as 802.11n and not ac. I only get 1-2 bars on the 5GHz band though. With this, I can download from Steam at up to 4.2 MB/s. I feel like it should be much greater.
On my 2.4Ghz network, I get 2-4 bars, speed is 144.0 Mbps, and I get up to 3.9 MB/s downloads.
I have WMM enabled on the router, but, but unsure of what else to tweak for this card. I had changed a bunch of settings for my previous intel 7260, but erset it after I got rid of that.
Any ideas?
Cheers,
Alex
I've upgraded my motherboard to a Asus Maximus VII Impact with an onboard Broadcom 802.11AC Network Adapter. I believe it is model BCM43XAC_NT61 based on the device ID.
On my 5GHz band network, it will connect and if I right click teh network and click Status the speed is listed at 866.5 Mbps. If I hover the mouse over the network, it only lists it as 802.11n and not ac. I only get 1-2 bars on the 5GHz band though. With this, I can download from Steam at up to 4.2 MB/s. I feel like it should be much greater.
On my 2.4Ghz network, I get 2-4 bars, speed is 144.0 Mbps, and I get up to 3.9 MB/s downloads.
I have WMM enabled on the router, but, but unsure of what else to tweak for this card. I had changed a bunch of settings for my previous intel 7260, but erset it after I got rid of that.
Any ideas?
Cheers,
Alex
- I changed all the settings. Immediately made the signal jump to four bars, and then drop down slowly to 1 or 2. Not much difference in download speed.
But, I got a new modem from Optimum, one with Docsis 3.0, the Arris TG862G, and it allowed my dl speeds to go up to around 7.0 MB/s. Much better.
Should I look into getting one of the high end Surfboard modems to further increase speeds?
And is there anything else you guys can think of regarding the Broadcom card or the router to further increase DL speeds?
This is the antenna that came with my motherboard. Would I be better served with some standard antenna?
Will putting aftermarket antennae like this do anything or is it just gimmicky? How come they don't list it as 802.11ac compliant in the listing?
Thanks again
Cheers
Alex
11 Replies
- Something to consider, perhaps. A USB AC wifi connector..
- I changed all the settings. Immediately made the signal jump to four bars, and then drop down slowly to 1 or 2. Not much difference in download speed.
But, I got a new modem from Optimum, one with Docsis 3.0, the Arris TG862G, and it allowed my dl speeds to go up to around 7.0 MB/s. Much better.
Should I look into getting one of the high end Surfboard modems to further increase speeds?
And is there anything else you guys can think of regarding the Broadcom card or the router to further increase DL speeds?
This is the antenna that came with my motherboard. Would I be better served with some standard antenna?
Will putting aftermarket antennae like this do anything or is it just gimmicky? How come they don't list it as 802.11ac compliant in the listing?
Thanks again
Cheers
Alex - I think I mistyped the options for Bandwidth Capability
They are:
11a/b/g:20/40MHz
11a/b/g:20MHz
11a:20/40; 11bg:20MHz
Also, there is a wiki entry on Xpress Technology. Can't make heads or tails if it will help me though.
Wired connection isn't an option for me in this room. Maybe a powerline setup would be possible. Or I could just live with mediocre download speeds.
Cheers for the help! withalligators wrote: Wow, it seems I forgot to enable email notifications for this, I wish I had known all you fine folks had chimed in.
On the router:
WMM is enabled
Upstream and downstream QOS are disabled
Beamforming is on
Airtime fairness is on
Up to 1300Mbps is enabled for the 5GHz band
On my Broadcom card's advanced properties:
20/40 Coexistence is Auto
40MHz Intolerant is Disabled
802.11h+d is set to Loose 11h
802.11n Preamble is set to Auto
Antenna Diversity is set to Auto
AP compatibility is set to Higher Performance
ARP Offload is Enabled
Association Roam Preference is Disabled
Band Preference is None (options are Prefer 802.11a or 802.11g/b)
Bandwidth Capability is set to 11a:20/40;11bg:20MHz (options are 11a:20/40;11bg:20MHz or 11a/b/g:20MHz
Beamforming is Enabled
Bluetooth Collaboration is Auto
BSS PLCP Header is Auto (Short/Long)
BT-AMP is Enabled
Disable Bands is set to None
Disable Upon Wired Contact is Disabled
Fragmentation Threshold is 2346
IBSS 54g(tm) Protection Mode is set to Auto
IBSS Mode is set to Auto
Locally Administered MAC Address is set to Not Present
Minimum Power Consumption is Enabled
Mixed Cell Support is Disabled
NS Offload is Enabled
Power Output is set to 100%
Priority & VLAN is set to Priority & VLAN Disabled (options are enabling both or just one)
Rate (802.11a) is set to Best Rate
Rate (802.11b/g) is set to Best Rate
Roam Tendency is set to Auto
Roaming Decision is set to Auto
RTS Threshold is 2347
Short GI is set to Auto
Wake on Magic Packet is Enabled
Wake on Pattern Match is Enabled
Wifi Rekeying Offload is Enabled
WMM is Auto
WZC IBSS Channel Number is set to 11(20MHz)
XPress (TM) Technology is Disabled
The computer is an mITX desktop build, so it won't move around too much.
On Speedtest.net, on my 5GHz band, with 1 bar of service, I get a Ping of 9ms/Download speed of 9.77Mbps/Upload speed of 4.94
On my 2.4GHz band, with 2 bars of service, I get 9ms/35.19/0.70
On my HP 8460p laptop, which doesn't have 802.11ac capabilities, on my 2.4GHz band with 5 full bars, I get 12ms/35.18/5.16, and on my 5GHz band with 3 bars of service, I get 12ms/35.09/1.31.
My latop was about 6 feet from my desktop during these tests. I have Optimum cable internet.
Any suggestions? My brother thinks the modem (we still have the stock crap modem from Optimum) is a bottleneck but why would my 5GHz band numbers on just the desktop be so poor?
Thanks again
That's a long list of settings..
Here's what may work.. Although I do not see an equivalent to HT, on your card. Try these setting below one at a time, to see if there is an improvement. Kind of concerned with the one bar on 5ghz..
Band Preference is None (options are Prefer 802.11a or 802.11g/b)
try 2
Bandwidth Capability is set to 11a:20/40;11bg:20MHz (options are 11a:20/40;11bg:20MHz or 11a/b/g:20MHz
try 3
WMM is Auto - turn on
XPress (TM) Technology is Disabled - see if you can find info on this.
Worst case - plug a CAT6 cable in - between laptop and router..- Wow, it seems I forgot to enable email notifications for this, I wish I had known all you fine folks had chimed in.
On the router:
WMM is enabled
Upstream and downstream QOS are disabled
Beamforming is on
Airtime fairness is on
Up to 1300Mbps is enabled for the 5GHz band
On my Broadcom card's advanced properties:
20/40 Coexistence is Auto
40MHz Intolerant is Disabled
802.11h+d is set to Loose 11h
802.11n Preamble is set to Auto
Antenna Diversity is set to Auto
AP compatibility is set to Higher Performance
ARP Offload is Enabled
Association Roam Preference is Disabled
Band Preference is None (options are Prefer 802.11a or 802.11g/b)
Bandwidth Capability is set to 11a:20/40;11bg:20MHz (options are 11a:20/40;11bg:20MHz or 11a/b/g:20MHz
Beamforming is Enabled
Bluetooth Collaboration is Auto
BSS PLCP Header is Auto (Short/Long)
BT-AMP is Enabled
Disable Bands is set to None
Disable Upon Wired Contact is Disabled
Fragmentation Threshold is 2346
IBSS 54g(tm) Protection Mode is set to Auto
IBSS Mode is set to Auto
Locally Administered MAC Address is set to Not Present
Minimum Power Consumption is Enabled
Mixed Cell Support is Disabled
NS Offload is Enabled
Power Output is set to 100%
Priority & VLAN is set to Priority & VLAN Disabled (options are enabling both or just one)
Rate (802.11a) is set to Best Rate
Rate (802.11b/g) is set to Best Rate
Roam Tendency is set to Auto
Roaming Decision is set to Auto
RTS Threshold is 2347
Short GI is set to Auto
Wake on Magic Packet is Enabled
Wake on Pattern Match is Enabled
Wifi Rekeying Offload is Enabled
WMM is Auto
WZC IBSS Channel Number is set to 11(20MHz)
XPress (TM) Technology is Disabled
The computer is an mITX desktop build, so it won't move around too much.
On Speedtest.net, on my 5GHz band, with 1 bar of service, I get a Ping of 9ms/Download speed of 9.77Mbps/Upload speed of 4.94
On my 2.4GHz band, with 2 bars of service, I get 9ms/35.19/0.70
On my HP 8460p laptop, which doesn't have 802.11ac capabilities, on my 2.4GHz band with 5 full bars, I get 12ms/35.18/5.16, and on my 5GHz band with 3 bars of service, I get 12ms/35.09/1.31.
My latop was about 6 feet from my desktop during these tests. I have Optimum cable internet.
Any suggestions? My brother thinks the modem (we still have the stock crap modem from Optimum) is a bottleneck but why would my 5GHz band numbers on just the desktop be so poor?
Thanks again - Hi,
Simply only use -ac mode between router and device. That will give max speed. - We don't know your internet connection speed but it sounds like that's your bottleneck and the wifi is working fine. It's mostly a 2x2 chip so 866mbps is correct and the 802.11n type is a Windows thing and you can just ignore it. To test throughput without your internet as the weakest link do a lan transfer to preferably a gigabit client to see what speeds you get.
- Can you double check that the 5 GHz wireless mode on the R7000 is set to 1300 Mbps? Also, make sure that WMM is enabled, QoS is disabled, Implicit Beamforming is on, and Airtime Fairness is on.
- What is the speed of your Internet connection?
- It sounds like a windows laptop. Windows does not report the wireless card as .ac, for some reason, but based on your speed it is correct. Here's a list of setting for your card (or similar). Ensure the bottom two are set..
802.11n channel width for band 2.4: Auto (not in 20 MHz only)
802.11n channel width for band 5.2: Auto (not in 20 MHz only)
802.11n mode: Enabled
Fat channel intolerant: Disabled
Preferred band: No preference, or Prefer 5.2Ghz band
Roaming aggressiveness: Medium (or less)
Throughput enhancement: Disabled
Transmit power: Highest
Wireless mode: 802.11a/b/g
HT mode: VHT mode
Also, ensure QoS is DISABLED on the R7000.
