Solved Wifi Adapter Issue

Hi All,

Looking for some help. I have a 2017 Asus GL553VD laptop with a Realtek RTL8723BE Wireless LAN 802.11n PCI-E NIC wifi card in it (according to the device manager anyway). I've just moved to a new apartment with shared Internet and am struggling to get a signal. The connection drops frequently and I have to keep on resetting the adapter. I also get a fairly poor signal. It's not an issue on my iPhone or Ipad so I assume it's the laptop. It, the laptop, needs replacing but I need to get a few more months out of it first, would replacing the card be a possibility, I'd ideally like to upgrade to a 5ghz unit (something like this https://amzn.to/3NWFRs8) or would I be better off purchasing USB 3 Wifi Dongle, something like this? https://amzn.to/3tkZuR8

I do hope links are allowed and that I have the right forum. Just looking for some assistance. I am able to swap out the card, just looking for the best solution as it's affecting my work.

Thanks,
Rob

I'd got for a compact unit with no antenna as it's less likely to snap off and does not get in the way.

The USB adapter with the antenna might give you a stronger signal. Would having the antenna be a problem?

kelper said:

I'd got for a compact unit with no antenna as it's less likely to snap off and does not get in the way.

Amazon.co.uk

Click to expand...

Is that likely to help with range issues? Thank you for the reply btw

Winuser said:

The USB adapter with the antenna might give you a stronger signal. Would having the antenna be a problem?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Not at all, you reckon that's a better bet?

Amazon.co.uk would something like this be worth it or am i wasting money?

ConfusedRob said:

Thanks for the reply. Not at all, you reckon that's a better bet?

Click to expand...

I can't guarantee you would get a better signal, but I don't see why you wouldn't.

ConfusedRob said:

Amazon.co.uk would something like this be worth it or am i wasting money?

Click to expand...

I can't really say for sure. It does have connections for two antennas. How hard is it to open up your laptop? Some of the newer ones can be a pain.

Here we go

Personally, as the laptop is due for replacement, I'd just get a dual band usb wifi dongle for it. You can then keep that dongle for future troubleshooting if ever needed.

This

Fabler2 said:

Personally, as the laptop is due for replacement, I'd just get a dual band usb wifi dongle for it. You can then keep that dongle for future troubleshooting if ever needed.

Click to expand...

This is also true, thank you @Fabler2. Are they all much of a muchness, ie just get a USB 3 one that supports the frequency I want (5ghz)? Sorry for asking mundane questions. Is the antennae that important or again will one of the micro one do? It seems that I'm only one wall away from a decent signal and like I mentioned my phone and tablet seem to work fine. Dont mind putting up with the antennae if its worth it though.

ConfusedRob said:

This

This is also true, thank you @Fabler2. Are they all much of a muchness, ie just get a USB 3 one that supports the frequency I want (5ghz)? Sorry for asking mundane questions. Is the antennae that important or again will one of the micro one do? It seems that I'm only one wall away from a decent signal and like I mentioned my phone and tablet seem to work fine. Dont mind putting up with the antennae if its worth it though.

Click to expand...

If your Apple products work ok then this type will certainly work fine.

Since you moved to another apartment, you need to check which WiFi channels around you that are most congested and on your router, pick one that has the least traffic.

Having stronger signals and better antennas only help so far...if there are a lot of wireless routers around you, you'll always get interference. This applies to both WiFi and BT.

Switching to 5GHz may help a bit, but eventually that will become an issue too when enough people around you also move over to that frequency.

I had a lot of issues with 2.4GHz band and only way I managed to solve it was by upgrading my wireless router. The old one was very sensitive to interference.

On my laptop, it was the lead to the aerial that failed. Fitting a new card would not have fixed it. I had broken the hinges dropping it.

What you could also try, since you can easily access the WiFi card, is to switch to another/better WiFi card. I recommend Intel 9260, ax200 or ax210. Very good cards.

They cost about $10-20. So not much.

kelper said:

On my laptop, it was the lead to the aerial that failed. Fitting a new card would not have fixed it. I had broken the hinges dropping it.

Click to expand...

ok, this explains...

Fabler2 said:

If your Apple products work ok then this type will certainly work fine.

Amazon.co.uk

Click to expand...

Thank you!

SlicEnDicE said:

Since you moved to another apartment, you need to check which WiFi channels around you that are most congested and on your router, pick one that has the least traffic.

Having stronger signals and better antennas only help so far...if there are a lot of wireless routers around you, you'll always get interference. This applies to both WiFi and BT.

Switching to 5GHz may help a bit, but eventually that will become an issue too when enough people around you also move over to that frequency.

I had a lot of issues with 2.4GHz band and only way I managed to solve it was by upgrading my wireless router. The old one was very sensitive to interference.

Click to expand...

LIkely its a small set up, only 3 units (3 people) on 2 shared connections. I have access to the 5 ghz connection on my phone and tablet but on my PC I'm limited to the the 2.4 ghhz connection that drops consistently. My laptop seems to do this moment I'm further away from any connection though

Personally, I would try forcing connection on only the 2.4Ghz band because though is sometimes a tad slower it is generally a stronger signal and a slight reduction in speed for increased stability might an acceptable trade-off.

Plus, this won't cost you anything to try

SlicEnDicE said:

What you could also try, since you can easily access the WiFi card, is to switch to another/better WiFi card. I recommend Intel 9260, ax200 or ax210. Very good cards.

They cost about $10-20. So not much.

Click to expand...

Yeah this was my idea (easier long term that using a USB variant). Is it worth doing it at this point? Little confused now (my fault). USB 5.0 GHz dongle with antennae (or not) vs card? Sorry, I'm be a pain