Gaming Wi-Fi adapter for desktop

!TIMMY! · 31 Jul 2018 at 08:57

I have started to get back into gaming and I just have a cheap Asus N53 USB adapter at the moment. I know that being wired is the best for online gaming but it just isn't possible in this house. I have tried homeplugs but the electrics are old and the connection was very inconsistent.

So I am looking for a adpater that will be the best for gaming, it can be USB or PCI-E and I am looking up to around AC1600 speeds. Not looking to spend loads, but something that is better than my cheap Asus N53. If it makes any difference I am still on Win 7 but will upgrade to Win 10 soon.

Steveocee · 31 Jul 2018 at 09:14

Gaming and WiFi should never be in the same sentence to be honest. You'd be better spending the money on either a decent cat5e cable run or at worst some ethernet over power adaptors.
Cat5e>Powerline>WiFi

spicypixel · 31 Jul 2018 at 09:34

I had fairly inconsistent latency spikes when using Intel WiFi adapters in the desktop kit, only reasonably non terrible solution I found was bridging a pair of ASUS AC68U routers, one in router mode as usual and the other in media bridge mode, then connecting the second to my Ethernet port.

Worked better, just not as good as wired.

!TIMMY! · 31 Jul 2018 at 13:03

If I could wire the desktop to the router I would, but unfortunately it's not possible in this (rented) house. So I'm just trying to make the best of a bad situation.

That's an interesting idea, I would need to get another router instead of an adapter.

SupraWez · 31 Jul 2018 at 13:11

I would use Powerline adapters over Wifi if running a Cat5 isnt possible.

The TP-Link TL-PA8010 Kit provides two AV1200 spec units, sadly OCUK do not stock them.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/products/details/cat-18_TL-PA8010-KIT.html

!TIMMY! · 31 Jul 2018 at 13:16

I did try power lines first but the house is old and it just wasn't consistent. Even file transfers were slow.

nlel1975 · 31 Jul 2018 at 13:36

I've never had problems gaming over wifi adds a few ms latency that's all.

dmsims · 31 Jul 2018 at 13:54

I now use a USB RTL8811AU based wifi adapter

Reasons?

The powerline (including the ****** TP-Link one above) and the AV 2000! only gave 30-40Mbps

Devolo 650+ was better at 45-50

You can put the Wifi adapter on the 5Ghz band - 110Mbps

Ping is identical (I did lots of before and after testing)

YMMV

spicypixel · 31 Jul 2018 at 14:17

You could use the dedicated media bridge, ASUS EA-AC87, instead of a secondary router, though I went router as I upgraded my existing one and reused the old one as the media bridge. It works better than any usb clients I've tried in the past. Bonus points for having multiple ethernet points available in the room too!

AC68U client, unifi Mesh AP as the router AP.

Daaaveee · 31 Jul 2018 at 16:29

If you have carpet then you could maybe run a flat Ethernet cable under the carpet around the edge of your rooms? I recently went 20m upstairs with a flat cat5e and its much better than wifi or powerline ever was.

!TIMMY! · 31 Jul 2018 at 18:19

dmsims said:
I now use a USB RTL8811AU based wifi adapter

Reasons?

The powerline (including the ****** TP-Link one above) and the AV 2000! only gave 30-40Mbps

Devolo 650+ was better at 45-50

You can put the Wifi adapter on the 5Ghz band - 110Mbps

Ping is identical (I did lots of before and after testing)

YMMV

Which adapter do you use?

spicypixel said:
You could use the dedicated media bridge, ASUS EA-AC87, instead of a secondary router, though I went router as I upgraded my existing one and reused the old one as the media bridge. It works better than any usb clients I've tried in the past. Bonus points for having multiple ethernet points available in the room too!

AC68U client, unifi Mesh AP as the router AP.

I don't have a spare router to do this on the cheap, but could get a dedicated media bridge. It's only the PC in the room so no need for extra Ethernet ports really.

Daaaveee said:
If you have carpet then you could maybe run a flat Ethernet cable under the carpet around the edge of your rooms? I recently went 20m upstairs with a flat cat5e and its much better than wifi or powerline ever was.

The cable run would be a nightmare from the main BT socket to where my desktop is.

mmj_uk · 31 Jul 2018 at 18:41

spicypixel said:
You could use the dedicated media bridge, ASUS EA-AC87, instead of a secondary router, though I went router as I upgraded my existing one and reused the old one as the media bridge. It works better than any usb clients I've tried in the past. Bonus points for having multiple ethernet points available in the room too!

I would recommend this too, the advantages are once it's set up you won't need to do it again and because it has a built in switch you can run a few devices off it. Also, it'll support 4x4 and have a decent amount of transmit power/receiver signal.

!TIMMY! · 31 Jul 2018 at 21:34

Cheers for the replies, I'll look more into the wireless bridge, it does look like the best way to go.

zipp0r · 31 Jul 2018 at 22:08

i had no problems with a cheap tp-link 150 2.4ghz mini pciex card. ping was ~13ms and stable. it nearly always maxed out a 50mbit line... untill a microwave was used

id still run a cat5 cable under the edge of the carpets or something, its absolutely worth the hassle

Daaaveee · 3 Aug 2018 at 15:42

!TIMMY! said:
The cable run would be a nightmare from the main BT socket to where my desktop is.

I thought mine would be too but it wasn't too bad and totally worth it in the long run.

MissChief · 3 Aug 2018 at 15:48

Played over Wifi for years without any issues including BF3 and 4 and never felt I was disadvantaged in any way. Go PCI-E rather than USB though.