USB network card/dongle connecting to RT-N66U

[dikkiedirk]

What are the most compatible options offering highest speeds and bandwith for a USB adapter/dongle connecting to the RT-N66U on 2.4 or 5 GHz?

I need one for my ASUS laptop which has a Atheros card inside and only offers 2.4 GHz @ 150 Mbit (Speed shown in Windows 7 ult. 64b).

Would a swap of internal card be possible or advisable? Maybe Intel 6230?

As far as dongle I see Asus and Trendnet offering a 450 MBs solution. These speeds should be taken with a grain of salt I guess.

 

[DaveMishSr]

What are the most compatible options offering highest speeds and bandwith for a USB adapter/dongle connecting to the RT-N66U on 2.4 or 5 GHz?

I need one for my ASUS laptop which has a Atheros card inside and only offers 2.4 GHz @ 150 Mbit (Speed shown in Windows 7 ult. 64b).

Would a swap of internal card be possible or advisable? Maybe Intel 6230?

As far as dongle I see Asus and Trendnet offering a 450 MBs solution. These speeds should be taken with a grain of salt I guess.

Set the 2.4GHz band to Channel 6 if at all possible. If that is has too much interference then use Channels 1 or 11. Set your bandwidth to 40MHz, or higher if using the RT-AC66u, on the router and at least 20/40MHz on your adapter. Set both router and adapter to N only if possible or 802.11g/n. You want to avoid using 802.11b. Do the same for 5GHz and I find using the lowest channel possible helps my connectivity.

I am using Intel Centrino Ultimate N-6300, a high-power 802.11b/g/n adapter from our good friends in China and TrendNET's TEW-684UB N-900 USB adapter. My high power adapter also connects to SDSU's WiFi and it loves connecting to my neighbor's open WiFi at random. The TrendNET adapter is very cool. I bought one for my wife and daughter it works so well. It was $45 at NewEgg.com and may be cheaper now. Good luck

 

[RMerlin]

I have an Asus K53E laptop which also came with those weak Atheros cards. I replaced it with an inexpensive (23$) Intel Centrino 6230 internal card, which gave me dual band, dual stream, and Bluetooth. Well worth the upgrade, and easy to do as well since Asus does not use a card whitelist (like some companies do) to enforce only certain models of cards.

 

[dikkiedirk]

Well, I got an Intel N6230 adapter. Uninstalled the Atheros drivers, took out the Atheros card, installed the N6230 and installed Intel PROset 14.3.1 drivers and software.

I indeed can connect in the the 2.4 and 5 GHZ band. Signal strength shows "Excellent" but speeds as shown in Windows 7 are a bit erratic and don't reach 300 Mbps but in 2.4 are between 130 and 260 and in the 5 between 90 and 180. Is this because there are still "leftovers" of the Atheros drivers or is it normal behaviour of a Intel card connecting to the RT-N66U?

Or is there a driver update from Intel that can fix this?
Asus has an Intel 14.1 driver listed on their site, should I try this?

 

[RMerlin]

Well, I got an Intel N6230 adapter. Uninstalled the Atheros drivers, took out the Atheros card, installed the N6230 and installed Intel PROset 14.3.1 drivers and software.

I indeed can connect in the the 2.4 and 5 GHZ band. Signal strength shows "Excellent" but speeds as shown in Windows 7 are a bit erratic and don't reach 300 Mbps but in 2.4 are between 130 and 260 and in the 5 between 90 and 180. Is this because there are still "leftovers" of the Atheros drivers or is it normal behaviour of a Intel card connecting to the RT-N66U?

Or is there a driver update from Intel that can fix this?
Asus has an Intel 14.1 driver listed on their site, should I try this?

Probably requires some adjustments to your router settings. Set them to a fixed channel, set bandwidth to 20/40 MHz for 5 GHz and 20 MHz for 2.4 GHz.

Also test while using an AC adapter to rule out any power saving features of your laptop.

 

[dikkiedirk]

First I had 2.4 GHz to 40 MHz and channel 1. speeds would vary like in my earlier post. I now set it to channel1, also tried 6, and 20 MHz, speed is now 130-144. At 40 MHz Insidder would show that one channel was dropped every few seconds.

Would updating the router firmware help. I'm still on 3.0.0.3.90.

There also seems to be a newer Intel diver.

 

[RMerlin]

First I had 2.4 GHz to 40 MHz and channel 1. speeds would vary like in my earlier post. I now set it to channel1, also tried 6, and 20 MHz, speed is now 130-144. At 40 MHz Insidder would show that one channel was dropped every few seconds.

Would updating the router firmware help. I'm still on 3.0.0.3.90.

There also seems to be a newer Intel diver.

150 Mbits is normal with 20 MHz.

Also do update the firmware. That version is quite old and a lot of bugs have since been fixed.

 

[kevral]

I have an Asus K53E laptop which also came with those weak Atheros cards. I replaced it with an inexpensive (23$) Intel Centrino 6230 internal card, which gave me dual band, dual stream, and Bluetooth. Well worth the upgrade, and easy to do as well since Asus does not use a card whitelist (like some companies do) to enforce only certain models of cards.

Thanks for the inspiration (and while I'm at it, for your firmware)!

I just put a Centrino 6300 in my Asus U31JG, and got twice the speed plus access to the 5 GHz band. My old Atheros card only had 1 antenna connection, but I found an additional unused plastic-protected antenna connection inside the laptop. Now I have ordered a third internal antenna from Oxfordtec, and am hoping I'll get a third stream.

It really couldn't be simpler. Pop the back cover of the laptop, pop the antenna wire, unscrew the mini-PCIe card, replace, reconnect, rescrew, install drivers, go.