What's new

Is there stability issues if a PCIe wifi card is kinda loose in the PCIe slot?

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

jusjohn55

Regular Contributor
I bought the TP LINK AX3000 PCIe wifi card and whenever I put it in the slot, the bracket(The metal brace where you screw in the antennas and where you screw it in place from the outside of the case does not line up properly with the hole of the case. So I have to push against the bracket from the inside of the case to make the holes line up, However, this causes the card to slightly move up a bit. It is not completely out of the PCIe slot, but the back of it moves up a little bit. Will this cause stability issues? I am saying is that the card does not go right into the slot, it has wiggle room. Also, does the CMD command "netsh wlan show interface" show an accurate reading? Because whenever I use PCIe wifi cards the signal is always 90 percent or below and the transmit rate is always lower than the receive rate.
 
The way I explained it is quite bad. I can post pictures if it doesn't make sense(about the brackets and the wifi card kinda moving up in the slot)
 
you can bend the metal bracket some to get a better fit usually. it should set firmly within the PCIe socket. Most important is that it not move once the screw is tightened down firmly.

when you test for max link rate, make sure you have direct line of sight between the PC antennas and the wireless access point with no materials blocking the view. 10-20 ft apart should be ok.

The transmission power is limited by regulation. So, i don;t know what those values mean.
 
If it doesn't sit 'flush' with the slot, you've installed it wrong. Power off everything, use a static wrist dissipator to protect the components and seat it properly.

I wouldn't expect it to work at some percentage of 100%, rather, it will work or not or worse, it will crash, randomly.

In other words, the performance is not tied to the improperly seated card. It is a factor of your Wi-Fi environment and associated equipment.
 
The way I explained it is quite bad. I can post pictures if it doesn't make sense(about the brackets and the wifi card kinda moving up in the slot)
Posting a picture would be useful.

If it's only moving up by about 1 or 2 mm that's not unusual. Also, the circuit board is attached to the bracket with two screws. Sometimes if you slacken off these screws there is a certain amount of wiggle room that might allow you to position the bracket better, before tightening up the screws again.
 
So, for the bracket picture, I have to push against it with my finger from behind to get the screws to line up. When I push against it, the connector in the 2nd picture "card moving" goes up a little bit(Kinda like a see saw). It doesn't completely come out of the socket but its enough that you can push it back down. So, is this too lose?
 

Attachments

  • bracket.png
    bracket.png
    103.3 KB · Views: 274
  • card moving.jpg
    card moving.jpg
    17.9 KB · Views: 250
Those pictures are not helpful.
 
Ehm, I don't really know what other angle to get. I circled the spots I am talking about. The bracket in the first picture does not line up with the hole so I have to push it with my finger from behind which causes the wifi card to slightly move out of the PCIe socket. The 2nd picture shows how much it moves out a bit
 
Photography needs lots of light. :)

Tip; don't use flash...

A larger image would be helpful too.
 
Oh my bad, do I need to take a new pic of the bracket one? I just wanted to show how I was pushing it to line up. So do I just need a better picture of the card moving up a little bit?
 
More pictures of better quality would be great.
 
Ok so my phone has a facture on the camera so it comes out blurry sometimes. This is the most zoomed image I can get
 

Attachments

  • image0.jpg
    image0.jpg
    6.1 KB · Views: 209
A zoomed image isn't what is needed. A higher resolution one is.

I can't make heads or tails out of that last one.

Post a link to the original image file, these highly compressed and downsized versions are not at a high enough quality to see the issue with any degree of certainty.
 
Similar threads

Similar threads

Latest threads

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top