Speeding up wifi on Aspire E1-532

Welcome_Matt
Welcome_Matt Member Posts: 8 New User
in 2015 Archives

Just bought a laptop and disappointed by the SLOW wifi speed.  I get superfast internet with hard-wired ethernet cable so I know the problem is with the wifi adapter. Tried tweaking the settings but it doesn't help.

 

Has anyone gotten fast wifi by disabling the Qualcomm wifi adapter in the laptop and install a 3rd-party wifi adapter that plugs into a USB port, like maybe a Linksys AE1200?  

 

Did it help?

Best Answer

  • techy
    techy Member Posts: 56 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓

    Matt, you are correct on your problem, my e1-510 uses an AR-956x and the best connection rate i could get was 72mb on my network as long as it remained stable of which is just another issue, I had an old belkin N usb adapter from 2009 I tried using a windows 7 driver on Windows 8.1 and I got a stable 150mb connection of which is not bad as that is what it was designed to do, so I tried a dlink AC usb and now I connect at 433mb and everything runs smooth, all I did do was disable the AR956X driver and use the dlink ac adapter, was not sure if disabling the driver would effect the bluetooth but it does not as my nexus 5 still connects via bluetooth with no issues, should point out my router is a Linksys AC router, and since you have a AC router you may want to use a AC usb adapter, the AE1200 is a N class adapter of which will work but using an AC adapter you should achieve a better connection speed with your router for around the same cost, as my Dlink AC cost me $30, and with your internet connection speed at what they are you should see better streaming.

    My opinion is the Qualcomm AR956x is a very low quality wifi chip, probably used for cheap cost to give workable wifi connection, looking on Qualcomm web page you will not even see it listed for driver updates, you must go to 3rd party web page to get an update.

    In all I would go with an AC usb adapter, only loss is loosing an usb port, but you will get a better connection speed.

Answers

  • Sharanji
    Sharanji ACE Posts: 4,328 Pathfinder
    Recent laptops are equipped with 802.11g or 802.11n Wi-Fi circuitry and if your router is an 802.11b device that is the speed that you will receive. Therefore, upgrade your wireless hardware so that it matches the capabilities of your laptop
     
    To add more strength to the connection a wireless amplifier, also called a repeater or range expander, can be an advantage that picks up signals from the router and then retransmits it.
     
    Check transmission power settings – as some network adapters support the connection by adjusting their transmission power.  This setting can be adjusted through the adapter’s driver interface program with other wireless profile settings and Wi-Fi channel number. To ensure the strongest signal possible set the transmission power to maximum or 100%. However, if your laptop is being run in a power saving mode, this setting will automatically decrease the adapter’s range and signal strength.
     

    Always check how many apps are running in the background of the normal user’s laptop. It is no surprise that background tasks can be the cause of a slowdown. Disable unused applications or notifications to maximize primary task speed.

     

     

    Click the Kudos kudos-thumbs-up.pngto say “Thanks” for helping! select "Accept Solution" if your issue is resovled.

  • Welcome_Matt
    Welcome_Matt Member Posts: 8 New User

    Thank you for the very prompt reply, Sharanji.  Let me explain a little.  

     

    I have 25 mbps download and 5 mbps upload Cable internet service and get those speeds on the Acer with hard-wired ethernet cable. My old Compaq laptop in the back room typically gets WIRELESS speeds of about 18 download and 5 upload.  In the same room as the Compaq, my brand-new Acer is getting 1 or 2 download and less than 1 upload.  It is so slow I could not download Avast wireless, I had to plug in to do that.  Never had a problem like that on the Compaq.

     

    That tells me that the problem is not with the router, a dual band 802.11ac, brand new from Comcast, but with the antenna and adapter in the Acer, Qualcomm Atheros AR956x.  I see on the internet a lot of other people have very slow internet with similar laptops.

     

    Other than the slow wifi, I like this unit and would like to keep it, but I need to increase the wifi speed.

     

    So my question is, will a plug-and-play wifi adapter/antenna like the Linksys AE1200 or the Edimax EW-7822UAC work on this machine if I disable the Qualcomm adapter?  That seems like the simplest solution, if it will work.  I don't mind springing for another $35 or so for one of those.

  • techy
    techy Member Posts: 56 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓

    Matt, you are correct on your problem, my e1-510 uses an AR-956x and the best connection rate i could get was 72mb on my network as long as it remained stable of which is just another issue, I had an old belkin N usb adapter from 2009 I tried using a windows 7 driver on Windows 8.1 and I got a stable 150mb connection of which is not bad as that is what it was designed to do, so I tried a dlink AC usb and now I connect at 433mb and everything runs smooth, all I did do was disable the AR956X driver and use the dlink ac adapter, was not sure if disabling the driver would effect the bluetooth but it does not as my nexus 5 still connects via bluetooth with no issues, should point out my router is a Linksys AC router, and since you have a AC router you may want to use a AC usb adapter, the AE1200 is a N class adapter of which will work but using an AC adapter you should achieve a better connection speed with your router for around the same cost, as my Dlink AC cost me $30, and with your internet connection speed at what they are you should see better streaming.

    My opinion is the Qualcomm AR956x is a very low quality wifi chip, probably used for cheap cost to give workable wifi connection, looking on Qualcomm web page you will not even see it listed for driver updates, you must go to 3rd party web page to get an update.

    In all I would go with an AC usb adapter, only loss is loosing an usb port, but you will get a better connection speed.

  • Marsfjell
    Marsfjell Member Posts: 4 New User

    Does your laptop have AMD? If so, is AMD Quick Stream installed? If it is, uninstall it. Fixed the slow wifi problem for me.

  • Welcome_Matt
    Welcome_Matt Member Posts: 8 New User

    Thank you Techy, your advice was right on!  =8-)    

     

    After reading numerous reviews and checking availability in my local stores, I settled on the Linksys WUSB6300 an AC1200 adapter.  I would have preferred the Edimax EW-7822 UAC which costs less and was higher rated, but it's not available locally.  I'd have had to wait a week for it to be shipped, and I need to take care of this right away for a job that's starting next week.

     

    It took several hours, but its finally working right. I'm getting top speed, same as cable, everywhere in the house. I was able to connect to the 2.4 ghz network coming out of my Comcast router immediately, but since AC is not available on 2.4 the performance was not what I expected.  I got full speed when 6 feet from the router  but in the back room where my office is, the speed was cut in half.  I kept trying to connect to the 5 ghz network without any luck.  Finally, on about the 8th try, it worked.  I don't have a clue why. ( Coincidentally I had just logged into the router for the first time trying to figure out what was wrong.  Who knows, maybe that had something to do with it.)

     

    Networks seem to be skittish like copiers and motorcycles!  The first time I tried logging into the national network of my new employer it didn't work. When I asked their tech support, they told me, "just keep trying.  it's a known issue, eventually it will work."  Just like what happened to me today. Kind of like pushing a car out of the snow, have to try and make some grooves first before it works.

  • Welcome_Matt
    Welcome_Matt Member Posts: 8 New User

    No, it's intel Pentium.  But thanx anyway.  I solved it by using a USB plug in wifi adapter.

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