WiFi issues on STX HTPC

[Ken g6]

I'm having problems keeping my HTPC connected to my wireless network. It's an ASRock DeskMini, with the default Intel Wireless 3160 (rev 83) M.2 card. I only have one antenna hooked up because I couldn't get the other one through the hole in the case. (I'll never buy a refurb case again.) The one antenna is hooked to the primary antenna port, and the wire is snapped onto the M.2 card. I'm also not sure I did that antenna right - I tightened the nut to the case as much as I can with my fingers, but it's still loose. But that shouldn't matter for the antenna, right?

Anyway, connection speeds, all on AC. Normally I get 7MB/s to my Netgear WAC104; that's measured with GKrellm and somewhat variable. Sometimes it drops down to 2MB/s, very consistently capped there. And occasionally it drops entirely. The connection speed doesn't seem to depend much on the antenna position; it seems to depend on how the antenna is jiggled. Or something. Like I said, the connection outside the case is loose, but the antenna is securely screwed on to that loose connector.

Or maybe it's none of the above - I can't log in to my WAC104 anymore. Ever since I rebooted it for that Russian router hack, it doesn't seem to have an IP address anymore. But it generally still seems to work.

Oh, I also briefly tried a cheap USB wireless device, but I couldn't get it to work in Linux. The support site is also down. http://www.ambolove.net/

So, should I readjust my connections somehow? Should I get a new M.2 wireless card? A new router? Should I give up and get all new wireless gear because everything I've listed is terrible?

 

[FreshBross]

Hi Ken,

As far as the antenna issues, a loose antenna could have a bad signal, for starters, you have to find out of the lack of two antennas is causing the issue.

I would go ahead and remove the mobo and test it with both antennas properly screwed in and see if the problem remains. From there you should go through the rudimentary wireless troubleshooting steps starting with placement, possible interference electronics around and broadcasting channels.

You can find these fundamental steps listed in the Wifi sticky thread here:
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/wifi-problems-start-here.264338/

But before you can even get to that you say your router does not have a default gateway IP... have you tried to run command ipconfig/all to find out if the gateway address changed?

Finally, no, don't buy new stuff, learn to figure out the issues at hand first, than you can determine if new hardware is the right solution.

 

[Ken g6]

Well, I finally managed to get the second antenna port in there. The case had a bit of metal overhanging there, but wiggling around a 7/32 allen wrench finally allowed it to fit. I also couldn't find the second antenna, so I used the one from the Ambolove thing. I hope it doesn't cause any problems - it's somewhat bigger.

Anyway, now I'm getting 2MB/s consistently. Which ain't 7, but it's not 0 either. I finally did a WiFi Analyzer scan, and another signal popped up. I don't remember seeing that before. So it might be interference.

Edit: Going the other way I get 13MB/s! Not sure why the difference.

 

[FreshBross]

Good progress, it should be known that even PCI-e wifi cards can suffer from bad signal because of sticking out from the back of the PC which is a bit of a bad spot, but not totally horrid either.

Antennas are universal for the mounting so no issue in using it at least. So definitely next step is to play around with the channels, placement, make sure there's no big soundsystem speakers, microwave in right by the wall of the next door rooms both for reception and where the router is located. If none of the 2.4Ghz channels provide better performance, and 5Ghz also fails, you might need to move the router around and test further. 5Ghz is preferable if you have short distances and it works for your environment because cordless phones and neighboring networks will often be used at their default 2.4.