TP-Link Archer T6E 5GHz is extremely slow

Question

I just purchased an Archer T6E to take advantage of the 5GHz band on my new router, the Verizon FiOS-G1100. My operating system is Windows 10.

The trouble is that the speed I am getting on the 5GHz band is extremely slow, often between 1 and 5 Mbps on speedtest.net. The signal seems to be a little weak, but my phone, which also has 5GHz capabilities can get almost 60 Mbps on the same speed test, even if I hold it directly next to the antennas for this card. I cannot imagine that my phone has a better WiFi antenna than this card, and even if it did, I cannot imagine it is that much better.

I have already tried rebooting the computer and reinstalling the driver, but neither of these things helped at all.

Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot or fix this issue?

Solution

Some things to try:

• Make sure your router and your wireless card are both set to use WPA2 security. Original WPA isn't allowed for 802.11n and 802.11ac.
• Make sure your router and your wireless card are both set to use WMM QoS. WMM is required for 802.11n and 802.11ac operation.
• Try another channel, preferably at the other end of the 5GHz band. Different countries have different rules for how much power is allowed to be used on different parts of the 5GHz band. Some products comply better than others. Maybe your router is on a channel that can only use low power in your country, and your TP-Link card is trying to comply, but your phone isn't. Also, your PC may have internal electromagnetic interference in the 5GHz band, which could be desensitizing your radio. Hopefully any such interference isn't affecting all channels.
• Make sure your antennas are screwed in tight.
• Point the sides (not tips) of your antennas toward the AP. Stick antennas like that are almost certainly dipoles, which are omnidirectional (in a 2D plane, not a 3D sphere), so they radiate best out their sides, and worst out their tips.
• Make sure your router and card both have 802.11a/n/ac all enabled. Leaving them all on is best, so your card can make its own decisions about which modulation schemes are best suited to the RF conditions.
• Make sure your card has all (both) of its spatial streams enabled, 80MHz-wide channels enabled, and Short Guard Intervals (SGI) enabled. Double-check this on your router as well.
• Set your router to use a different SSID (network name) for the 5GHz radio. Make sure your card is joining the 5GHz SSID.

Comments

[pquest]

@Ramhound the correct unit for all those is Mbps. I have edited to correct the capitalization. My internet connection is advertised as being 50 up and 50 down, but it is not uncommon for it to go faster. Can you recommend a tool to profile the networks? I am afraid I don't have much networking experience.

[Burgi]

Did you get reasonable speeds with your old adapter?

[pquest]

@Burgi I mean they werent terrible... around 20 Mbps. The 2.4GHz band on the new adapter has actually been performing really well though, so I have more or less given up on the other band

[pquest]

Most of these I either have checked, or they did not help but 2 that are interesting to me: Short GI is currently set to Auto on the card, should i force enable it? Secondly the WZC IBSS Chanel Number setting is currently 11(20MHz). Should I set it to 149(80MHz)? I am afraid I am not quite sure what either of these mean.

[Spiff]

@pquest No, those settings are both fine. WZC IBSS is irrelevant here.