Sons desktop wireless acting up

[sardonicone]

Ok, for my sons birthday he wanted a desktop, nothing major really, he games on his 360 for the most part, but he does enjoy minecraft, some RS, and LoL,

We went and bought him this ( no need for dedicated gfx as he doesn't play anything intenstive, and we can always buy a new psu and put in a gfx later if needed)

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378290

Now, the internet on it has routinely been spotty. IT will go from blazing fast to almost nill on a regular basis.

At first I thought maybe it was our Uverse (currently using the 18mb/s version), but my wifes laptop never has connectivity issues.

Still I thought maybe it was Uverse, since his room is upstairs. However he has had no issues running his xbox, aside from the occasional lag (probably due to someone else hosting).

We just bought it, so it's under warranty, my concern though is perhaps the standard wireless card that comes with it isn't up to speed?

Here is the card:

Tenda W322P V2.0

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0340327

It seems to have decent reviews, but it's blowing massive chunks all over the place for us.

Router/Modem combo is in the living room, his room is upstairs, total distance *might* be 25-30 feet if you go in a straight line?

I was going to just run a cable, but considering that has to go across the living room, up the stairs, then across the hallway, and finally into his room that isn't feasible.

Would any of these cards be a better idea?


http://www.microcenter.com/add_product.phtml

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0247696

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0313727

 

[RealBeast]

There could just be a nearby interference source that is disrupting his connection. Look for stuff like wireless speakers, headphones, telephones, microwaves, and the like anywhere around his computer location. Could also just be it is in a bad location for reception of the radio signal due to the walls, floors, etc. You can test that out by moving his computer to a different area of his room of using a wireless adapter with a removable antenna that you extend to a new location with a cable.

Also he might be getting interference from a nearby network at a neighbor's house and changing radio channels could help.

 

[sardonicone]

He has wireless controllers and his xbox upstairs. The way his room is layed out there isn't anywhere else for his computer to go, unfortunately.

How would I go about changing my networks radio channel?

 

[sardonicone]

Also. decided to test my wifes laptop upstairs at his desk.(Via speed test.net)

3.05 down, 1.47 up the first time.

Moved to the floor right next to his computer.

6.01 down, 1.47 up.

I'm thinking it's his card.

Of the three I picked out, which one do you think I should go with?

 

[sardonicone]

2 more laptop tests:

6.12 and 6.60.

It takes forever for the page to load on the desktop, and when it did, it gave me a "latency error".

 

[RealBeast]

Yes, from your experiments, I agree that it is the wireless card. I would get the Linksys WMP600N.

 

[sardonicone]

It's covered under warranty, so taking it up to Microcenter tonight when I go grab my new laptop (probably).

Oddly enough the last two tests I've ran have at least been bearable, (2.24mb/s and like 4mb/s) so watch it work ok when I have it up there.

I'll grab a new card if they can't get it working optimally.