Motherboard performance affected by WiFi card delays.
Motherboard performance affected by WiFi card delays.
It wasn’t something I expected to ask here, but here’s the situation. I just installed a new gaming computer and rely on WiFi for home connections. My onboard adapter is an Intel wireless-AC 9260 running at 30 Mbps, with driver version 21.80.2.1. My broadband offers 200 Mbps, but the card reports 400 Mbps—great performance in isolation. I’ve tried using an Ethernet cable and got full speed from my other PC, which runs at 130 Mbps. I’m puzzled about why mine lags so much. Could you share any insights or details? I’m trying to solve this myself.
I haven’t found any firmware updates for the MSI drivers or utilities, even after testing the latest versions from MSI and Intel for that specific card. It’s installed on my MSI B450 Pro Carbon AC board.
I haven’t tried the bios update because it mainly impacts the CPU, but the BIOS now lets me disable the WiFi bus. Windows is using a power plan for optimal performance and full signal strength. I’m going to take the card off my son’s computer and test it on my own machine to check if it resolves any software-related speed issues.
It shouldn't be, but the antenna placement and/or performance will vary among devices, sometimes significantly. Even slight adjustments in angle can affect whether you get a strong or weak connection. Unfortunately, the WiFi strength meter doesn't accurately reflect signal quality. You might experience fewer bars yet maintain faster speeds since radio signals behave unpredictably.
I'm facing the same issue too. I'm using an MSI Carbon Pro AC B450 board with the Intel AC 9260 chipset. After upgrading my internet speed to 100 Mbps, the Intel card only manages 45-47 Mbps consistently. Speed tests confirm it never exceeds that range. With Internet Download Manager, downloads stay between 6.2-6.3 Mbps. I've adjusted settings in Device Manager, updated BIOS, and installed the latest driver from MSI on the motherboard's support page, as well as the newest version from Intel. Still nothing works.
In contrast, my laptop with a Dell 1510 wireless card is performing much better, reaching up to 12-16 Mbps—surprisingly strong for an AC 9260. At first I assumed the problem was with the router, but switching to a high-quality one didn't help. Even placing my computer directly next to the modem yields the same speeds. My suspicion is that the integrated AC 9260 on the motherboard is causing the issue, as most standard 9260 chips don’t have this limitation.