Ethernet-like efficiency with out the wires

For those who’re severe about PC gaming, an Ethernet cable continues to be one of the best ways to hook up with the web. Nevertheless, for many people, that merely isn’t sensible. Fortunately, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E have come an extended solution to closing the hole between wired and wi-fi efficiency, and the Asus PCE-AXE59BT is likely one of the greatest Wi-Fi adapters you will get on your desktop PC to assist with this. This PCI-Categorical adapter helps Wi-Fi 6 connections at 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6Ghz with as much as 2,402Mbps on the 5GHz and 6GHz bands.

It additionally helps Bluetooth 5.2, so you should use a wi-fi headset for audio or join a controller for gaming. Moreover, many wi-fi keyboards and mice help Bluetooth, so you possibly can considerably cut back the variety of wires crowding your desk. There are cheaper Wi-Fi 6 adapters accessible, however to get one of the best efficiency out of a contemporary gaming Wi-Fi router, an adapter like this one with 160MHz help helps you get all of the pace of your community.

About this overview: This overview was written after two weeks of testing the Asus PCE-AXE59BT bought by XDA. Asus has no enter into the contents of this overview.

Pricing and availability

The Asus PCE-AXE59BT was launched in spring 2023 at a steered worth of $70. This PCI Categorical x1 card comes with an exterior antenna with a magnetic base, a USB cable wanted for Bluetooth, and an additional bracket for small type issue PCs, corresponding to these generally utilized in an workplace. You possibly can seize this card instantly from the Asus net retailer or choose it up from retailers like Amazon and B&H.

Whereas you should use this card with a Home windows 10 driver, 6GHz Wi-Fi is barely accessible with Home windows 11. You will have a vacant PCI Categorical slot in your motherboard to put in the cardboard and an open USB 2.0 header if you wish to use Bluetooth. Lastly, you might want to enter your PC’s BIOS and disable an current Wi-Fi card to keep away from conflicts if it already has one inbuilt.

Design and {hardware}

There’s nothing fallacious with being overbuilt

The primary time I ever noticed the within of a pc, my father was cautiously putting in a Modem Blaster dial-up modem in our Home windows 98 household PC. This expertise opened my eyes to the chances of upgrading a PC and respiratory new life into an getting old design. A networking improve, just like the Asus PCE-AXE59BT, may help you get quicker and extra constant speeds in your PC because of utilizing trendy Wi-Fi 6E requirements in addition to supporting 160MHz connections. Primarily based on the MediaTek Filogic 330 (MT7922), this card permits for two.4Gbps in each add and obtain speeds when paired with a quick router at 5GHz and 6GHz, whereas 2.4GHz tops out at 574Mbps.

Bluetooth 5.2 can be supported because of the interior USB cable used to attach the cardboard. For those who’re a gamer, you should use this Bluetooth connection together with your sport controllers or wi-fi headset to eradicate some wires. For those who’re not gaming, you may even use Bluetooth on your mouse and keyboard.

One widespread drawback with Wi-Fi upgrades in desktops is that you simply usually find yourself together with your card in one of many decrease slots of your motherboard. For those who used an ordinary antenna linked to the again of your PC tower, there could possibly be a ton of interference from different cables operating previous the antennas. One other drawback is the massive steel PC case that blocks your Wi-Fi sign if the again of the PC faces the router. This Wi-Fi adapter has a pretty big exterior antenna that avoids the issue by transferring the antennas away out of your case. The magnetic base of the antennas may be caught proper to the facet of your PC case dealing with the router for the very best connection.

The cardboard itself is kind of small and comes with a small type issue adapter within the field. On the cardboard, there is a reasonably large heatsink over the Wi-Fi chipset, and to be frank, it doesn’t do way more than make it look good. Realistically, this product is extra of an adapter board for the MediaTek card beneath, which does not want further cooling. There’s nothing actually fallacious with including this heatsink, however it feels further nugatory that it’s not even touching the WI-Fi module beneath. Apart from that, the whole bundle feels good, with a black PCB that matches properly with most gaming motherboards.

A networking improve, just like the Asus PCE-AXE59BT, may help you get quicker and extra constant speeds in your PC because of utilizing trendy Wi-Fi 6E requirements in addition to supporting 160MHz connections.

I put in the cardboard within the backside PCI Categorical (PCIe) x16 slot on my MSI Professional B650-P WiFi motherboard and instantly had points. After some troubleshooting, it turned out that the built-in Wi-Fi on my board conflicted with the brand new card, and I had uncared for to show it off. After a visit to the BIOS to change off the built-in Wi-Fi, the system booted up and labored like a allure. Home windows discovered the precise driver for the cardboard and required no additional configuration.

One factor to notice is that this can be a PCIe x1 card, and Asus has particularly famous that it is just appropriate with PCIe x1 slots within the specification. Nonetheless, the cardboard could possibly be utilized in a bigger slot with its default PCIe configuration in my PC The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X CPU and MSI B650 motherboard in my PC had no hassle with the cardboard within the backside x16 slot.

Software program and setup

Set it up in Home windows in simply a few minutes

Very first thing’s first, in case your motherboard has built-in Wi-Fi, flip it off within the BIOS earlier than putting in the Asus PCE-AXE59BT. You received’t want it anymore, and there’s a superb likelihood that your PC may not work correctly with each gadgets enabled. Home windows already had a working driver for me, however you may obtain the driving force forward of time, simply in case.

One other factor to notice is that you’re going to want Home windows 11 to hook up with 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E. You possibly can set up this card with Home windows 10, however you’ll solely get 5GHz Wi-Fi because of the lack of help for WPA-3, which 6GHz Wi-Fi makes use of more often than not and is constant throughout all Wi-Fi 6E playing cards, not simply this one. That stated, should you don’t have an excessive amount of Wi-Fi congestion in your house, 5GHz can nonetheless help the total 2.4Gbps, in concept.

The set up course of can be very acquainted to anyone who’s ever put in a brand new GPU of their PC.

The set up course of can be very acquainted to anyone who’s ever put in a brand new GPU of their PC. Begin by discovering an empty PCI-Categorical slot in your motherboard. I selected the underside slot to not block any air going into the GPU. You’ll must take away the again cowl, which must be secured by a screw on prime. That very same screw can be utilized to safe the Wi-Fi card. Some cheaper circumstances might require you to interrupt the steel cowl out, so that you may must seek advice from your case documentation on the best way to get it out and keep away from scraping it throughout your motherboard or its floor mount gadgets.

For the Bluetooth 5.2 connection, you’ll want to attach the USB 2.0 cable to your motherboard. Most trendy boards may have one among these vacant, as mine did. Whereas I didn’t particularly take a look at Bluetooth efficiency, it labored tremendous with a DualSense controller for a Darkish Souls 3 replay I’ve been on with a pal. Sadly, the Wi-Fi portion labored tremendous whereas gaming, so I can’t blame my PVP deaths on my connection. Who’s nonetheless invading in Darkish Souls 3 anyway?

On the finish of the day, Home windows Settings is the one app you’ll want to make use of with the Asus PCE-AXE59BT. If Home windows would not discover the driving force for you, set up the driving force from the Asus web site or examine for a Home windows replace with a wired connection.

Wi-fi efficiency

Quick sufficient for gigabit, after which some

My web connection has symmetrical gigabit speeds, which prime out at round 940Mbps more often than not. At 5Ghz, the AXE59BT had no hassle reaching that pace in my bed room, the place my PC usually makes use of 5GHz. That places two partitions between my PC and the router in the lounge.

Talking of routers, I used this card with an Acer Predator W6 Wi-Fi 6E router, Netgear Orbi RBE970S, and TP-Hyperlink Archer BE800, and it linked to every router with out difficulty at 160MHz. For my pace assessments, I used the Archer BE800 because of its large wi-fi capability, quick wired efficiency, and talent to disable Sensible Join to decide on which band I wish to use.

Switching to some file switch assessments, I noticed speeds as much as 1.3Gbps at 5GHz utilizing Steam’s sport switch function from one other PC linked with a 2.5Gbps Ethernet connection to the router. At 6GHz on this location, nevertheless, speeds fell to round 300Mbps down because of a weaker sign. Irrespective of which method you slice it, 6GHz Wi-Fi merely doesn’t have the protection of 5GHz, even with Asus’s fancy stick-on antenna.

I moved my PC to the lounge with the router to see simply how a lot pace was accessible with this card at 6GHz, and I wasn’t disillusioned. Finally, I received as much as 1.9Gbps over 6GHz Wi-Fi with the ASUS PCE-AXE59BT utilizing a file switch between two PCs and transferring a Steam sport utilizing Steam’s sport switch function.

In truth, transferring video games from one PC to a different utilizing Steam has been one among my favourite purposes for this further pace. If your property has a number of PCs used for gaming in it, like mine does, this function makes set up quicker than most web connections can handle whereas not utilizing up further information when you’ve got a knowledge cap. It additionally helps novice customers really make the most of native networking, which could be a bit formidable to arrange with Home windows.

Do you have to purchase the Asus PCE-AXE59BT?

You should purchase the Asus PCE-AXE59BT if:

• You want Wi-Fi in your desktop PC
• You have got a low sign with a built-in Wi-Fi card
• You need help for multi-gig wi-fi speeds
• You need BlueTooth in your desktop

You shouldn’t purchase the Asus PCE-AXE59BT if:

• You have already got a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E card put in
• You don’t have an open PCIe slot
• You’re operating Home windows 10 or older

When it comes all the way down to it, I’m fairly pleased with the efficiency of the Asus PCE-AXE59BT. With my gigabit web connection, I by no means felt like I used to be restricted by my Wi-Fi speeds, and reliability was excellent for the 2 weeks I used the cardboard. Beneath the Asus-branded heatsink, you get a MediaTek MT7922, a.ok.a. a Filogic 330. I used to be additionally pleased with the switch speeds I might get for information, with speeds simply exceeding 1.2Gbps in my bed room and better in the identical room because the router.

For those who’ve received an older Wi-Fi 5 card, the improve to the PCE-AXE59BT can be price it. There are undoubtedly cheaper methods to get the identical MediaTek module on your desktop, however the inclusion of the magnetic antenna makes it price a bit extra. Connecting antennas on to the again of the PC means they’ll be blocked by each the pc case and the wires plugged into your PC. By getting the antennas up and out of the best way, you may probably achieve some efficiency again with out even upgrading the cardboard inside.

For those who’re trying so as to add Wi-Fi to your PC for the primary time or wish to improve an older card, this can be a strong possibility with help for Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E, making it a superb match for web connections of 1Gbps or larger. Whereas 6GHz nonetheless appears to battle with partitions, should you’re comparatively near your router, you will get Ethernet-like speeds with out operating a single wire.