Review on 🔌 FebSmart FS-AC86BT: High-Speed Wireless AC 1200Mbps PCIe Wi-Fi Bluetooth Adapter for Windows Server, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 - Dual-Band 2.4GHz 300Mbps or 5GHz 867Mbps - Desktop PCs by Antonio Parson

I have just built three new 9th Gen i5-9400 computers for a client's home use and chose this Wi-Fi card as an inexpensive but fast connection. Win10 Home (1903) didn't install the drivers automatically, so I downloaded and installed the drivers from the FebSmart website, which installed without any problems. However, the results of the speed test on all three computers were extremely disappointing. After checking the properties of the connection, I found that it only connects on the 2.4 GHz frequency. This negates all the benefits of AC speeds, including MIMO and beamforming. Usually a dip to 2.4GHz is the result of a very weak signal (b/c 2.4GHz has a longer range than 5GHz), but the computers were only on par in a room or two. Here are a few steps I've tried: • I thought the computer case might be blocking the signal, but rotating the case so it wasn't between the antennas and the wireless router made no difference. • I tried two different connections: first TP-Link 1750AC. Router and then a high-end commercial Ubiquiti AC Access Point. Same results. • Finally, I tried disabling 2.4GHz broadcasting on the router to force the Wi-Fi cards to connect at 5GHz, but the Wi-Fi cards couldn't even get the SSID anymore see – that gave me the clue I needed. The cards didn't work at all at 5GHz! Dive deep into the wireless driver properties. I finally found the problem - for some inexplicable reason the default driver was set to only work in 802.11b mode (the slowest connection). No wonder the speed was so terrible! In addition, your router may also be configured to limit Wi-Fi connections to certain modes, which can result in unstable connections or even prevent connections altogether if that Wi-Fi card driver is limited to modes inconsistent with the router settings match. The default mode I found may not be the same. true for all installations or versions of the driver (this driver is 4.0.3.262), but if you encounter very slow transmission or connection problems, then checking the following may solve the problem: Device Manager / Network Adapters / Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4 / Properties / Advanced / Wireless Mode: The mode selection ranges from 01 (11b) to 12 (11a/b/g/n/ac). Changing the mode from default 01 to 12 fixed the problem immediately. There are several other modes that also support AC but limit other connection speeds if desired. There is one other setting that might be important: the preferred band, which defaults to "No preference" but can be changed to "Preferred 5 GHz". After this important driver optimization, the connections are now lightning fast! I hope this helps anyone who is experiencing unexpectedly slow transfer speeds.