Killer AX1650 Info And Review

Killer Wireless-AC 1650 WiFi Driver v21.10.1.2

Don't forget to unblock the ZIP file before extracting it

 

The new IntelWireless driver version 21.10.1.2 allows my Killer 1650 to reach a Theoretical Data Rate of 2,4 Gbps

The Killer Control Center shows Transmit and Receive speeds of 2,402 Mbps

With the previous driver version 21.10.0.6 I only reached 1.8 Gbps

 

So my question is...will this card do me any better on standard 802.11ac networks? Almost everywhere I am , there's an AC network (Wi-Fi 5) not AX (Wi-Fi 6).

I currently have a Killer 1550.

 

I did extensive tests on the RAX80 and RAX120 at HT20/40 AC on 2.4 Ghz and HT80/160 AC on 5 Ghz and as expected it did not perform any different, my test table is located in the first page. Looking at inSSIDer data, signal strength was also pretty similar.

If you have an AX router you will gain anywehere between 10-25% improvement on 5Ghz and up to around 2x improvement on HT20 AX on 2.4 Ghz vs HT20 AC on 2.4Ghz. HT40AX on 2.4 Ghz only gave a 25% improvement over AX at HT20.

I personally did not notice any difference between the 9260ac (Killer 1550) and AX1650 on "AC" mode range/performance wise. Then again some people did see differences even on AC routers like @WhatsThePoint and @Ultra Male and it's a cheap upgrade and so can't really complain.

Different laptops have varying signal characteristics based on antenna placement so slight differences in the cards may show slight improvements or losses for some and maybe none for others like me.

 

I might buy it since it's newer tech and it's cheap. Can always keep the 1550 as a backup.

 

Your Internet speeds are mostly not going to change much if any because they rely on your Internet service and the sites you are connecting to.If you are connecting on public WiFi you are dependent upon that provider.On pubic WiFi make sure you use a VPN.My speed tests have not changed since updating from a 1550 to an AX1650.There are other well documented perks using WiFi 6 card and router that are properly setup.

I have all my smart home devices on the 2.4ghz band that are working somewhat better using the Netgear RX120 router with almost no need for a device redo.

My USB router attached storage sharing mostly video files on the home network is somewhat better but any issues might be pilot error.

As AX1650 drivers and router firmware mature things will get even better.

The only problem device I have is a Surface Pro5 tablet.

 

The latest Windows 10 20H1 Insider Preview build 18894 installs Intel BT driver version 21.10.1.1
Also installed were Intel Wireless 21.10.0.5 and NVIDIA 430.50

If anyone wants the BT driver files let me know.

 

I was looking at the Advanced settings for the AX1650 and decided to see what results would be achieved by changing the default from AX to AC.
When changed to AC the max Data Rate dropped to 1733.3 Mbps as expected but it was rock solid at that rate for over an hour before I switched back to AX mode.
This was in a 5 year old MSI GS60 notebook about 15' from the RAX120 router and in line of site.
On AX mode the rate reaches 2,402 Mbps but it's not there very long.It's mostly at 1,838 Mbps but also drops to 1,480 Mbps often.

 

Yeah that makes sense because 1024QAM modulation compared to 256QAM is more sensitive to noise and loses effectiveness faster at range. Added to that HT160 is already more susceptible to more interference and lower range. So when you are at 1838 Mbps Link Rate that actually means the connection fell back to using 256QAM.

For me link rate fluctuates between 2.4/2.1 Gbps one floor below, on HT160 AX and stays pretty stably at 1.7 Gbps on HT160 AX. HT80 AX is also pretty stable at 1.2 Gbps.

On an interesting note:
Broadcom chip based AC clients (ie possibly MacBook Pros, Samsung Galaxy phones, some Dell laptops, +maybe iPhones?) / and Wave 2 AC routers (R8500/AC88U/GT5300AC etc) had non-standard 1024 QAM support in AC mode but it apparently wasn’t very effective other than at very close ranges. That’s why Broadcom based AC Wave 2 routers advertised 2100 Mbps rather than 1733 Mbps for 4 stream routers on 5 GHz band.

 

I've revisited a few of the DFS channels(52,60,116,120) but they're not getting the data rates that I receive using 36-48.Back on 36 now.