Last Updated: May 29, 2021 (Refresh Now)
ASUS PCE AC88 Dual Band 4x4 AC3100 WiFi PCIe adapter with Heat Sink and External magnetic antenna base allows flexible antenna placement to maximize coverage
Last Updated: May 29, 2021 (Refresh Now)
7.4
SCORE
/10
Total Reviews
1000
Old Reviews
663
Unverified
50
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PASS
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WIFI
Review Analysis - 287 recent, verified reviews
Detailed Mode
Connectivity
127adapter, router, asus, ethernet, wifi adapter
+69%
-31%
" ... outstanding, just what the doctor ordered to fix dropping out WiFi ... "
" ... I recently switched from DSL to 100Mbps Fiber. ... I had doubts that my Netgear N300 WiFi adapter was giving me the strongest signal possible to my PC, which is in the basement and far away from the router upstairs. ... "
" ... My prior wireless adapter would top out on an internet speed test with a speed of around 50mbit per second on my gigabit connection. ... With this adapter, I was able to achieve 700+ mbit per second consistently. ... I cannot recommend this card enough, despite the higher price tag as compared to most wireless adapters. ... If you need better range and higher speeds from your wireless network card, this is the one you want. ... "
" ... WiFi DL speed went from 200-750 ... "
" ... Makes a significant impact on your wi-fi downloads/uploads. ... "
" ... Proximity does play a roll like any wifi chip but this one works quite well. ... "
" ... I like that you can choose to connect the antenna directly to the card or opt to use the connection cord with the extension. ... "
" ... Best wifi adapter I ever used ... "
Network
100router, 5ghz, speeds, adapter, 5g
+72%
-28%
" ... There is a few walls and a kitchen in between me and the router and I get perfect connection with this while I game and Stream. ... "
" ... Signal strength is 90% - 100%. ... "
" ... Strong reception far from router. ... "
" ... I had recently upgraded our home wifi to the Nest Routers with a wired back-haul, and wanted to take full advantage of the 4x4 connectivity. ... "
" ... I had doubts that my Netgear N300 WiFi adapter was giving me the strongest signal possible to my PC, which is in the basement and far away from the router upstairs. ... I'm happy with the result and confident I can adjust the antenna positions and squeeze more. ... "
" ... Immediately boosted my net signal in which I had none and now I can upload and DL at the speeds im paying for ... "
" ... Great signal, very fast connection ... "
" ... I have great signal and fast data transfer with this unit. ... "
Usage
87install, wifi, router, gaming, easy
+90%
-10%
" ... Simple fix by restarting the router card, but it is highly inconvenient. ... Especially for my Zoom meetings and occasional gaming. ... "
" ... Super easy to install. ... "
" ... Setup was super easy! ... "
" ... My desktop is on the complete other side of my house (house is about 2000 sqaure feet). ... "
" ... Getting more megabytes with a very easy installation, looks a little weird on top of my pc with its antennas but I can't complain with the performance. ... "
" ... Fast shipping and most of all, installed easy and I’m hitting over 900Mbits at a good distance from the router (this AC88 + GT-AC5300 router). ... "
" ... I use this in an RV and connect to many RV park WiFi networks and they can be challenging at times given all the dense interference going on, this cuts right through it. ... "
" ... Perfectly easy to install, which took a total of about 5 minutes to open my PC, remove the old card, and pop this one in. ... "
Connectivity / Wifi
84router, adapter, wifi adapter, internet, wi fi
+81%
-19%
" ... I also purchased a new wifi router to help take advantage of this cards performance. ... "
" ... The best part is having a movable antenna, to ensure you’re getting the best WiFi signal. ... "
" ... With this adapter, I was able to achieve 700+ mbit per second consistently. ... If you need better range and higher speeds from your wireless network card, this is the one you want. ... "
" ... Very helpful if you need extended wi fi service. ... "
" ... Increased wifi speed by a factor of 5 over a USB dongle ... "
" ... Easy to install and it takes full adavantage of your wifi. ... "
" ... This wifi adapter is amazing. ... My home internet speeds are 150 mb/s, but the wifi adapter speed that came with my pc was only in the 20s mb/s. ... "
" ... This does make my computer very snappy on WiFi! ... "
Software
64driver, asus, windows 10, windows, downloaded
+41%
-59%
" ... Windows update told me the best driver was already installed after I used the included disk . ... If you update the driver via windows, I will get the same disconnecting problem. ... The website says the driver date is Feb 2020, but when that gets installed, the device manager says the driver is from 2016 . ... I ran the troubleshooter multiple times and after many resets I gave up. ... "
" ... ASUS needs to update their drivers, last time was in early 2018. ... I do not recommend this product to anyone unless ASUS can figure out a solution to this common defect everyone is having! ... "
" ... Within a day of getting it installed, the card started crashing and killing my net connection, to the point where trying to look at info on the card would hang whatever program I was using, the windows wifi connectivity panel would be empty as well, only way to fix it was with a reboot. ... The latest drivers are from 2018, and it's unreasonable to expect the customer to fiddle with drivers even older than that, or ANY of these crashes on a $100 product at the high end of the market. ... It also has drivers as recent as January of 2021 at the time of this review. ... "
" ... I've tried using old drivers, new drivers, and different pcie slots in my motherboard. ... "
" ... I tried it in another computer with the same results: BOD and an error message. ... "
" ... I had this WIFI adapter for two days and have ran the Windows troubleshooting procedure 20 plus times. ... "
" ... DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT if you are using Windows 10. ... The product is being discontinued, drivers are out dated, No Tech Support for this item. ... "
" ... I use a google Mesh Wifi System just outside my room with a 500mb connection. ... "
Performance
57speed, download, asus, wireless card, restart
+70%
-30%
" ... I'm noticing a 10x download speed increase and 5x upload increase. ... "
" ... Excellent quality and performance ... "
" ... Crazy speed for a wireless card. ... "
" ... Blazing fast, was what one of the speediest sites stated. ... "
" ... Fastest connect speeds at various distances. ... "
" ... I was getting a download speed of 51Mbps with the Netgear, but on the ASUS PCE-AC88 I am up to 84Mbps, a 64% boost. ... "
" ... I was getting solid 1.2Gb connections to my Unifi DreamStation 15' away. ... "
" ... Amazing build quality, makes my PC look like a spaceship, 1GB/sec verified speeds, YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU! ... "
Connectivity / Ports
49ethernet, wifi adapter, wifi, usb wifi adapter, speeds
+69%
-31%
" ... This wifi adapter is amazing. ... "
" ... I was previously using a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 USB wifi adapter to connect to my network. ... This PCIe adapter so far has had zero issues. ... "
" ... I got it as a temporary solution in a new house, but I'm not even going to bother running ethernet with these speeds. ... "
" ... We wanted beefy speeds so we plugged the wires into the thing and now we have beefy speeds. ... "
" ... This is a great WiFi adapter. ... "
" ... I'm getting double the speed over the TPLINK AC1900 PCI express adapter that I regretfully purchased over a year ago, which has been the bane of my existence. ... "
" ... I had been using a usb dongle and was on the fence about buying a WiFi card because I didn’t want the same results for more money. ... "
" ... So I decided to give the external antenna stand a try. ... "
Connectivity / Device Compatibility
48wifi, asus, desktop, windows 10, windows
+42%
-58%
" ... Does not work well with windows 10. ... "
" ... Constantly losing connection requiring restarting. ... "
" ... The only solution is to have Window's go through a "troubleshoot" diagnostic, which just resets the Asus PCE-AC88. ... I was fine with this for a bit, but it got so bad that I removed this adapter from my computer. ... "
" ... Disconnects a couple of times every hour at least. ... After so many troubleshoots, a computer restart is the only option. ... "
" ... The problem is the moment I upgraded to Windows 10 this thing randomly would disconnect. ... It's isolated to the wifi card and Windows 10. ... "
" ... About once per day, this randomly loses my internet connection, and I have to disable and enable the card to get my network back up and running. ... "
" ... DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT if you are using Windows 10. ... "
" ... I purchase the Asus PCE-AC88 card to upgrade my computer from an old MSI wireless card, so i could utilize the speed from my unifi AP. ... The card when it would stay connected would get 350MBS down and 480MBS up on ATT fiber. ... "
Usage / Setup
46install, easy, pc, super easy, simple
+96%
-4%
" ... Upon installing the wifi is simple with the CD provided. ... "
" ... Installation was super easy ... The install set up another WiFi on my PC called Wifi2. ... "
" ... Installation was simple if you've ever installed any card in a PC. ... "
" ... Minimal effort to install, and has yet to let me down. ... "
" ... Super easy to install. ... "
" ... Very easy to install in just 3 simple steps. ... "
" ... You'll have to look for the Setup file within two folders. ... "
" ... Perfectly easy to install, which took a total of about 5 minutes to open my PC, remove the old card, and pop this one in. ... "
Software / Drivers
42driver, asus, windows, windows 10, downloaded
+48%
-52%
" ... The latest drivers are from 2018, and it's unreasonable to expect the customer to fiddle with drivers even older than that, or ANY of these crashes on a $100 product at the high end of the market. ... It also has drivers as recent as January of 2021 at the time of this review. ... "
" ... For starters, Windows 10 doesn't recognize it off the bat so make sure you have the drivers downloaded first. ... "
" ... Unfortunately, ASUS does not respond to the complaints sent to them and have not pushed a driver update since 2018. ... "
" ... Sometimes you even have to uninstall the drivers and reinstall the drivers. ... "
" ... ASUS needs to update their drivers, last time was in early 2018. ... "
" ... Probably good hardware, but huge driver issues with no updates. ... "
" ... ASUS support give the following, reinstall driver, move to another slot in motherboard, return with RMA (about 3 weeks without WiFi). ... "
" ... 15 days of fighting this card's issues, debugging drivers, and I've had it . ... Yet, there's a bug within the drivers that will cause the card constantly disconnect from the system, it's not switching power states properly and the kernel will not log much more data than the BCMPCIEDHD63 service with a "hardware malfunction" service within the event log. ... After repeated attempts to avoid a return, it's apparent to me that this hardware should be put off until newer windows drivers are available for the BROADCOM IC that it relies upon. ... The driver should actually restart the hardware, not leave it in a disconnected state that forces you to restart the PC. ... Also, driver logging isn't available for this adapter from within the drivers and further investigation requires Windows SDK to come to my conclusion. ... It's the driver simply dropping the adapter out of the system when it's required to change power states. ... "
Reliability
40months, card, issues, year, started
+25%
-75%
" ... I made this purchase on August 19th 2019 and it has stopped working on May 2nd 2020. ... "
" ... Device failed to work after 1 year and 10 days! ... "
" ... Card works great when it works, but it will randomly just stop working in windows. ... Need to disable/re-enable or restart to get it working again. ... Update: Replacement had the same issues, and I still tried using every work around with it. ... "
" ... Yeah, then it started getting worse. ... Today, it's happened 5 times and it's just past noon. ... The reason I bought this thing is that the onboard device has been extremely unreliable the last year or so (it's an Asus ROG Crosshair VII Hero, just about 2 years old now.) ... "
" ... I'm a 20 year IT Professional and I have tried everything in the book to get this thing working. ... "
" ... However, after running this the past few weeks I can see there is indeed something wrong with these cards. ... Alas, after troubleshooting for the past week, I'm sending it back and will continue to stay wired for now. ... "
" ... Had this product less than 2 years, and its crapping out already. ... "
" ... Sometimes it would work for a while after that, sometimes not, sometimes didn't even work until I restarted my computer several times. ... "
Usage / Ease
31easy, install, super easy, works great, setup
+97%
-3%
" ... At least that part was painless. ... "
" ... Easy to install, nifty and works ... "
" ... Super easy to install. ... "
" ... Easy to do, just a note. ... "
" ... First - Unboxing was pretty easy. ... "
" ... Minimal effort to install, and has yet to let me down. ... "
" ... Honestly, I really like the design, have been really pleased with the quality, and found it super easy to install. ... "
" ... Super easy to install. ... "
Usage / Capacity
23wifi, upstairs, floor, walls, router is downstairs
+96%
-4%
" ... There is a few walls and a kitchen in between me and the router and I get perfect connection with this while I game and Stream. ... "
" ... Good investment in a 2100 sq ft house, my router was on the other side of the house I now have full signal that’s fast and I can stop stressing. ... "
" ... My desktop is on the complete other side of my house (house is about 2000 sqaure feet). ... "
" ... My router is downstairs and my computer with this adapter is in my office upstairs. ... "
" ... I bought this because I planned to move my computer from the room with my land line / router, to an adjacent room. ... I have fiber at the house and previously had my PC on a land line (Gig Service, testing around 800M). ... Looks like I will be running a land line in my attic when I move my computer to another room . ... "
" ... This NIC is really great for my concrete and stucco house using Netgear Orbi mesh. ... "
" ... Picks up a wifi signal through the basement and a layer of concrete, dirt and flooring! ... "
" ... I have a 300 mbps service with Cox in a 4500 sq ft house but one of my desktops is downstairs and is the furthest away from my router. ... "
Usage / Gaming
18games, game, works great, ping, lag
+78%
-22%
" ... I have no regrets it was so easy, plug and play install and it boosted my ping in most games from 70 to 15. ... "
" ... This works great for gaming and regular home use. ... "
" ... Works great for internet use and GAMING. ... "
" ... Got my maximum speed from provider and good ping for gaming as well. ... "
" ... Especially for my Zoom meetings and occasional gaming. ... "
" ... Have not experienced lag in any of the games I play and this seemed to have done the trick. ... "
" ... You can reliably game with this and not be the red bar dude. ... "
" ... All of my Games I play on PC now have a moderate NAT type and my Download speeds have dropped. ... "
Marketplace
18returned, amazon, works, thank, product
+39%
-61%
" ... I decided to return the return the card and put my old one back in. ... This is the first product I have had to return to amazon. ... "
" ... This item MUST be a fake. ... They told me it must be a fake. ... "
" ... I'm now returning this and going some other route. ... "
" ... returned and recieved amazon credit ... "
" ... Will be replacing soon. ... Save your packaging so you can return should you gamble on this. ... "
" ... So I got a replacement thinking it was faulty hardware, but nope the new one is just as bad. ... "
" ... Thank you Amazon for refunding me on this item. ... "
" ... It didn’t work and I had to return it. ... "
Body
15time, strong, screw, pcie, magnetic base
+60%
-40%
" ... I really like the magnetic base which sits nice on the side of my case closer to the door. ... "
" ... I wanted a strong connection, a steady connection, and from a reputable company in case something happened. ... "
" ... It could easily sit on the top of a closed top tower (mine has fans on top), or a larger desk though. ... "
" ... The device itself looks nice, it has a nice black finish and sits comfortably on my desk, and it's not that large so it hardly distracts me. ... "
" ... The antenna base has a pretty strong magnet, so if you have a steel case or a metal desk, it'll stay put where you place it. ... "
" ... The card is very small, so it can fit right under your GPUs. ... "
" ... Therefore, I had to install this without a screw to secure the card. ... "
" ... The magnetic base is great and has a small bit of paddington keep surfaces safe. ... "
Price
13worth, reach, definitely worth, connection, worth every penny
+92%
-8%
" ... you wont regret it or reach out to me and ill give you money for it. ... "
" ... it’s definitely worth every penny! ... "
" ... The very best money can buy. ... "
" ... For the price I paid, it was so worth it. ... "
" ... It is 100% worth spending the money on this component for flawless connection. ... "
" ... With this thing I easily reach 200-300 consistently. ... "
" ... Good product for a good price! ... "
" ... It also seems like a lot of money but I spent more money on trying to go cheap because then you have to get a booster unless you're in the same room as your router. ... "
Lagging
11sometimes, reboot, disconnects, spikes, reconnect
-100%
" ... Don't waste your time here, that is unless you like horrid latency spikes. ... "
" ... Disconnects a couple of times every hour at least. ... After so many troubleshoots, a computer restart is the only option. ... "
" ... I would have to either troubleshoot or restart my computer to fix it every time. ... "
" ... If you use 5gz on Win 10 it will crash repeatedly. ... "
" ... They need to fix this disconnect issue. ... "
" ... And then when I try to reboot, it just hangs and doesn't reboot. ... "
" ... It'll require a reboot to get it to work and even then sometimes that'll only last 5 minutes, other times it'll go weeks without a problem. ... "
" ... Sometimes after it disconnects it will reconnect. ... Sometimes the only way to get connectivity back is to restart. ... "
Marketplace / Marketplace
10works, thank, product, must, fake
+50%
-50%
" ... This item MUST be a fake. ... They told me it must be a fake. ... "
" ... This is not how they package things from the factory! ... "
" ... returned and recieved amazon credit ... "
" ... Thank you Amazon for refunding me on this item. ... "
" ... This is the first product I have had to return to amazon. ... "
Body / Fit
8screw, pcie, magnetic base, desk, antennas
+75%
-25%
" ... The device itself looks nice, it has a nice black finish and sits comfortably on my desk, and it's not that large so it hardly distracts me. ... "
" ... The card is very small, so it can fit right under your GPUs. ... "
" ... The magnetic base is great and has a small bit of paddington keep surfaces safe. ... "
" ... The magnetic base for the antennas is also nice for attaching to the case. ... "
" ... The antenna base has a pretty strong magnet, so if you have a steel case or a metal desk, it'll stay put where you place it. ... "
" ... Therefore, I had to install this without a screw to secure the card. ... "
Marketplace / Returns
7returned, first, card, amazon, working
-100%
" ... It didn’t work and I had to return it. ... "
" ... Will be replacing soon. ... Save your packaging so you can return should you gamble on this. ... "
" ... This card is getting returned. ... "
" ... I want a refund! ... "
" ... returned and recieved amazon credit ... "
" ... I'm now returning this and going some other route. ... "
" ... I decided to return the return the card and put my old one back in. ... This is the first product I have had to return to amazon. ... "
Cable
7cable, antenna, wire, short, extension
+71%
-29%
" ... The actual cable from the card to the antenna is quite short though, so make sure you have somewhere nice to place it that's close enough to your computer. ... "
" ... With a good cable connection and latest cable gateway modem it is "very" fast. ... "
" ... Works like a dreams def a great solution to getting rid of your hard wire ... "
" ... We wanted beefy speeds so we plugged the wires into the thing and now we have beefy speeds. ... "
Storage
4ram, hardware, gb, card, 2
+75%
-25%
" ... All of my problems resolved with this card and my performance is 1.2 GB - 1.3 GB link speed. ... "
" ... Large file transfers to my home NAS were screaming fast. ... "
" ... *first picture is with the rosewill card and the second one is with the ASUS card ... "
Marketplace / Product As Described
3advertised, described
+100%
" ... This product performs just as advertised. ... "
" ... Item works as described ... "
" ... The device works as advertised!! ... "
Marketplace / Delivery
3late, fast
+67%
-33%
" ... Prompt delivery was the icing on the cake. ... "
Connectivity / Internet
3speed, upload, download, 500mbps, mbps
+67%
-33%
" ... Actually increased Internet speed compared to previous product I used. ... "
" ... I have xfinity 1000mbps internet and would get speed test numbers of 50mbps download and 4mbps upload now I get 312 download and 40 up. ... "
Connectivity / Data reception
32 4g, speed, mbps, internet
+67%
-33%
" ... Actually increased Internet speed compared to previous product I used. ... "
" ... Just now, in the middle of Friday, I am getting 90 mbps on 5g and 60 mbps on 2.4g. ... "
Connectivity / Bluetooth
3wifi, pc, excellent, card, asus
+33%
-67%
" ... Ended up getting a different card that also included bluetooth. ... "
Body / Comfort
3wireless
-100%
" ... If anyone knows the trick I'm all ears. ... "
" ... But I need to to work all the time, not just when it feels like it. ... "
" ... massive headache when it decides it's time to shut off your wireless. ... "
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Specifications
Connectivity
WiFi: Yes