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My Lenovo IdeaPad L340-15IW has 1Gbit ethernet (in Settings, I saw 100mbit/s - possibly because my router has that limitation?) and a Realtek 8821CE PCI-E WiFi card that supports a max of 65mbit/s:

  • Could I upgrade the WiFi card to Intel's 7265ac so it will provide higher throughput than ethernet and would this card be compatible?
  • In general, is it possible to achieve higher throughput in this way, or is the ethernet throughput the maximum the motherboard can handle?
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  • Your laptop should be capable of Gigabit Ethernet with its integrated interface. If you can only get an Ethernet 100 Mbps connection, then you need to check the cabling and/or the switch/router the laptop is connected to.
    – sawdust
    Nov 5, 2020 at 23:35
  • If upgrading the WiFi card, you'll likely want to go with an up-to-date card (the Intel 7265 is >6yrs old), with Killer and Intel generally being the best cards to go with (ensure you buy the right form factor). The only thing you may need to upgrade with a newer WiFi card are the two or three WiFi antennas on the laptop, as newer cards use a smaller antenna port on the card (usually OEMs route the WiFi antennas on laptops up either side of the screen, with disassembly being relatively easy and if Lenovo doesn't offer a service manual, you can likely find a YouTube video of how to do so)
    – JW0914
    Nov 9, 2020 at 12:22
  • If you're seeing 100mbit/s in Settings, there's an issue either with hardware (any router circa >2015 is going to have 1Gbit ethernet on the LAN ports), the ethernet cable, and/or the ethernet drivers/ethernet network adapter properties on the laptop
    – JW0914
    Nov 9, 2020 at 13:12
  • 'Killer' have globally the reputation for the wireless & ethernet cards to avoid. I gave up trying to make the killer wifi card work on a dell XPS and replaced the card.
    – JohnnyVegas
    Nov 9, 2020 at 16:35

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The spec for your laptop is gigabit. you either have a faulty network cable, a 10/100 cable, or the other end is attached to a 10/100 highest speed capable device. Try another cable, and make sure all 8 pins have cables going to them. If it's only 4, you have a 10/100 cable.

I have a router that tells me it supports wireless AC1750 which means the maximum link speed of 1300Mbps on the 5Ghz channel and 450Mbps on the 2.4Ghz channel. But, note that it is impossible to achieve this in real life. This kind of stat is standard marketing stuff in a lot of environments. Cars & their Miles Per Gallon is another where the numbers are excessive. Internet speeds from providers always say "Up to X MB" but that is for an extremely small number of customers.

Wifi is perfect for small files, but slower than ethernet for transferring a 4GB file due to bandwidth and Latency. Bandwidth is just as important, and the easiest way I can describe it is when you are hammering a nail into wood, bandwidth is the hammer, and Latency is the speed you are moving the hammer at. Wireless can only use small hammers and a certain speed. The opposite applies for ethernet.

Ethernet will always be better, regardless of whatever speed of wifi there is - You simply cannot beat physical wire between two devices.

If you have USB3, you can use a USB3 to Gigabit ethernet adapter. This may not reach gigabit speeds due to other limitations of USB3 Ethernet adapters, but will be better than wifi unless you are sitting close to the router and have little or no noise level.

Older interfaces that are good for ethernet adapters are PCMCIA & Cardbus, but again these interfaces are limited with ethernet adapters due to their age and speed.

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  • I understand your point, and marked your answe as accepted. However, my point of interest was also the case, when wifi module in laptop/pc has larger bandwidth support than ethernet card. In that case, wifi would be faster right?
    – victory
    Nov 9, 2020 at 10:16
  • The max WiFi throughput of the intel 7260ac/7265ac is 867mbit/s on 5GHz and ~300mbit/s - 400mbit/s on 2.4GHz depending on how the router's 2.4GHz radio is configured by the user.
    – JW0914
    Nov 9, 2020 at 12:28
  • You are assuming perfect athmosphere, a very low noise level, and the exact environment where the maximum speed is capable. On paper, the wireless card appears quicker. Reality soon proves otherwise. Exactly the same with the bandwidth @victory
    – JohnnyVegas
    Nov 9, 2020 at 16:33
  • I think you are missing my question. If I have for example laptop wifi card 7260ac/7265ac with 867mbit/s speed, and ethernet card supporting max 100Mbps, will be using wifi (for downloading large files for example) better?
    – victory
    Nov 10, 2020 at 10:00
  • Possibly be better, but a laptop with a 10/100 network card and a 7265AC is a strange beast! If laptop in same room as router then it should be quicker - I would be interested in the result.
    – JohnnyVegas
    Nov 10, 2020 at 19:25

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