Killer vs. Intel network cards performance

I happen to have a family of three Dell machines in the house - a new arrival XPS 9360, an old beast Precision M4800 and an "aspiring" Inspirion 5667.

The new XPS 9360 is equipped with the Killer 1535 wifi card while the old models came with Intel cards. I've run tens of speed tests and it's certain for me that the Killer card's performance is constantly 20-25% lower than those of Intel's cards (all cards with the newest drivers available).

Has anyone done similar tests or come across Killer performance issues? There are lots of similar threads on Killer cards, and they are generally not really appreciated, but I'm seeking their comparison vs. Intel cards.

 

Well, Intel always worked out of box with no tweaks and Killer always needed tweaks.Wireless Performance was similar for me.

 

Yeah, my impressions are the same... Would you be keen enough to share the Killer tweaks you find necessary to apply?

 

1. Download the newer Killer SW drivers
2. Goto Device Manager -> Network Adapters -> killer 1535 -> properties
3. In properties window, Select Advanced Tab > Set Roaming Aggressiveness to Lowest. Optionally set the channel band preference too., if needed.
4. Remove Killer from Startup using CCleaner or similar.

 

Many thanks for this, Vasduev! I really appreciate it!

Some questions though, if you don't mind:
1. You're saying to prefer the latest OEM drivers over Dell approved drivers (which are indeed older), right?
2. I'm bit surprised with the Roaming Aggressiveness, as I've just increased it to High-Medium Can you explain why lower is better here?
3. I can't find any place to tweak channel, which is a great surprise for me... It's not in the device properities (as for e.g. Intel) and it's not in the Killer Network Manager, either. I haven't tried the new Killer Suite, maybe it's there? Can you point me to the right place?

 

Yes download from Killer directly they're updating every month with constant bug fixes.
Actually @judal57 was testing these parameters, he told me this when I asked how to prevent random disconnect plaguing Killer WLAN/BT.
For tweaking channel, its better to do it in a router by using Wifi Analyser app.

 

OK, I've played a bit with my killing Killer and here are the effects:
1. installed the latest drivers from the Killer's website - alone it hasn't improved my situation a bit,
2. changed the card mode into b/g/n, as those are standards served by a modem provided by my ISP - this gave me a significant speed boost,
3. tried different values of Roaming Aggressiveness - it looks the "medium-low" works best in my case- this gave me only a few percent improvement but still...
Overall, I'm at the same level now that the Intel cards in my other machines can provide, which is great!

One question remains, though - is there any way to adjust the channel in the card itself? I've already tweaked it for best performance of my other hardware, so I'd like to stick to the current one.

 

I have Killer 1535 in my Alienware 17 R4, Killer 1535/Intel 8260 In the P870DM-G and Intel 8265 in P870DM3-G.

The Killer performs best with my Mikrotik Router at home, but sub par with my ASUS router. The Intel 8260 performs best with my ASUS Router and kinda okish with my Mikrotik router. 8265 is pretty decent with my Mikrotik but amazing with the ASUS.
At work, the Killer 1535 works amazing, im not sure what routers/access points we are using. The Intel 8260 is pretty decent here as well. 8265 for some reason ****s the bed at work though.

So point being, Routers will matter way more than the card it self.

As for the drivers for the Killer 1535, im using the stock Windows Update drivers.

 

@mikolajek Channels are set on the router, if that's what you mean by adjusting the channel.

 

THIS
It isnt talked about a lot of times, but changing to a particular channel from Automatic, helps a great deal a lot of times.

 

I tried new drivers, performs average with Killer Software at startup so remove it from startup.
You can set Channel preference to 2.4G or 5G in device manager.

 

Those are bands not Channels.

 

Did anyone have success with the recommendations? I have tried this little success.

 

Also, remove killer startup program

 

From my experience with my killer1535 it works best with no latency issue, spike lag and etc. if you only install the killer network driver only. The killer network manager or its software/bloatware will cause you problems. Try installing the driver only and test again. Hope this helps. Link is here: http://www.killernetworking.com/driver-downloads/category/other-downloads
Edit: Also has what they have said. Adjust your channel in your router manually and get the best channel for your area and also 5 ghz works better for me. Less crowded. ^_^

 

Latest Killer Control Center is very good IMO.

 

I no longer have issues with their cards. New drivers must have fixed it.


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Did you install full suite or just drivers only?

 

Have just had a killer 1435 break, 5th wireless card to go out in the last year. Getting disillusioned with wifi working at all.

 

Sadly I replaced my aw 13r3 with a 8625 because the 1535 would drop. However my aw17r4 works perfect with the 1535. No problems from factory but the drivers are much newer since march when I had the 13" issue.


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Killer aka Qualcomm are strict whilst connecting to an AP, they do basic signal quality checks and low level stuff.
I recently purchased a 11ac router and Killer was crashing the router while my sister's Intel card connected w/o any issues and I was envious. Then, I went to check the cable and found out the AC adapter plug of router came loose and after fixing it Killer connected to the router instantly.

 

Performance between my Killer 1103 and Intel 6300 were always similar, but one major benefit the Intel 6300 had was it never dropped connectivity, very much unlike the 1103 which dropped networks when peak bandwidth was used.

 

Now killer SW is better made. No dropouts.

 

Yup, zero issues with Killer.

 

Yep since the new versions of the Killer Performance Suite has come out there have been less and less issues, they are certainly getting a lot better i can still remember the hassle that the Killer N 1102 gave as well as the shuddy Intel 7260 AC (AKA Dropout ally) gave the worse Wireless cards i have ever owned.

 

Just had my MSI Gt83's killer 1535 break after having to do a forced shutdown after a game locked up the whole computer. And yes, i've eaten my winsocks and flushed my DNSs down the drain, took a sledgehammer to the router's PSU, and called a taxi driver for the card.

This is my 6th broken wifi card in a year's time, i dont know what to do at this point.

 

That is why I dont bother with the suite. For me no issues installing the driver only. No point to have a suite if it causes problem. If your not having a software issue you have the worst luck ever. 6th card. damn T_T

 

Oh right i forgot to mention that.. if you dont mention every possible thing everyone'l latch onto that QQ. I do not have the software suite, ONLY DRIVERS.

 

Have you applied the tweaks in device manager > Killer 1535 like I said in previous posts?

 

Giving them a try. Don't see how it can bring a card that was working, for about 2 weeks of use since i got it, and now isn't back to life, though. xx

 

Have had more disconnects today after setting those and rebooting.

 

This might sound absurd or ridiculous. Can you check if power cable and other cabling are perfect? My card did random disconnects because power adapter came loose and after fixing it killer card connected instantly. Also double check that two antennas are connected properly and use pry tool to press the connector with little force otherwise the connector might break.

 

The laptop power adapter? And i can check the antennas in a bit. The card was working for a while until i had to reboot my PC during a hardlock. (i wanna strangle whoever said games cant crash computers because of APIs)

 

Router power adapter.

 

Ive checked all the mentioned cables, no dice. I'm literally just cursed to have these wifi cards always break after only a couple hundred hours of being on. 5 more disconnects today, and my powerline adapters are broken rendering a $4500 laptop unable to reliably connect to the internet. I cant afford to just swap the whole laptop this time.


Why can't i just get a wifi card that actually works for more than 200hrs of runtime?. Literally nobody else has these things just crap out like this and therefore there's absolutely no hope of finding a solution. qq

 

Did you enable any kind of power saving for killer cards? You could try Linux and if that card works as per your requirements. If it dies in Linux, then go for Intel.

 

I dont have the time to test linux, and even if i did i'd be missing the "guard is down" part to trigger the disconnects.

My problem with intel is at least the last card i tried was custom made by Super Satan LLC.

And yes, i disabled power saving on the card, even though i forgot to mention it thats line #1 of the tech support copypasta qq

At this point there's no other explanation besides just such **** luck that any card i get is going to last no mroe than a couple weeks of use at best ><

 

Power saving MIMO in device manager and not in power plan.
Where is the WLAN card placed? I couldn't find it in disassembly guide.