What is the best wireless PCI/-E WiFi card?

hopgop1

Honorable
Aug 27, 2013
5
0
10,510
I am building my new PC in under a month and I need a wireless PCI card for my new build as Ethernet isn't an option. I am quite far away from my router and it is through several thick walls, my 4 year old laptop can just reach the signal with 2 bars. Please find the card on amazon.co.uk. Also this is the link to my mobo Thanks in advance!! :p
-hopgop1
 
Solution
Depends what you mean "best". You want to match the features on your routers. You must determine if you need dual band or mimo (it will have multiple antenna) or new options like 802.11ac.

Now if by "best" you mean signal strength then there is very little difference. Your house makes much more difference than any tiny variation between cards. All cards transmit at the legal maximum power. There is some variation in the type of antenna these cards use but it generally does not make a big difference.

What you may find is your laptop actually gets a little better reception due to placement of the antenna in the back of the screen where your desktop will likely have the antenna located very close to the metal case and likely...
Depends what you mean "best". You want to match the features on your routers. You must determine if you need dual band or mimo (it will have multiple antenna) or new options like 802.11ac.

Now if by "best" you mean signal strength then there is very little difference. Your house makes much more difference than any tiny variation between cards. All cards transmit at the legal maximum power. There is some variation in the type of antenna these cards use but it generally does not make a big difference.

What you may find is your laptop actually gets a little better reception due to placement of the antenna in the back of the screen where your desktop will likely have the antenna located very close to the metal case and likely being placed against the wall blocking even more signal.

Peoples houses vary so much its extremely hard to judge what will work well. This is why you see such a huge mix of reviews for wireless equipment with some people saying its great and others saying it does not work. The key thing is cards that have similar features likely use the exact same chipsets no matter whose name is on the box. So if you stay with the larger manufacture you will get similar performance so try to find something that is on a sale.
 
Solution

jon3s115

Honorable
Mar 6, 2014
23
1
10,510


The 802.11ac has SO MANY issues. I would not advise getting it. I have had to constantly uninstall the driver, unplug my laptop, and turn it back on to get the wi fi to work again. It's the only thing that wokrs because every time I'm done using it for the day and use it again later, the wi fi doesnt work, and so i do said procedure.
 

Tambourineman

Reputable
Aug 15, 2014
4
0
4,510
I am seeking one also although I do have an Ethernet connection. My concern is finding one that has MS WHQL certified drivers for Windows 8.1 64bit. I would prefer a wirelss n with a g fallback in case I have to switch my router off n only. dual band so as to not get interference on the 2.4 ghz band. I would consider either a pci-e card or a USB dongle as range is not that much of an issue. Any recommendations?
 

milosz

Distinguished
Dec 10, 2006
35
0
18,540
I've been using 802.11ac on Windows 7 for two years without any issues. I get nearly gigabit speeds about 150 feet / several rooms away from my router. If you need near-gigabit speeds it's the only way it can currently be done.
 

tteksystems

Honorable
Nov 3, 2013
14
1
10,520


Sounds like a hardware problem, likely fixed by driver updates. Sometimes we have to report these issues to vendors that make these devices so they are aware and can update the drivers. Compatibility, driver conflicts and wireless interference issues often cause alot of people to get a bad impression of a wireless device but if someone with alot of knowledge about these sorta things spends time to resolve them, it almost always leads to complete resolution. Wireless AC adapters are not problematic per say but some specific ones have be known to be buggy and fail. I use ASUS and Netgear wireless AC adapters and they are flawless. I'm thinking the intel line of wireless ac mini pci-e adapters for internal installs might be the better choices but I am sure there are others that are just as good. I know it's been a while since this post, but have you ever gotten it working? I wouldn't blame anyone for going with another option as these things sometimes take more time to solve and it's just not worth it when you can go with a known working option.