Would a USB or PCI express wireless adapter be perferable in my situation?

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thesuperguy

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Apr 19, 2013
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I am in need of replacing my current wireless adapter because it has been very iffy and has been dropping my connection pretty frequently. I am currently eying 2 options, one of which is a PCI express card, and the other which connects via USB. The PCI express one is the TP-Link WDN4800 which I am personally leaning towards because it is cheaper and theoretically faster than the USB adapter. The USB one I am looking at is the Asus USB-N53. Note that my router is the Asus RT-N56U.

The dilemma is that while the TP is in theory, faster, and supposedly stronger, I am able to setup the Asus in a position such that it is closer to the router than the TP by 2 meters or so. The Asus will have a near unobstructed path (close to the edge of a wall) to the router while the TP will be blocked by the entirety of my computer (the back of my computer is facing away from the router) and a wall.

I would just like to know if the extra speed of the TP will be able to offset the disadvantages PCI cards bring. Also, if you guys have any other suggestions for cards/USB adapters, I would appreciate them.
 
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A pci with extended antenna generally is the highest performance option but tends to be costly. The trade off is always a USB is easy to get far away from the machine but generally does not have as good antenna and some do not transmit at the full power although many do. The PCI of course you have to put it inside the machine and even though it has nice antenna they are located very close to the metal case. As far as transmission speed both are about the same with good signal since both are limited by the WiFi well before they hit limitation in their corresponding connections to the computer.

The only issue with external cable connected antenna is the loss in the cable is massive when you use the thin cables and try to go any...
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bill001g

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Aug 9, 2012
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A pci with extended antenna generally is the highest performance option but tends to be costly. The trade off is always a USB is easy to get far away from the machine but generally does not have as good antenna and some do not transmit at the full power although many do. The PCI of course you have to put it inside the machine and even though it has nice antenna they are located very close to the metal case. As far as transmission speed both are about the same with good signal since both are limited by the WiFi well before they hit limitation in their corresponding connections to the computer.

The only issue with external cable connected antenna is the loss in the cable is massive when you use the thin cables and try to go any distance. If you were to try to extend them too far you would lose more in the cable than the antenna adds.
 
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i7Baby

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Jul 25, 2012
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Looks good.
 
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