pci-e wifi card

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nipplethewhale

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Nov 21, 2014
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1. does signal strength affect wifi speed? i used to have 5 bars on my old pc with built in wifi on my mobo. now i get 3 -4 bars.
2. is there any way i can make the signal strength better? i am open to all suggestions besides getting a new router and channel. already done. i have http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GMPZ0A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. since my pc is in the corner of my room, the antennae is right up against the wall. is there any antennae extender thing i could buy? like an antennae stand i could put outside of my room but has a wire traveling back into my pc? ethernet is out of the question. parents room is way too far. and i have to pay extra to have my room ethernet activated.
thanks!
 
Solution
Solandri

The problem is, when you attach the antenna to the wifi card via a long cable, the cable introduces a signal loss. Due to the inverse square law, the signal loss from this cable is usually a lot more than the signal loss of the wifi signal having to travel the little extra distance from your external antenna to your wifi card. So the best arrangement (strongest signal) is for the antenna to be mounted directly on the...
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Deleted member 362816

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From what I have seen pci/pcie wifi cards are a thing of the past, allot of the new usb ones have a much better range.
 
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burdenbound

burdenbound

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Aug 9, 2011
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I have to disagree, I switched from USB wireless adapters to PCI because I found they simply worked better. The USB ones tend to over heat in my experience, although the newer ones might work just fine. If you buy a low quality USB adapter your going to get connectivity issues, where as a $15 PCI adapter will not have those issues. (unless you get a dud).

As far as range that is up to the antenna and how strong it is. Most have an antenna that is directly connected to the card but you can also buy an antenna that has a 6ft cable connected to it so that you can place it in a more suitable spot.

An inexpensive sort of cheap way to help your signal while being in a corner is to take some aluminum foil and form an impromptu dish behind it.
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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Jan 4, 2012
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The problem is, when you attach the antenna to the wifi card via a long cable, the cable introduces a signal loss. Due to the inverse square law, the signal loss from this cable is usually a lot more than the signal loss of the wifi signal having to travel the little extra distance from your external antenna to your wifi card. So the best arrangement (strongest signal) is for the antenna to be mounted directly on the wifi card.

The "bars" of signal is pretty meaningless. It's completely arbitrary and can't be compared between different devices. For example on the original iPhone, Apple famously set the threshold for 3-4 bars at a very low signal level, to create the illusion that the iPhone was getting better reception than other phones.

If there's a way to read how many dB of signal your wifi adapter is getting, that will be much more useful and objective measure. It's usually between -60 dB to -100 dB. -60 dB would be a strong signal (though it could go even higher depending on proximity to the router), -100 dB would be a weak signal.

The antenna being right up against the wall won't matter (unless your walls are metal). Try to make sure there is a minimal amount or metal (including table and chair legs) between the antenna and the router. You may have to rotate the computer case 90 degrees. Also make sure your router antenna and wifi antenna are both pointed straight up.

If you still feel you need more signal, your best bet is to get a bigger antenna for your wifi adapter (the technical phrase is a higher gain antenna) if your wifi adapter is the kind with a replaceable antenna. You'll see an antenna advertised as providing 6 dB more signal, or 12 dB more signal. The bigger the dB, the more signal boost it'll provide.
 
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