Best Wifi Adapter For A PC Build?

[EdwardIIV]

Good day.

I'm looking for a wifi adapter for my upcoming PC build, but I don't know which one to go for. I would like a wifi adapter that is not a wifi card that has to be plugged into a PCI-E slot, so preferably a USB adapter. Which would be the best USB adapter with a great connection for around $30? It will most likely be plugged into the back of my PC, so it needs to have a very good connection.

 

Also, what kind of wifi adapter is provided in this Asus motherboard?

 

Bare with me as I'm a noob in wireless PC networking.

Thanks and cheers!

[Droidbot]

On that board, there is an mini-PCIe slot on board with a WiFi card in it, connecting to the antenna ports on the outside. Antenna connects to antenna ports. 

 

for USB I'd say ASUS or Gigabyte has the best, just take a look at reviews. 

[Mooshi]

My itx board has a built in wifi/bluetooth module and I still have a long Ethernet cord snaked into the room for the better connection lol

[manikyath]

in general usb wifi thingies suck because they quite simply dont get the wattage they need for decent signal strength.

 

on top of that, for some reason most manufacturers of those decided that we dont need antenna's anymore.

[EdwardIIV]

So are wifi cards generally better? I assumed so, but they look ugly as hell in a build. And do antennas make that big of a difference? Also, these products often have the speeds written somewhere on the product page, are these speeds reliable, and how do I know what's decently fast and what isn't?

 

Once again, apologies for my inexperience with such devices.

[Lord_Snax]

19 hours ago, EdwardIIV said:

So are wifi cards generally better? I assumed so, but they look ugly as hell in a build. And do antennas make that big of a difference? Also, these products often have the speeds written somewhere on the product page, are these speeds reliable, and how do I know what's decently fast and what isn't?

 

Once again, apologies for my inexperience with such devices.

No need to apologize, we all start somewhere.

 

The best connection is usually wired Ethernet. WiFi is slower and the more traffic there is, the slower it gets. If you need to use a WiFi connection, I personally recommend a PCIe WiFi card. Get a small card and install it next to your graphics card if you can. I did this in my brother's PC and the WiFi card is barely visible in the side window, Or as I like to say it, "If you can see something wrong, you're looking too hard." The ASUS PCE-AC56 PCIe WiFi on Amazon card is red and looks pretty awesome with a red themed build.

 

Another suggestion is to get a Power Line Ethernet Adapter. I personally don't use them, but I know someone who did.  They work by converting the wired Ethernet connection to a signal that is sent across the power lines in your home. They work great! They are easy to install as well, one connected to the router and the other connected to the computer.

 

Also, I have read about cases where users don't configure them properly and the neighbors, if they have the same set, can accidentally access your network and use your internet. Just follow the instructions in that comes with the adapters and you should not have this issue.

 

Power Line Ethernet Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Powerline-Adapter-Starter-TL-PA4010KIT/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493759559&sr=8-1&keywords=powerline+adapter

[EdwardIIV]

On 3 May 2017 at 5:27 AM, Lord_Snax said:

No need to apologize, we all start somewhere.

 

The best connection is usually wired Ethernet. WiFi is slower and the more traffic there is, the slower it gets. If you need to use a WiFi connection, I personally recommend a PCIe WiFi card. Get a small card and install it next to your graphics card if you can. I did this in my brother's PC and the WiFi card is barely visible in the side window, Or as I like to say it, "If you can see something wrong, you're looking too hard." The ASUS PCE-AC56 PCIe WiFi on Amazon card is red and looks pretty awesome with a red themed build.

 

Another suggestion is to get a Power Line Ethernet Adapter. I personally don't use them, but I know someone who did.  They work by converting the wired Ethernet connection to a signal that is sent across the power lines in your home. They work great! They are easy to install as well, one connected to the router and the other connected to the computer.

 

Also, I have read about cases where users don't configure them properly and the neighbors, if they have the same set, can accidentally access your network and use your internet. Just follow the instructions in that comes with the adapters and you should not have this issue.

 

Power Line Ethernet Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Powerline-Adapter-Starter-TL-PA4010KIT/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493759559&sr=8-1&keywords=powerline+adapter

How hard is it to actually connect via Ethernet, as my setup won't be too far from my router and I can think of ways of stealthily hiding and routing it to the router. Is it just a single cable running from my PC towards to router or what? And will it disrupt the other PCs in the house's connection by any chance?

 

I'd like to understand more about this, what problems could I run into?

 

Cheers!

[MrJoosh]

3 hours ago, EdwardIIV said:

How hard is it to actually connect via Ethernet, as my setup won't be too far from my router and I can think of ways of stealthily hiding and routing it to the router. Is it just a single cable running from my PC towards to router or what? And will it disrupt the other PCs in the house's connection by any chance?

 

I'd like to understand more about this, what problems could I run into?

 

Cheers!

Connecting your PC via ethernet is one hell of a lot easier thatn wireless - you honestly just put one end of the cable in your router, and the other in the PC. Basically no setup required whatsoever.

 

AFAIK, it won't affect the network speed of the other devices on the network anywhere near as much as joining the (probably) already congested WiFi network would... Not an expert on this though, so happy to be corrected

 

EDIT: Just for clarity, the impact that the PC will have on the network is taking some of the Internet bandwidth, the same as connected via WiFi, but the real world impact on other WiFi devices being used will be much less as there are less devices competing for airspace, if you get what I mean? Struggling to explain what I mean properly here

Edited May 5, 2017 by MrJoosh
Clarity

[EdwardIIV]

11 hours ago, MrJoosh said:

Connecting your PC via ethernet is one hell of a lot easier thatn wireless - you honestly just put one end of the cable in your router, and the other in the PC. Basically no setup required whatsoever.

 

AFAIK, it won't affect the network speed of the other devices on the network anywhere near as much as joining the (probably) already congested WiFi network would... Not an expert on this though, so happy to be corrected

 

EDIT: Just for clarity, the impact that the PC will have on the network is taking some of the Internet bandwidth, the same as connected via WiFi, but the real world impact on other WiFi devices being used will be much less as there are less devices competing for airspace, if you get what I mean? Struggling to explain what I mean properly here

So what you're trying to say is that connecting via Ethernet will not affect the Wifi for other users any more than it would have affected the other devices if I connected wirelessly?

 

Also, how big is the difference in terms of speed? And is this why when there are PC builds on YouTube, they rarely use a wireless card or USB adapter (because they use Ethernet)?

 

Cheers!

[GreenZombie]

TP-Link makes relatively good USB WiFi adapters, but some adapters have a lousy linux support.

 

http://www.tp-link.fi/products/details/Archer-T4U.html#over

[MrJoosh]

On 5/6/2017 at 2:59 AM, EdwardIIV said:

So what you're trying to say is that connecting via Ethernet will not affect the Wifi for other users any more than it would have affected the other devices if I connected wirelessly?

 

Also, how big is the difference in terms of speed? And is this why when there are PC builds on YouTube, they rarely use a wireless card or USB adapter (because they use Ethernet)?

 

Cheers!

Yeah, that's basically it - but it will affect the other users less is anything...

 

Speed wise, if you are connected via ethernet into gigabit ports (e.g. 10/100/1000 network ports) then you will have a theoretical connection speed of 1Gbps, and although there are other factors that affect this best case scenario, it is considerably faster than the 450Mbps theoretical speed of 802.11n, and although 802.11ac quotes speeds of 1.3Gbps, these are once again theoretical, and based on you being next to the router with no interference on the wireless channel, or other users. Sounds easy, but when interference can be caused by basically anything that transmits over the RF frequency range (and even by a domestic microwave oven) it shows that it is exceedingly difficult to achieve.

 

As stated before i don't claim to be a network specialist, but this is just how i understand networking - so happy to be corrected by somebody with more experience than myself

 

TL;DR Use wireless for mobile devices that will move (e.g. phones, tablets, laptops etc.), use ethernet for fixed location devices (e.g. PCs, set top boxes etc.) where achievable.