Onboard WiFi vs dedicated WiFi card

[IAmAndre]

Hi,

 

I need to choose between buying this motherboard which has embedded WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 or this lower end model and a $30-40 PCI WiFi/BT card. There is a $30 difference between the two models. What would be the better option for performance and better value overtime? I'm not planning on upgrading the motherboard anytime soon, especially considering the fact that Ryzen CPU's should be compatible until 2020 so I'll probably upgrade only the CPU in a couple years.

 

Thanks

[FloRolf]

You should wait until Zen 2 release but either way get onboard wifi. 

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, FloRolf said:

You should wait until Zen 2 release but either way get onboard wifi. 

I already have a CPU. Why would you recommend onboard WiFi?

[FloRolf]

3 minutes ago, IAmAndre said:

I already have a CPU. Why would you recommend onboard WiFi?

Why did you get a cpu without a board? Can't you return the cpu to get a Zen 2 in two weeks? 

 

Anyway, onboard is just as fast and reliable but doesn't take up any more space and slots in your pc. 

If you can, always go wired though 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

most onboards wifi cards are just m-sata detachable,

if its one of those, no harm getting one. will come in handy with adapter later on.

Otherwise get a good pci wifi separately 

[IAmAndre]

2 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

Why did you get a cpu without a board? Can't you return the cpu to get a Zen 2 in two weeks? 

My motherboard died, need to replace it. I had a cheap okayish USB dongle so I thought it might be time to upgrade it as well.

[IAmAndre]

2 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

most onboards wifi cards are just m-sata detachable,

if its one of those, no harm getting one. will come in handy with adapter later on.

I don't get it, but anyway if you check the product description it doesn't seem have anything to do with msata.

 

3 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

Otherwise get a good pci wifi separately

Which one? Or at what price range? What makes it better than the onboard Wifi?

[thejackalope]

Get the onboard wifi. There is no good PCIE wifi that I am aware of. I've bought several Asus ones and they have all failed. Besides ASUS, the other options are off brands and TP-Link, so I guess you can take your chances with a Chinese government owned company building you a card with Chinese hardware and Chinese firmware 

[jiyeon]

2 hours ago, thejackalope said:

There is no good PCIE wifi that I am aware of. I've bought several Asus ones and they have all failed.

I personally use a Gigabyte GC-WB1733D-I PCIE Wi-Fi card and it's been reliable since the day I got it. Supports up to 1733Mbps and has Bluetooth 5.0 support.

I believe the reason this particular card is good is because it has an Intel 9260 wireless chip inside an M.SATA slot on the card itself.

 

I also did once buy an Asus card too, I believe it was the PCE-N15, it was one lowly card that supported 300Mbps max but could barely hold good ping for online gaming, obviously would not recommend.

[Donut417]

13 hours ago, IAmAndre said:

Hi,

 

I need to choose between buying this motherboard which has embedded WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 or this lower end model and a $30-40 PCI WiFi/BT card. There is a $30 difference between the two models. What would be the better option for performance and better value overtime? I'm not planning on upgrading the motherboard anytime soon, especially considering the fact that Ryzen CPU's should be compatible until 2020 so I'll probably upgrade only the CPU in a couple years.

 

Thanks

Either will work. Built on cards tend to be M.2 Laptop WiFi cards. While you might find a PCIE card that supports "faster" speeds. Honestly the laptop cards will do good enough. Think of it like this too, by having built in WiFi, you dont have to waste a PCIE slot of a WiFi card, on top of that the antennas shouldn't get in the way of plugging in video cables and such. Just to add, generally I think Intel based WiFI adapters tend to be the better ones, at least from what I have read. I dont think Intel makes an PCIE models only M.2. 

 

8 hours ago, thejackalope said:

brands and TP-Link

Never had an issue with my TP Link PCIE card. It worked well with Windows 7 and Windows 10. 

[IAmAndre]

7 hours ago, seoz said:

I believe the reason this particular card is good is because it has an Intel 9260 wireless chip inside an M.SATA slot on the card itself.

 

2 hours ago, Donut417 said:

. While you might find a PCIE card that supports "faster" speeds. Honestly the laptop cards will do good enough. Think of it like this too, by having built in WiFi, you dont have to waste a PCIE slot of a WiFi card, on top of that the antennas shouldn't get in the way of plugging in video cables and such. Just to add, generally I think Intel based WiFI adapters tend to be the better ones, at least from what I have read. I dont think Intel makes an PCIE models only M.2. 

Interesting. The embedded Intel WiFi card seems to be great. I think I'll go for that one.