Adding Wifi to pc... adapters available?

[*Chazz]

Been looking into replacing my current wifi card. Any ways after digging around and reading some reviews I didn't like the how many wifi pcie adapters required you to use a usb header on your mother board. I ended up going with this --> https://www.newegg.com/intel-wi-fi-6-ax200/p/N82E16833106102 as I liked the fact that it came straight from intel and was intended for a PC. Reading enough amazon reviews gets you antsy about stuff especially when it appears to be from some shady manufacture overseas.

 

I was short sighted and it's obviously not compatible with my mother board (ASRock B450 Pro). I am now aware of the different M.2 slots and have also learned that there really are no slick adapters for these wifi cards. Unlike the M.2 to mini pcie (https://www.amazon.com/M-2-PCIe-Converter-Bluetooth-2010-2016/dp/B083YW3RM3/ref=sr_1_17?dchild=1&keywords=m.2+ngff+wifi+to+mini+pcie&qid=1603331349&sr=8-17).

 

On the newegg's website it says in poor English it sates in the description "Modules uses an M.2 connector and a standard Key A or E socket. Adapters are available for sales for use with motherboards that don’t have Key A or E sockets." These adapters seem to be tough to come even on newegg. They do have the pcie adapters where you simply drop in your wifi card but they include hardware that I already own such as the antennas. 

(https://www.amazon.com/Deal4GO-Wireless-Adapter-Desktop-Converter/dp/B08BWXNXFS/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=wifi+card+to+pcie+adapter&qid=1603326540&sr=8-9).

 

My hope was to find a solution that didn't require me to run Bluetooth from a usb header but I guess that is just the way it is when it comes to M.2 Key A + E slots and normal pcie slots. There is just something about them that isn't compatible. So it looks like I will be returning what I purchased and going with a more conventional solution.

 

It looks like I will be going with this solution here -> https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Wireless-AX200NGW-802-11ax-Computer/dp/B086V3KS9F/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=tp+link+pcie+wifi+card&qid=1603329406&sr=8-21-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzUURSMEVLWktBSlAxJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzI2OTExM1BSUTQ4VTdHSDNOQyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjU5NDk4M1QyN0s1T1dSRjBEWCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2J0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

 

It's Wifi 6 and I can drop in an updated card in the future if that ever becomes warranted. It also doesn't have those ridiculous and outlandish "gameresk" heat sinks that are completely unnecessary in my book. I am curious if there is such need but to me its like placing a heat spreader on your ram... completely unnecessary as ram produces little heat. Maybe for increased range but your also limited by your router's sensitivity and and power. Further, I recon that its the exception for such ranged hardware needed than really necessary.

 

TL;DR: are there M.2 Key A+E to PCIE 4x adapters on the market that I simply haven't been able to find?

 

[Grabhanem]

I believe the A/E key specification requires a USB connection to the card, which is why you haven't been seeing many options without one.

[Carbonado]

you can look at these for both wifi and bluetooth:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Bluetooth-Wireless-Browsing-Streaming/dp/B084JPFKQ5/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1PHDQ0TZ8RNP3&dchild=1&keywords=pcie+wifi+card&qid=1603332293&sprefix=pcie+wifi%2Caps%2C610&sr=8-4

 

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Bluetooth-Ultra-Low-Archer-TX3000E/dp/B07ZV2CJL2/ref=sxin_10_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-cGNpZSB3aWZpIGNhcmQ%3D-ac_d_rm&crid=1PHDQ0TZ8RNP3&cv_ct_cx=pcie+wifi+card&dchild=1&keywords=pcie+wifi+card&pd_rd_i=B07ZV2CJL2&pd_rd_r=657ed0d7-bc0d-4acb-bcfc-9b6fcb65ebdc&pd_rd_w=LCe6e&pd_rd_wg=zk4Cd&pf_rd_p=fe2d64f9-a0d4-4c62-b195-55e240bc5b7e&pf_rd_r=AF0NASXA9B4BCVGBEBA5&psc=1&qid=1603332293&sprefix=pcie+wifi%2Caps%2C610&sr=1-1-12d4272d-8adb-4121-8624-135149aa9081

 

https://www.amazon.com/Network-PCIE-Wifi-6-Card/dp/B089FCX3C3/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1PHDQ0TZ8RNP3&dchild=1&keywords=pcie+wifi+card&qid=1603332293&sprefix=pcie+wifi%2Caps%2C610&sr=8-8

[*Chazz]

13 minutes ago, Grabhanem said:

I believe the A/E key specification requires a USB connection to the card, which is why you haven't been seeing many options without one.

Yah that makes sense now. Thanks for the insight.