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PCI-E vs USB wifi adapter

never_here

So im putting a PC at a spot where wifi is spotty.  Internet at 100/30, iphone 12 gets 30/10 30-50ping, steam deck gets 20/10, but with 600ping.  Laptop seems to work fine, just an old Dell Latitude 5400 or something. 

 

Anyways, i use to ALWAYS get USB Wifi adapters.  I have a few.  But overall, they've been kind of crappy.  I helped a friend build a PC with a mobo that had integrated Wifi, on a ryzen 1600 or something. Anyway, that worked at peak wifi speeds.  despite about 10ft from router (google wifi).  My USB AC d-link wifi adapter, same range, same line of sight, will get aprox 100mb/s transfer speeds at MOST, and ping of over 50 on average.  

I always liked the idea of Wifi adapters, and assumed it was roughly the same thing as PCI-E.  I dont need the gigabit speed, what i need is decent speeds to stream videos, and work, as well as good enough ping to play games like CS without the lag.  

Any idea what is better in general?  They cost about the same anyway.  Dont plan to upgrade wifi for the next year or so, but if i do, might pick up another google wifi only because its much easier to manage for wife, as she sees everything on the one google home app.  AKA, block kids wifi access if need to. 

thanks in advance. 

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It can depend. If the PCIe card comes with a cable to allow you to move the antenna on top of the computer that's best. USB WiFi stuff tends to be small for access but not for throughput and from what I've seen on the forums they tend to have issues with heat as well as other factors leading to their failure pretty quickly. The issue is when you can only plug in something behind the metal box of your PC case then it's just what can get more power to it which could be a PCIe card with fixed antennas but could be a USB device slightly higher up on the rear of the case.

 

tl;dr

Go for a PCIe card with moveable antennas (not fixed) so you can place it above the computer and just more freely for the best signal.

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2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Go for a PCIe card with moveable antennas (not fixed) so you can place it above the computer and just more freely for the best signal.

definetly.  I also have usb extension cables to allow for better placement, but never get good results.  It does make sense that PCIe could get more power.  I guess, lol. 

Any idea how a WIfi 6E or wifi 6 adapter would work for a gen 1 google wifi that is only AC wifi?

Looking at...

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&item_id=227666

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&item_id=161281

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5 minutes ago, never_here said:

definetly.  I also have usb extension cables to allow for better placement, but never get good results.  It does make sense that PCIe could get more power.  I guess, lol. 

Any idea how a WIfi 6E or wifi 6 adapter would work for a gen 1 google wifi that is only AC wifi?

Looking at...

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&item_id=227666

https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&item_id=161281

Yah, either of those would be fine, WiFi is backwards compatible so the cards would just work at WiFi 5 (AC) instead of Wifi 6/6E

Current Network Layout:

Current Build Log/PC:

Prior Build Log/PC:

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"Anyways, i use to ALWAYS get USB Wifi adapters.  I have a few.  But overall, they've been kind of crappy. "

 

You nailed it yourself.

 

PCIe tend to be much better.  

"Do what makes the experience better" - in regards to PCs and Life itself.

 

Onyx AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3d / MSI 6900xt Gaming X Trio / Gigabyte B650 AORUS Pro AX / G. Skill Flare X5 6000CL36 32GB / Samsung 980 1TB x3 / Super Flower Leadex V Platinum Pro 850 / EK-AIO 360 Basic / Fractal Design North XL (black mesh) / AOC AGON 35" 3440x1440 100Hz / Mackie CR5BT / Corsair Virtuoso SE / Cherry MX Board 3.0 / Logitech G502

 

7800X3D - PBO -30 all cores, 4.90GHz all core, 5.05GHz single core, 18286 C23 multi, 1779 C23 single

 

Emma : i9 9900K @5.1Ghz - Gigabyte AORUS 1080Ti - Gigabyte AORUS Z370 Gaming 5 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 32GB 3200CL16 - 750 EVO 512GB + 2x 860 EVO 1TB (RAID0) - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate 360mm - Fractal Design Define R6 - TP-Link AC1900 PCIe Wifi

 

Raven: AMD Ryzen 5 5600x3d - ASRock B550M Pro4 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 3200Mhz - XFX Radeon RX6650XT - Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial MX500 1TB - TP-Link AC600 USB Wifi - Gigabyte GP-P450B PSU -  Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L -  Samsung 27" 1080p

 

Plex : AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - Gigabyte B550M AORUS Elite AX - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 2400Mhz - MSI 1050Ti 4GB - Crucial P3 Plus 500GB + WD Red NAS 4TBx2 - TP-Link AC1200 PCIe Wifi - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - ASUS Prime AP201 - Spectre 24" 1080p

 

Steam Deck 512GB OLED

 

OnePlus: 

OnePlus 11 5G - 16GB RAM, 256GB NAND, Eternal Green

OnePlus Buds Pro 2 - Eternal Green

 

Other Tech:

- 2021 Volvo S60 Recharge T8 Polestar Engineered - 415hp/495tq 2.0L 4cyl. turbocharged, supercharged and electrified.

Lenovo 720S Touch 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400MHz, 512GB NVMe SSD, 1050Ti, 4K touchscreen

MSI GF62 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400 MHz, 256GB NVMe SSD + 1TB 7200rpm HDD, 1050Ti

- Ubiquiti Amplifi HD mesh wifi

 

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12 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

PCIe tend to be much better.  

i see, i mean, they had their use cases during some lan parties where some people didn't have wifi or ethernet nearby, but cool.  Def going to get a PCIe one now.  thanks

 

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10 minutes ago, never_here said:

i see, i mean, they had their use cases during some lan parties where some people didn't have wifi or ethernet nearby, but cool.  Def going to get a PCIe one now.  thanks

 

Oh yeah, 100%. They're nice and cheap and great for every day use, it's just that PCIe tend to maintain faster speeds and stronger connections.  

 

I use the following TP-Link ones... First is my server, second is my main gaming machine:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084JPFKQ5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQEX7AQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

"Do what makes the experience better" - in regards to PCs and Life itself.

 

Onyx AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3d / MSI 6900xt Gaming X Trio / Gigabyte B650 AORUS Pro AX / G. Skill Flare X5 6000CL36 32GB / Samsung 980 1TB x3 / Super Flower Leadex V Platinum Pro 850 / EK-AIO 360 Basic / Fractal Design North XL (black mesh) / AOC AGON 35" 3440x1440 100Hz / Mackie CR5BT / Corsair Virtuoso SE / Cherry MX Board 3.0 / Logitech G502

 

7800X3D - PBO -30 all cores, 4.90GHz all core, 5.05GHz single core, 18286 C23 multi, 1779 C23 single

 

Emma : i9 9900K @5.1Ghz - Gigabyte AORUS 1080Ti - Gigabyte AORUS Z370 Gaming 5 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 32GB 3200CL16 - 750 EVO 512GB + 2x 860 EVO 1TB (RAID0) - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate 360mm - Fractal Design Define R6 - TP-Link AC1900 PCIe Wifi

 

Raven: AMD Ryzen 5 5600x3d - ASRock B550M Pro4 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 3200Mhz - XFX Radeon RX6650XT - Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial MX500 1TB - TP-Link AC600 USB Wifi - Gigabyte GP-P450B PSU -  Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L -  Samsung 27" 1080p

 

Plex : AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - Gigabyte B550M AORUS Elite AX - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 2400Mhz - MSI 1050Ti 4GB - Crucial P3 Plus 500GB + WD Red NAS 4TBx2 - TP-Link AC1200 PCIe Wifi - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - ASUS Prime AP201 - Spectre 24" 1080p

 

Steam Deck 512GB OLED

 

OnePlus: 

OnePlus 11 5G - 16GB RAM, 256GB NAND, Eternal Green

OnePlus Buds Pro 2 - Eternal Green

 

Other Tech:

- 2021 Volvo S60 Recharge T8 Polestar Engineered - 415hp/495tq 2.0L 4cyl. turbocharged, supercharged and electrified.

Lenovo 720S Touch 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400MHz, 512GB NVMe SSD, 1050Ti, 4K touchscreen

MSI GF62 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400 MHz, 256GB NVMe SSD + 1TB 7200rpm HDD, 1050Ti

- Ubiquiti Amplifi HD mesh wifi

 

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1 hour ago, Dedayog said:

Oh yeah, 100%. They're nice and cheap and great for every day use, it's just that PCIe tend to maintain faster speeds and stronger connections.  

 

I use the following TP-Link ones... First is my server, second is my main gaming machine:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084JPFKQ5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TQEX7AQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wouldn't get WiFi 5 adapters, I have much faster results with a WiFi 6e adapter even when I tried it on a WiFi 5 network.  Anything Intel AX210 based should be great no matter what brand.  The stuff with heatsinks are completely unnecessary as its the same chip used in laptops with no cooling, though it wont hurt either.

 

I wish someone would just sticky a post on this, seems to get asked about five times a week.

Router:  Intel N100 (pfSense) WiFi6: Zyxel NWA210AX (1.7Gbit peak at 160Mhz)
WiFi5: Ubiquiti NanoHD OpenWRT (~500Mbit at 80Mhz) Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, MS510TXPP, GS110EMX
ISPs: Zen Full Fibre 900 (~930Mbit down, 115Mbit up) + Three 5G (~800Mbit down, 115Mbit up)
Upgrading Laptop/Desktop CNVIo WiFi 5 cards to PCIe WiFi6e/7

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11 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I wouldn't get WiFi 5 adapters, I have much faster results with a WiFi 6e adapter.  Anything Intel AX210 based should be great no matter what brand.  The stuff with heatsinks are completely unnecessary as its the same chip used in laptops with no cooling, though it wont hurt either.

 

I wish someone would just sticky a post on this, seems to get asked about five times a week.

Yeah, I agree.  Wifi 6 of course.  Those are older items, but I have to clarify. I use the onboard wifi with the Gigabyte B650 AORUS Pro AX and I think it's wifi 6? 

"Do what makes the experience better" - in regards to PCs and Life itself.

 

Onyx AMD Ryzen 7 7800x3d / MSI 6900xt Gaming X Trio / Gigabyte B650 AORUS Pro AX / G. Skill Flare X5 6000CL36 32GB / Samsung 980 1TB x3 / Super Flower Leadex V Platinum Pro 850 / EK-AIO 360 Basic / Fractal Design North XL (black mesh) / AOC AGON 35" 3440x1440 100Hz / Mackie CR5BT / Corsair Virtuoso SE / Cherry MX Board 3.0 / Logitech G502

 

7800X3D - PBO -30 all cores, 4.90GHz all core, 5.05GHz single core, 18286 C23 multi, 1779 C23 single

 

Emma : i9 9900K @5.1Ghz - Gigabyte AORUS 1080Ti - Gigabyte AORUS Z370 Gaming 5 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 32GB 3200CL16 - 750 EVO 512GB + 2x 860 EVO 1TB (RAID0) - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - Thermaltake Water 3.0 Ultimate 360mm - Fractal Design Define R6 - TP-Link AC1900 PCIe Wifi

 

Raven: AMD Ryzen 5 5600x3d - ASRock B550M Pro4 - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 3200Mhz - XFX Radeon RX6650XT - Samsung 980 1TB + Crucial MX500 1TB - TP-Link AC600 USB Wifi - Gigabyte GP-P450B PSU -  Cooler Master MasterBox Q300L -  Samsung 27" 1080p

 

Plex : AMD Ryzen 5 5600 - Gigabyte B550M AORUS Elite AX - G. Skill Ripjaws V 16GB 2400Mhz - MSI 1050Ti 4GB - Crucial P3 Plus 500GB + WD Red NAS 4TBx2 - TP-Link AC1200 PCIe Wifi - EVGA SuperNova 650 P2 - ASUS Prime AP201 - Spectre 24" 1080p

 

Steam Deck 512GB OLED

 

OnePlus: 

OnePlus 11 5G - 16GB RAM, 256GB NAND, Eternal Green

OnePlus Buds Pro 2 - Eternal Green

 

Other Tech:

- 2021 Volvo S60 Recharge T8 Polestar Engineered - 415hp/495tq 2.0L 4cyl. turbocharged, supercharged and electrified.

Lenovo 720S Touch 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400MHz, 512GB NVMe SSD, 1050Ti, 4K touchscreen

MSI GF62 15.6" - i7 7700HQ, 16GB RAM 2400 MHz, 256GB NVMe SSD + 1TB 7200rpm HDD, 1050Ti

- Ubiquiti Amplifi HD mesh wifi

 

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11 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Yeah, I agree.  Wifi 6 of course.  Those are older items, but I have to clarify. I use the onboard wifi with the Gigabyte B650 AORUS Pro AX and I think it's wifi 6? 

Yes.

Router:  Intel N100 (pfSense) WiFi6: Zyxel NWA210AX (1.7Gbit peak at 160Mhz)
WiFi5: Ubiquiti NanoHD OpenWRT (~500Mbit at 80Mhz) Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, MS510TXPP, GS110EMX
ISPs: Zen Full Fibre 900 (~930Mbit down, 115Mbit up) + Three 5G (~800Mbit down, 115Mbit up)
Upgrading Laptop/Desktop CNVIo WiFi 5 cards to PCIe WiFi6e/7

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