Do I need a WiFi Card

NotABigGamer · January 10

I am lucky enough to live in a rural area that has just got fiber optic internet. I am able to pull 500mbps on my phone but on my computer I am only getting around 40mbps. This is most likely because my computer doesn’t have a way to connect to the internet besides an Ethernet cable. I am using a tp link extender then running a cable from that Ethernet port to my computer.
So if I got a Wi-Fi card would I be able to get full speed and not have to use that? I don’t know much about them.

Poinkachu · January 10

2 minutes ago, NotABigGamer said:

I am lucky enough to live in a rural area that has just got fiber optic internet. I am able to pull 500mbps on my phone but on my computer I am only getting around 40mbps. This is most likely because my computer doesn’t have a way to connect to the internet besides an Ethernet cable. I am using a tp link extender then running a cable from that Ethernet port to my computer.

Dunno which TP-Link you use, but yea I think the speed cap most likely due to your extender RJ45 port can only handle 10/100Mbps speed.

So either you buy an extender that has gigabit port, or change from using extender to router(with gigabit port).

Or get a wifi card/dongle.

E-waste · January 10

1 hour ago, NotABigGamer said:

am using a tp link extender then running a cable from that Ethernet port to my computer.

Ah, a wi-fi extender, so basically you're pulling wi-fi and converting that to Ethernet. Yeah.

It depends on the distance but I haven't had good performance with those, it was great for what I wanted to do with it, but it picked up a very weak signal and later on, the antenna seemed to start having issues. I would be able to see networks not even my phone has ever picked up, giving those a stronger signal then the one in range, and I usually only got maybe 5 mb/s when the wind was just right.

A directional antenna (not omni) seems like it would be the way to go for a more concentrated signal strength, all pointing in the exact direction and narrow signal radius to the router. I think this would help most wireless equipment in general but omni-directional is just what people use since generall "it works fine" for basically everyone, but a directional antenna would allow higher performance.

About 15 dBi is a decent starting place for a directional antenna, approximately 30 degrees of radius, the higher dBi rating, the tighter the signal, theoretically higher the possible performance, and definitely, higher signal range, both transmission and reception.

NotABigGamer · January 10

2 hours ago, Poinkachu said:

Dunno which TP-Link you use, but yea I think the speed cap most likely due to your extender RJ45 port can only handle 10/100Mbps speed.

So either you buy an extender that has gigabit port, or change from using extender to router(with gigabit port).

Or get a wifi card/dongle.

What kind of wifi card should I look to get? I have never really looked into them.