Choosing a wifi card?

[Iron Knickers]

Besides finding a card that can utilize my internet speed, (being capable of a max of 30 mbps for me), what is the real difference between some $60 wireless card an a 10 buck tp-link card?

[shayan_doust]

The main difference is the band that it operates in. Lower end wireless cards support only single band 2.4 ghz which is prone to interference whereas higher ends support dual band (2.4ghz & 5ghz). Moreover, You need to look at the specification of the card. Cheap cards only support old 802.11x standard which is only capable of 11 mbps (802.11g). New and expensive cards support the latest 802.11ac as well as 802.11n which allow high speed data transfers. 

 

Expensive cards tend to have better wireless range compared to cheaper ones. Obviously you need to see whether or not your router accepts that type of protocol (for example, having 802.11ac card connected to a 802.11n router is a waste of money and is not using its potential.)

[Clanscorpia]

How far are you from your router? And how many walls? I have 4 walls and am 20 feet from my router and 20 CAD linksys USB thingy does the job

[Iron Knickers]

1 minute ago, Clanscorpia said:

How far are you from your router? And how many walls? I have 4 walls and am 20 feet from my router and 20 CAD linksys USB thingy does the job

I am probably about 30 feet from my router and there are probably about 3 walls

[Clanscorpia]

4 minutes ago, Iron Knickers said:

I am probably about 30 feet from my router and there are probably about 3 walls

You should be fine with a cheap one if you are not doing intensive downloads or transfers