Looking for a high end m.2 wifi/bluetooth card.

[Sphio]

Greetings. I am building a small form factor build and currently lack Wifi and bluetooth capabilities. The only real option is a m.2 card.

since I don't want to slip on performance here and I have no prior knowledge on what's good or not in this area I am looking for some recommendations.

 

It has to be m.2,

preferably a kit with antenna included.

High quality.

 

I have looked around a bit and couldn't really find a good buyers guide for this, If anyone knows of a good resource please let me know.

[Theguywhobea]

Look at the Intel 8260 or 9260. Both are probably the best wifi/bluetooth cards you can get. Although neither come with antenna cables so you'll have to source those yourself.

[Sphio]

I'll definitively look into those. What about those Killer cards? They seem pricier, how do they perform comperatively?

[Theguywhobea]

1 minute ago, Sphio said:

I'll definitively look into those. What about those Killer cards? They seem pricier, how do they perform comperatively?

I had a Killer wireless card in my Razer Blade 14, the speeds were similar, but contrary to their purpose, ping times in games were WAY worse, to the point that  League was unplayable, but it's fine on the intel cards.

[Mooshi]

If this is a fresh build, any decent itx board will have Intel wifi/Bluetooth on board.

[Alex Atkin UK]

3 hours ago, Mooshi said:

If this is a fresh build, any decent itx board will have Intel wifi/Bluetooth on board.

If by decent you mean the absolutely highest end boards then perhaps.  But I have two ITX boards, one cheap and one fairly high-end, neither use Intel.

The ASRock H97M-ITX/ac uses Realtek rt8821ae (USB over mini PCIe not M.2) and the Asus ROG Z370-I GAMING (which AFAIK is considered one of the best Z370 ITX boards) is hardwired into the motherboard and uses Realtek 8822be PCI-E.

[Mooshi]

2 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

If by decent you mean the absolutely highest end boards then perhaps.  But I have two ITX boards, one cheap and one fairly high-end, neither use Intel.

The ASRock H97M-ITX/ac uses Realtek rt8821ae (USB over mini PCIe not M.2) and the Asus ROG Z370-I GAMING (which AFAIK is considered one of the best Z370 ITX boards) is hardwired into the motherboard and uses Realtek 8822be PCI-E.

I wouldn't consider my board absolute highest end at around 120usd. Mini itx and Intel wifi/bluetooth. Maybe Intel is cheaping out on their own boards.

[Alex Atkin UK]

3 hours ago, Mooshi said:

I wouldn't consider my board absolute highest end at around 120usd. Mini itx and Intel wifi/bluetooth. Maybe Intel is cheaping out on their own boards.

They aren't "their own boards" though, vendors choose what goes on them.

 

Its only relatively recently that there has been a push to include Intel NICs on the boards, traditionally it was always shitty Realtek chips.

Honestly I have no clue what is meant to be "best" for WiFi these days.  Intel are best for ethernet, but I read plenty of issues with Intel WiFi.  But being WiFi, half those issues are probably crap routers.

 

Like anything else, its better to match the chipset of your routers WiFi, but few people are aware of that.

[Sphio]

Ok So I've baught the 9260, but the antennas I baught with it doesn't fit on the actual m.2 card. the connectors on the card are too small for the antenna cables. what antennas actually work with this? It's real hard to find any proper information. Whats the standard called?