Need help picking up the right WiFi card

B

BlueScreen

New member
Hello folks!

It has been a while since I posted anything on these forums. But finally time has come to upgrade and move my PC, which means saying goodbye to ethernet cable. It saddens me, as my internet connection isn't the fastest out there (20Mb/s) and now with WiFi card it will work even slower.
That's why I cannot decide which card to take. I did bit of reasearch on my own and found 2 cards that seem quite ok, although you know how it is. No mater how good something is, there are always bad reviews in the internet. And that's giving me headache. Therefore I think it's reasonable to come to trusted place like this and ask you guys about your own experience:

Do you know a PCI-e Wi-Fi card worthy of recommending? Price doesn't matter that much. Of course I'd prefer if it was priced reasonably, but I also don't mind paying a little extra, if it's going to translate into real life performance.

The room I am going to move my PC too isn't light years away from the router (about 10 meters in the straight line), but there are 2 concrete walls in the way (hopefully they are fairly thin).

Oh and there is one more problem: I am still using Windows XP (I am going to upgrade to newer windows once I finish upgrading my whole PC, which is going to happen in about 7-8 months, that is upon release of the Witcher 3). So on top of everything there is also compatibility issue.

I'd much appreciate any help.
 
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Any particular reason to get a PCIe one instead of one of those USB adapters?
Also, XP might be a bit of a problem driver-wise. However, if you've got a slow i-net connection anyway you might want to look at some older ones, a 54G one would easily be enough for your 20Mbit connection. You can get one pretty cheap.
I've used a FRITZ! stick (the original 54G version), some cheap TP Link stick with an external antenna, and a relatively big think made by a company called Alpha I think.
The Fritz stick is pretty good, it has drivers for XP, is relatively small and works pretty reliably.
The TP Link stick got REALLY hot if I remember correctly, however, because it has an external antenna you can hook up a better one, in case you need better reception.
The Alpha(?) one... well... that one was for... ummm... "experimenting" *ahem*... it has ridiculous transmit power (10x the legal limit iirc... 1000mW instead of the allowed 100mW) and an external antenna, so if the WiFi you're trying to connect to (your own, of course ;)) is a little further away, you can still get good results...
Personally, I'd mostly use the fritz sticks, they're easy to use and just work. Other sticks sometimes have pretty crappy drivers and you'll have to hunt for the driver of the WiFi chip they're using, which is pretty lame.
Anyway, if you go for one of those older sticks, just get one for 10 bucks (or even cheaper, if you check eBay I suppose) and try it out...
 
SnowmanFromHell said:
Any particular reason to get a PCIe one instead of one of those USB adapters?
Also, XP might be a bit of a problem driver-wise. However, if you've got a slow i-net connection anyway you might want to look at some older ones, a 54G one would easily be enough for your 20Mbit connection. You can get one pretty cheap.
I've used a FRITZ! stick (the original 54G version), some cheap TP Link stick with an external antenna, and a relatively big think made by a company called Alpha I think.
The Fritz stick is pretty good, it has drivers for XP, is relatively small and works pretty reliably.
The TP Link stick got REALLY hot if I remember correctly, however, because it has an external antenna you can hook up a better one, in case you need better reception.
The Alpha(?) one... well... that one was for... ummm... "experimenting" *ahem*... it has ridiculous transmit power (10x the legal limit iirc... 1000mW instead of the allowed 100mW) and an external antenna, so if the WiFi you're trying to connect to (your own, of course ;)) is a little further away, you can still get good results...
Personally, I'd mostly use the fritz sticks, they're easy to use and just work. Other sticks sometimes have pretty crappy drivers and you'll have to hunt for the driver of the WiFi chip they're using, which is pretty lame.
Anyway, if you go for one of those older sticks, just get one for 10 bucks (or even cheaper, if you check eBay I suppose) and try it out...
Click to expand...

Well, from what I know PCI cards are more reliable and certainly more convenient. Furthermore, I am not stuck with current internet speed forever. It's going to be increased once the current agreement runs out.

I was thinking about getting a TP-LINK TL-WDN4800, but the amount of negative reviews on newegg is somewhat scary, even though there are alot of positive ones too. Any ideas about that one, or TP-LINK products in general?

 
BlueScreen said:
Well, from what I know PCI cards are more reliable and certainly more convenient. Furthermore, I am not stuck with current internet speed forever. It's going to be increased once the current agreement runs out.

I was thinking about getting a TP-LINK TL-WDN4800, but the amount of negative reviews on newegg is somewhat scary, even though there are alot of positive ones too. Any ideas about that one, or TP-LINK products in general?

Click to expand...

From my (admittedly limited) experience with the TP-Link stick I had (I don't know the model anymore, it was an older one, though; 802.11G was the best it could do) it worked reasonably well, the only problem I had was the extreme heat it produced. I didn't use it for extended periods of time because it got so hot, so I can't really comment on long-term performance. It did the job, though, if used for, say, an hour... which probably isn't too great if you plan to use it as your main means of getting online...
If I had to get another TP-Link stick I'd check the reviews to see if there are repeated reports of that thing heating up abnormally. Apart from that I don't have enough (negative) experience with those things to rule them out.
 
Morley said:
I would of thought a power line adapter would be better than going to WiFi?
Click to expand...

What are the current transfr speeds powerline adapter can reach?
Also, does it work if my router uses fiber optic cables? I am bit of a noob when it comes to technical aspects.
By the way, thanks for the suggestion, I had no idea about it previously, and now it seems like an interesting idea.
 
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In my experience of WiFi on a computer (and i have tried it) no matter what adapter i used the connection was very unstable, sometimes it would drop out completely.

I know a power line adapter doesn't seem very high tech, but it's tech that just works and it's alot more hassle free than going WiFi. There is the added bonus that a power line performs better too.
 
You can get gigabit powerline adapters and its only fibre/coax into your router/ external modem then from your router its all ethernet cables
 
BlueScreen said:
What are the current transfr speeds powerline adapter can reach?
Also, does it work if my router uses fiber optic cables? I am bit of a noob when it comes to technical aspects.
By the way, thanks for the suggestion, I had no idea about it previously, and now it seems like an interesting idea.
Click to expand...
Powerlines use the electrical wiring in your house to create a network. You have at least 2 devices(powerlines) that you plug in a wall socket and plug an Ethernet cable to and from them.
If you got a spare LAN port on your router they will work.
Theoretical speeds are 300Mb/s+ but as with wireless it depends on your house wiring. I've managed to achieve 80Mb/s with my powerlines.
 
Snortan said:
Powerlines use the electrical wiring in your house to create a network. You have at least 2 devices(powerlines) that you plug in a wall socket and plug an Ethernet cable to and from them.
If you got a spare LAN port on your router they will work.
Theoretical speeds are 300Mb/s+ but as with wireless it depends on your house wiring. I've managed to achieve 80Mb/s with my powerlines.
Click to expand...

any idea what kind of wiring you have? Mine has old aluminium ones, installed back in 1978 by communists bastards. I wonder how well powerline adapters would work on it.
 
A friend of mine bought the ASUS PCE-AC66, about 3 months ago, and as well as looking awesome it works great. From what he has said, he has never lost a connection yet.

He uses it because he has recently had a baby, and has been banished to the loft. he is eventually going to convert it to a man cave, but until he has some spare cash, probably when his baby is 18.
 
BlueScreen said:
any idea what kind of wiring you have? Mine has old aluminium ones, installed back in 1978 by communists bastards. I wonder how well powerline adapters would work on it.
Click to expand...
No idea tbh, but as far as I know pre-2000.
If you get bad speeds with powerlines, worst case scenario return them for a refund? I purchased exactly with the same intent from Amazon.
 
Snortan said:
No idea tbh, but as far as I know pre-2000.
If you get bad speeds with powerlines, worst case scenario return them for a refund? I purchased exactly with the same intent from Amazon.
Click to expand...

I usually buy from a place where you cannot really return them that easily, that's the problem.
 
komputronik.pl or morele.net

Both of those sites use system of reservations. In terms of law what it means is that you cannot return it in 14 days as you normally could when buying through the internet. Most of the physical stores also do not accept returns.

Still, I am not sure whether powerline adapters is what I want. Perhaps WiFi will do just fine. What I have noticed is that cheaper cards have better revievs. Funny, isn't it? Maybe folks who go for the expensive stuff exaggerate a bit? Anyway, WiFi + additional antennas will be cheaper than powerline adapters, which aren't as great as they seem on paper. Coupled with aluminium wiring they might perform even worse.
 
Hi all!

I need a wifi card too... for my current system, which only has USB2 ( D: ) so i think it would be better getting a PCI or PCIE WiFi card.

Any suggestions about models or brands? I know nothing about these cards .-.

p.s.: i can't use powerline or anything else, only wifi
 
Feronix said:
Please make your own thread in the Networks & Security section rather than hijacking this one:
http://forum.overclock3d.net/forumdisplay.php?f=33
Click to expand...

Nah, he can hijack this one too, as otheriwse it's dead.

Anyways, I have purchased a tp-link card, and it works. Setting everything up is a breeze, and even total noob, like myself can handle that, no problem.
So there is a huge advantage, as TP-link software is super simple to use.
Now, as to eficiency, it's ok too. It's obviously not as good as a cable connection, but it does the job just fine. Just in case I have also purchased a 8dBIi antenna, just to see if it will improve anything.

Also, I have a question: when it comes to measuring strength of the wifi signal, what's more indicative: software included by card manufacturer or windows? Because those 2 say totally different things. According to windows, signal trength is usually at 3 bars, while tp-link software indicates it's at its maximum most of the time. And that is bugging me a bit, since I am not sure which one to trust.
 
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