Are Lan Cards/Desktop adapter and Wifi adapter/Wifi Card Different?

[FinalZexes]

i'm confused because when you have a custom pc, you have ethernet support but no wifi support so the lan card is built in the motherboard? and a dedicated wifi card is needed for wireless connection?

 

[Chayan4400]

i'm confused because when you have a custom pc, you have ethernet support but no wifi support so the lan card is built in the motherboard? and a dedicated wifi card is needed for wireless connection?

You can get motherboard with WiFi built-in, but generally you do need a USB or PCI-E x1 adapter to use a wireless connection.

 

[CountMike]

There are also USB based WiFi devices that are even handier and with better reception. From minuscule ones like: http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-11_TL-WN725N.html to larger (and better) ones like: http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-11_TL-WN722NC.html
or even bigger ones: http://www.tp-link.com/lk/products/details/cat-4734_TL-WN8200ND.html

 

[Chayan4400]

There are also USB based WiFi devices that are even handier and with better reception. From minuscule ones like: http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-11_TL-WN725N.html to larger (and better) ones like: http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-11_TL-WN722NC.html
or even bigger ones: http://www.tp-link.com/lk/products/details/cat-4734_TL-WN8200ND.html

USB ones are good for laptops but for a desktop PCI-E ones have far better range and speeds, thanks to the external antennas.

 

[CountMike]

Only if you use remote antenna, keeping it at the back of case can severely limit it's range. As long as any WiFi adapter has same letter in protocol, nothing can be faster, not even PCIe cards. 802.11N has 300Mbps from USB and any other way. All WiFi adapters have same power limit on transceiver so even PCIe can't have stronger one than USB ones.
Most portable devices including and specially laptops have own WiFi so USB one can be only a spare one in case of built in one going bad.

 

[Chayan4400]

As long as any WiFi adapter has same letter in protocol, nothing can be faster, not even PCIe cards. 802.11N has 300Mbps from USB and any other way. All WiFi adapters have same power limit on transceiver so even PCIe can't have stronger one than USB ones.

You have the theoretical part spot on. It's true that the FCC has limits on transmitting power of these adapters. However the theory breaks down when you factor in range; some adapters deal better with longer ranges than others.

Only if you use remote antenna, keeping it at the back of case can severely limit it's range.

Not really. It can happen, but with most modern adapters you don't really see a noticeable change. Even a USB adapter will have similar problems since it's unlikely that you'll plug it in at the front. It's only if you put the antenna inside the PC itself that you start to have major problems 😀.

Theoretically, the adapter is limited to whatever the highest standard it supports (Usually N or AC). However, with the developement of MIMO (Mulitple in, mulitple out) with the Wireless N standard, this no longer holds true. What MIMO basically does is it provides multiple streams between the router and the PC for data to be transmitted. Each of these streams operate at the standard's full bandwidth, so you effectively get multiple connections between the router and the PC. An easy way tell what MIMO system each adapter uses is the number of antennas it has (1 x 1 MIMO sytems have 1 antenna, 2 x 2 have 2 antennas, etc.).

PCI-E cards like the P-Link TL-WDN4800 use 3 x 3 MIMO systems which use three streams between the router and the PC for greatly increased throughput (Theorectically triple the bandwidth, however this is almost never true in daily use) and better range since it is easier to 'catch' the WiFi signal with more antennas. You can even get 4 x 4 adapters but they are pricey. For USB adapters due to space constraints you get mostly 1 x 1 or 2 x 2 for the more expensive adapters.

Of course, this works both ways and the router too must support the MIMO configaration to benefit from the technology. Unfortunately the majority of routers provided by telecommunications companies are not equpped to handle more than 2 streams, so it's often the case that you don't see the increase in speed (but range will still be farther).