[SOLVED] Best wireless NIC for under $50-60

[SaltyPicklays]

Hello all, I'm Ryan, although you can refer to me as my online pseudonym Salty. To get to the point, I am almost done building my first PC. And my motherboard does not come with WiFi capability. So I have found myself in the market for a Wireless NIC. And, no, I sadly cannot run an Ethernet cord directly into my router. My build does not have an optical drive so basically I'm looking a decent gaming NIC for a reasonable price which does not require me to use a CD to install the drivers. Furthermore I would like it if I did not have to download any drivers and just have one working out of the box. I ideally do not want to spend over &50-60 on this as well.

Many thanks,
Salty

 

[Darkbreeze]

There are no wireless adapters that should be "working out of the box" because that would mean that it would be using the native Windows drivers, if any are available for the component, and that is a poor decision because the native Windows drivers are usually limited and generic in scope. Often, they lack the ability to support the full featured capability of the hardware and result in lowered or limited performance.

If you can't figure out a way to download the drivers, which should be a relatively small file or folder, then I don't know what to tell you. You can probably use the native Windows driver after installation for 90% of what's out there and THEN after you establish internet connectivity THEN update the driver to the proper one for the adapter from it's manufacturer.

This is probably the best option under 50 bucks, and supports WiFi 6, which is what you want. Anything of the older technologies than WiFi 6 are going to be quickly become outdated.

 

[SaltyPicklays]

There are no wireless adapters that should be "working out of the box" because that would mean that it would be using the native Windows drivers, if any are available for the component, and that is a poor decision because the native Windows drivers are usually limited and generic in scope. Often, they lack the ability to support the full featured capability of the hardware and result in lowered or limited performance.

If you can't figure out a way to download the drivers, which should be a relatively small file or folder, then I don't know what to tell you. You can probably use the native Windows driver after installation for 90% of what's out there and THEN after you establish internet connectivity THEN update the driver to the proper one for the adapter from it's manufacturer.

This is probably the best option under 50 bucks, and supports WiFi 6, which is what you want. Anything of the older technologies than WiFi 6 are going to be quickly become outdated.

Thanks for the reply. I should have worded myself better, I meant one that would work well enough with the default drivers so that I could download the better drivers from the manufacturer or whomever, like you said. At the moment, I'm looking at three different models wireless NIC; the ASUS PCE-AC55BT B1 AC1200, Asus AX3000, and the TP-Link AC1300 (Archer T6E). I should have said as well, that I want a PCIe NIC, not USB or Bluetooth.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Sorry, seems I forgot to post the link to the adapter I was talking about. Here it is.

PCPartPicker Part List

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link Archer TX3000E PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi Adapter ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $49.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-25 14:01 EDT-0400

As for the ones you listed, none of them are WiFi 6 enabled, so if you get a WiFi 6 capable router at some point, which is a VERY good idea if you game and you are any distance at all from your router, ESPECIALLY if there are other people in the house or location using the same internet connection, you will be unable to take advantage of those features. If you read about the new technology, you will quickly see that it IS what anybody currently in a position to upgrade should really be looking at doing.

Wi-Fi 6 Explained: The Next Generation of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is set to get better and faster. While plenty of routers are already available with chips using draft specifications, 802.11ax Wi-Fi was not finalized until Sept....

www.techspot.com

And actually, that ASUS AX300 IS WiFi 6 (AX) capable, so that might be a good choice as well.

 

[SaltyPicklays]

Sorry, seems I forgot to post the link to the adapter I was talking about. Here it is.

PCPartPicker Part List

Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link Archer TX3000E PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi Adapter ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $49.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-06-25 14:01 EDT-0400

As for the ones you listed, none of them are WiFi 6 enabled, so if you get a WiFi 6 capable router at some point, which is a VERY good idea if you game and you are any distance at all from your router, ESPECIALLY if there are other people in the house or location using the same internet connection, you will be unable to take advantage of those features. If you read about the new technology, you will quickly see that it IS what anybody currently in a position to upgrade should really be looking at doing.

Wi-Fi 6 Explained: The Next Generation of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is set to get better and faster. While plenty of routers are already available with chips using draft specifications, 802.11ax Wi-Fi was not finalized until Sept....

www.techspot.com

And actually, that ASUS AX300 IS WiFi 6 (AX) capable, so that might be a good choice as well.

The TX3000 you posted looks like a very good NIC, I'm going to do some more research on both the TX3000, and the AX3000 before I make a purchase, that being said the TX seems more appealing to me since it's $20 cheaper on Amazon than the AX. Many thanks again for helping.

 

[Darkbreeze]

For sure man. Anytime.