[SOLVED] motherboard WiFi vs usb wireless adapter

Nov 25, 2019
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hi, im choosing a new mobo for my new rig and was thinking if i should get the WiFi variance (GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO WIFI rev. 1.0 and GIGABYTE B450 AORUS ELITE), im currently using an adapter (Wireless AC600 Dual Band MU-MIMO Nano USB Adapter). do mobo wifi has an advantage over adapter? or should i just go with the non WiFi?
 
Solution
The main issue with USB is most are designed for the portable market. This means physical size and battery/power usage is trade off for performance/signal power. Those very tiny USB module also have very small antenna and they sit almost inside a large metal case that blocks signals.

They make USB devices that perform as well as internal cards but almost all of these are fairly large and are connected via a USB cable to get it away from the computer case.

For a desktop machine you want to always use ethernet if that is a option and then consider powerline units. This is more of a concern if you are playing online games, normal surfing and netflix works well on most wiif.
motherboard Wifi has the advantage of being integrated and taking up less space - thus not consuming a USB 3.0 port.
the onboard one usually have built-in antennas, but it's still a toss-up. usb adapters are more portable and can be swapped between PCs.

The higher end built-ins tend to have more radio units though so can offer better speeds

hi, im choosing a new mobo for my new rig and was thinking if i should get the WiFi variance (GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO WIFI rev. 1.0 and GIGABYTE B450 AORUS ELITE), im currently using an adapter (Wireless AC600 Dual Band MU-MIMO Nano USB Adapter). do mobo wifi has an advantage over adapter? or should i just go with the non WiFi?
 
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The main issue with USB is most are designed for the portable market. This means physical size and battery/power usage is trade off for performance/signal power. Those very tiny USB module also have very small antenna and they sit almost inside a large metal case that blocks signals.

They make USB devices that perform as well as internal cards but almost all of these are fairly large and are connected via a USB cable to get it away from the computer case.

For a desktop machine you want to always use ethernet if that is a option and then consider powerline units. This is more of a concern if you are playing online games, normal surfing and netflix works well on most wiif.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SamirD
Solution