Discussion TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 PCIe WiFi Card (Archer TX3000E) compatibility with Dell Precision 3620 and overall quality?

[hbenthow]

I've ordered a Dell Precision 3620 and want to get a high-quality PCIe Wi-Fi adapter, ideally with Bluetooth as well.

I've read positive reviews of the TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 PCIe WiFi Card (Archer TX3000E), which is apparently excellent when it comes to Wi-Fi connection quality and speeds. However, in order to use the Bluetooth function, one must plug a cord from it into an F_USB port on the motherboard. I'm not sure whether the 3620 has one, and my attempts to find out have been fruitless thus far.

Also, is the TP-Link AX3000 as good as it's cracked up to be? It's currently available on Amazon for $47 with a $10 off digital coupon, for a final price of $37. Is that a good deal, or are there cheaper Wi-Fi adapters that are as good or better?

 

[bill001g]

Can't say about dell they really like to use proprietary motherboards. F_USB generally means the USB connection used for the front panel but it is still a standard USB2 port. Maybe a cable adapter is made. I know I have seen people discussing cutting cables to change the ends but I have never looked at it in detail.

In general that is the type of PCIE wifi card you are looking for. The external mounted antenna help a lot to avoid case blocking signals. A number of vendors make them and there are not huge difference between the brands because they all buy the same wifi chips from the manufacture of wifi chipset. When tested in control environments there is very little difference between the major brands.

It depends on what you are upgrading from. Wifi6 never really lived up to the hype. The problem is even if both your router and the card support 160mhz it is very hard to get it to really work. There is lots of interference and the other thing that suppose to make wifi6 fast is qam1024 which really only works well in the same room as the router. Many people see very little difference in performance between 802.11ac(wifi5) and wifi6.

You might consider wifi6e the pricing has come down a lot on these. There is a lot more bandwidth on the 6ghz channels so it is easier to not get stomped on your neighbors as much. Of course you need to have a router that can run wifi6e. Note wifi6e cards can also run wifi6 on the 5g radio so it would be the same as none "e" card if you wanted to go that route.

 

[hbenthow]

When tested in control environments there is very little difference between the major brands.

Is $37 a good price, considering that?

It depends on what you are upgrading from. Wifi6 never really lived up to the hype. The problem is even if both your router and the card support 160mhz it is very hard to get it to really work. There is lots of interference and the other thing that suppose to make wifi6 fast is qam1024 which really only works well in the same room as the router. Many people see very little difference in performance between 802.11ac(wifi5) and wifi6.

I'm upgrading from a cheap USB Wi-Fi adapter (it looks like a flash drive, but smaller). It doesn't get good speeds and the connection is unreliable.

The router that I have (which is owned by my Internet provider) is a GigaSpire u6.1.

 

[bill001g]

It "should" be better than any USB based card because of the cables that let you place the antenna away from the case.
Hard to say because there is a lot of competition for the 5g band. Hard to say on pricing it is not a bad price but the wifi6e devices continue to drop and are about the same cost. This is one example I found you can get unknown brands that are also based on the intel ax210 for about $10 less.

Amazon.com

Your router does not support wifi6e but when there is no difference or little difference in the cost you might as well get the newer technology.

The only way you can get faster with your current router would be to look for a card that has 3 or 4 antenna. It does not make the signal stronger or go farther it just allows more overlapping signals to be sent. But again there is so many of your neighbors also using the 5g radio band it is very hard to make any guess as to how well it will work.

 

[hbenthow]

Hard to say on pricing it is not a bad price but the wifi6e devices continue to drop and are about the same cost. This is one example I found you can get unknown brands that are also based on the intel ax210 for about $10 less.

Amazon.com

Your router does not support wifi6e but when there is no difference or little difference in the cost you might as well get the newer technology.

I wound up getting the TP-Link one because, while it doesn't have WiFi6e, it has a heatsink (which the Gigabyte one you linked to doesn't) and two antennas. I installed it last night, and am very pleased with it. The connection and speed are are a vast improvement over my old USB Wi-Fi adapter, and I'm now able to use the full bandwidth of my fiber-optic Internet connection.