USB vs PCI Wireless

[Thanatos789]

Afternoon,

I'm currently putting together my first build and the research I've done into which method of receiving wifi is best has raised more questions than answers.

Half the community say that using a PCI card will give the best performance while others say a USB is not only easier but will give the same if not better reception. I'm currently leaning towards getting a PCI wireless card however this then raises the question of which one.

This is my motherboard, and I have Virgin Broadband through a Virgin Superhub at 50mbps.

I'm looking to spend no more than £40 and less than that if possible so would appreciate thoughts and suggestions.

Many thanks.

 

[RealBeast]

Unless you want an AC adapter, I would go with USB. USB adapters work just as well and have some advantages in the ability to use an extension cable and move the antenna around.

If you want an AC adapter I would go PCIe with an ASUS PCE-AC68, which will be above your price range.

Few adapters will consistently get the full 50mbps at any significant distance from the router and will have latency issues if you are a gamer. It would be better to look at a good pair of powerline adapters in that case.

 

[Thanatos789]

Forgive my ignorance, but in what situation would I need an AC adapter?

 

[RealBeast]

Not at all -- you would need an AC adapter if you bought an AC band router and wanted to use the AC bandwidth.

Not AC as in alternating current, but AC as in 802.11ac standard. They operate in the 5GHz range and have some advanced beamforming and MIMO capabilities if your adapter supports the AC standard. But if you have not heard of it you probably don't have any such adapters other than perhaps on a newer iPhone.

 

[bill001g]

There are advantage and disadvantage to both you must decide which is better. In optimum conditions both devices will likely perform about the same.

The pci card is easier to put large antenna on and the cards tend to put put maximum radio power. The down side is those nice antenna are located right next to the metal case. If you place the computer under the table against a wall you will block you antenna from all sides and the cable to extend the antennas are expensive and lose a lot of extra signal you get from the larger antenna.

USB you can easily put on the end of a 15ft USB extention and place it in the best location in the room. If you are careful in your selection (don't buy those stupid tiny nics) you can get external antenna and devices that transmit at full power. Some people are not confortable putting internal cards in their machine.

Neither really is better or worse.