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Wireless card or Wireless USB ?
my old wireless card in my desktop is broke ( i think so), because theres only 2/5 signal bars. i tried to change the router but it wont work. But its completely fine with other laptop that i have. Everytime i play game with the desktop, it get disconnect a lot and i have to wait like 10m for it to stop. Now i want to buy a different Wireless card or a USB wireless, but i dont know which 1 i should buy.
Comments
I prefer to use a pci/internal one when at all possible. I think they have better range. You can also upgrade to a n-band one,they are pretty cheap these days. Tim
can you give me the site to buy and the picture of it pls ?
"Sometimes people say stuff they don''t mean, but more often then that they don''t say things they do mean"
If your not used to working on pc (the inside) maybe you should go with a usb for a easier upgrade. I get my stuff at www.newegg.com just type in usb wireless adapter in the search box. They have many to choose from and prices. Hope that helps.
In my experience wireless cards have a much better range, stability and speed. The USB ones just dont seem to cut it.
Wired is always superior to wireless too, so if your router is near your desktop pc, cable it in
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
I'm using this card for a year now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-127-218&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=5
No problem with gaming and download p2p stuff. Very good connection and speed. No drop while playing online game at all. Some people have BSOD or connection problem with the card though. It all depends on what kind of computer and hardware drivers they use really. I use this card on both my wife's compunter and mine. We both play online games like WoW and FFXI together and never had problem. This card work well on XP and Win7 64bit.
Not the best, but always the first.
I've had the opposite experience, provided the USB one has a regular size antenna in it you can put it where ever provides the best signal. An internal wireless card restricts your antenna location. The case and nearby furniture also interfere with the wireless signal, with USB you can set it up high on a shelf where stuff isn't gonna block the signal.
So I think for convenience and signal I'd go USB (w/decent antenna), but for reducing clutter and wires I'd go internal.
Also for OP, it's possible the external antenna is just loose, have you tried tightening the connection up on it? Those antenna are also replaceable, and larger antenna are available. If you have an old router you can usually unscrew an antenna off it and screw it onto your PCI card and see if that helps.
I use a D-Link USB one on the basement PC, it seems to do fine and have strong signal, especially considering it's basically 3 floors down from the wireless router.
Have never used it for gaming or anything though so that could be a different story, works great for web browsing and facebook games (apparently anyways, it's not me that uses facebook though).
I would think as long as your wireless source is strong it would probably work just as well, and the ease of use and price is a bonus too.
USB devices must share their bus (electrical pathways) with any other device on that bus. This is fine for devices that only send data intermittently like keyboards or printers. It's not so good for constant bandwidth users like speakers, or network connections. Most of the time it might work OK but when two or more devices decide they need the bus then things slow down. Get a dedicated device instead of one that shares the relatively slow USB bus speed.
I like ones with Antennas I can move away from the PC. I don't like having a wireless reciever sitting next to something that is blocking 50~90 degrees with wireless interference.
I would go with a wireless card - they just seem to work better in my opinion.
But I would also recommend always having a USB network adapter on hand just incase.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
They both pretty much work the same. Any one who claims one to have superior perfomance just had a bad experience with the other. The differences in real life are hardly there. That is why a lot of people prefer cards and a lot prefer USBs.
With that, USB plugins are easier to damage. Since they generally come in a pretty big size, they tend to stick out and can easily be snapped in half. However, there is a benefit... USB plugins are also easily interchangeable. You can take them and plug them into a different computer or somewhere that doesn't support a wireless card. They are much easier to install and upgrade, as it is literally just a USB plugin.
So in the end, they both are the same... one is just easily broken BUT easily moved/upgraded.
well technically you could look at the transfer rates....
If the wireless card is a PCIe it would have way higher transfer rates then a USB 2.0 which is about 480 Mbps.... but Wi-Fi connection is still lower then both at about 270ish Mbps i believe.
Also you need to look at the antenna location. usually with a USB you got slack to place where you want the antenna. With the PCIe Wireless Card, its just just behind your pc with all that interfernce.
I have experience with both and personally they both sucked. I go wired now, but if you cant avoid it and need to be wireless. I personally would go with a PCIe Wireless Card > USB... and if you go with the wireless card try and get a seperate high-gain antenna and put it in a better location.
I'd prefer wireless card rather than wireless usb, because when it comes to gaming wireless card can perform faster and the connection is stable. therefore i advise you to buy wireless card instead of the adapter. Well if you like going out alot and bringing up your laptop then go for the USB.
I've had a system run on USB gaming for years. When it comes to actual real life results, the differences are slim at best. I can run two systems now and they both show about the same ping on various games. On my wireless USB connected system, I probably stay < 20 ping from just about anywhere in my house.
What is incredibly more important is the choice of router/gateway you have. If you have a god router/gateway, then a good wireless USB will perform just as well as a good wireless card.
Also... laptops generally come with wifi anyways. :P
My standard schpiel about WiFi adapaters:
a) We all know wired is better - even if it's just Powerline Ethernet
b) If all you can use is WiFi, get a WiFi Bridge
-- (1) It doesn't require drivers, your computer and other devices connect to it via standard wired ethernet
-- (2) It can connect multiple devices (including TV's, XBoxes, etc) to your WiFi network at the same time (using a hub or switch), none of them requiring drivers either, with just the one WiFi bridge
-- (3) They are a bit more expensive than a typical WiFi adapter (about $70 US), but you only need one of them per room for all your devices
c) External WiFi adapters are more flexible than Internal
-- (1) You can reposition them (and their internal antenna) easier to get the best signal
-- (2) You don't have to deal with RF interference from components inside the case
Just wanted to pop in to say that the Belkin USB Adapter doesn't even work.
I've had good experiences with cheapo linksys cards though.