2

I am choosing Wi-Fi adapter for my PC, the mo-bo is Asus z170 gaming pro and wonder which card to choose or whether go with nano usb stick like TP-Link TL-WN725N nano. I'll be sitting in the same room that roter is. I'm not sure whether it's better to go with PCI-E extension card or usb stick. What road (usb/pci-e) and what specific device would you reccomend?

edit:

I use PC daily for work and gaming (so the ping counts), which equates to around 50 GB of transfer monthly. The budget is 50$ but I really do not want to spend more than 10$ for fancy radiators and additional antenas if it is not going to provide any benefit.

Improve this question
3
  • Same room as the router? why not run an Ethernet line along the baseboards?
    – BigElittles
    Oct 11, 2016 at 21:06
  • Wires, wires everywhere..
    – Piotr Falkowski
    Oct 11, 2016 at 22:07
  • 1
    I use a $10 TP-Link USB wifi key and, paired with a good ISP (with optical fibre), it is perfectly fine - I usually have between 8 and 48 ping in Rocket League, as for instance.
    – user2601
    Oct 12, 2016 at 9:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

Personally, I would spend the time and do a proper CAT5e/6 installation; meaning running cable in/through the walls, terminating properly, hiding the network gear so it's out of sight. The benefit of being directly connected is the reliability of the connection is so much greater than that of WiFi.

But...

If you want to go wireless, I would forgo the USB route and go for a PCIe Wi-Fi adapter. It's not that USB is bad in any sense of measure, it's just you will get better reliability being directly attached to the PCIe bus rather than the USB bus.

I have used the ASUS Dual-Band Wireless-AC1900 PCI-E Adapter (PCE-AC68) on a computer out in a warehouse where we couldn't easily run a network cable until we could get a crew with a scissor lift.

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

What was nice about this particular model was that you had the option of plugging the antenna directly into the card or (what we did) use the optional "base." This allowed us to put the antennas up high, away from the metal desk as to not interfere with the radio signal.

The reason I mention this over USB adapters and obviously cheaper alternatives is because you mentioned "a gaming mobo." Gaming requires bandwidth and this will deliver every time.

Improve this answer
1
  • While I appreciate how much you both love me, here is not the most appropriate place to express that.
    – ArtOfCode
    Oct 21, 2016 at 19:11
1

I would suggest the ASUS PCE-AC56 802.11ac

The main reason I would suggest this card over the nano:

Listed technical specs on both adapters @ newegg.com

TP-Link: Wireless N speed up to 150Mbps

Asus: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac: downlink up to 1300Mbps, uplink up to 1300Mbps (20/40/80MHz)

The TP-link is much less expensive, and easier to install, but could be a bottleneck depending on your broadband package, or if you intend to run wireless AC.

Improve this answer
0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.