Wireless USB adapters vs Wireless PCI cards

[Junkers]

My PC is relatively far from my router and the router can't be moved anywhere as there are no other optical fibre outlets in my house so to boost my connection with my router I'm looking at changing my adapter. However I have read on other sites that PCI cards have better ranges than USB adapters. Is this true? Or am I as well sticking to a USB adapter. For the record the PC is never moved.

 

[Mucski]

Well by theory PCI cards should run faster than USB , but I have a USB Wifi , and I can tell you , my internet goes with 1.5 MBPS regardless that the router is in my neighbours house , which is 50 meters away , not to mention the walls. And my USB is a mid range stick (bought it with 25 euros second hand , Netgear WNA3100 , look it up) But , with PCI card usually you get an antenna too , which supposedly should have better range than a USB stick. Now if you are intending to go on your rooftop , and have 5 mbps internet , well get PCI card , otherwise no use to spend money , besides nowadays USB 3.0 is fast as hell.

 

[Jolin88]

I've had the same problem and I've tried everything, the pci card had no extra range whatsoever compared to an USB stick, or at least nothing noticable, I found that the best solution is getting a high speed USB stick like 100 mbps wifi stick and then using an USB port extension to put the stick closer to the modem without moving the computer, you can also purchase a repeater that will repeat your wifi signal to extend the range

 

[Rishwin]

USB for convenience, although the PCI bandwidth is greater than USB wireless net shouldn't be saturating it so there's no performance difference there. PCI cards are troublesome and the fact that it's stuck behind your PC and usually close to a wall or under a table the signal usually isn't the greatest.

 

[EliteGM]

I think USB adapters will replace PCI ones. I've always had PCI cards but they've just become so inconvenient.

The fact that you can plug something in your PC without having to open it up completely is just a massive pro.

 

[Ron]

The one I have atm was $30 at best buy, I've had it for a year with no issues. I get the full speed of my 10mb dsl line from ~100ft away from my router (its outside in another building). You'd be stupid to buy a pci wireless card nowadays.

 

[Lapje]

you can also purchase a repeater that will repeat your wifi signal to extend the range

I wouldn't buy a repeater, you will lose speed because it has to receive, process and send the incoming packets.
You could also look into a Power Line Adapter, those are a tad more expensive but the difference in speed compared to wireless is amazing. Especially when there's walls and such between you and the router.

If that's not the case, I'd go with a 300mb/s or more USB adapter. I myself have a cisco AE1000, speed is great and it comes with a USB stand to easily position the adapter. It also supports dual band in case you have that. Only thing I have is that I lose connection at random times. However, this is most likely because I'm 2 floors away and have quite some walls between me and the router.

 

[Mucski]

I wouldn't buy a repeater, you will lose speed because it has to receive, process and send the incoming packets.
You could also look into a Power Line Adapter, those are a tad more expensive but the difference in speed compared to wireless is amazing. Especially when there's walls and such between you and the router.

If that's not the case, I'd go with a 300mb/s or more USB adapter. I myself have a cisco AE1000, speed is great and it comes with a USB stand to easily position the adapter. It also supports dual band in case you have that. Only thing I have is that I lose connection at random times. However, this is most likely because I'm 2 floors away and have quite some walls between me and the router.

As I said above I have a normal 50 MBPS Netgear , and the router is 2 houses away , which means many walls. Yet I can download with 1.1 MPBS from torrent , and the signal isn't even full. It's only 3 out of 5

 

[Rishwin]

I wouldn't buy a repeater, you will lose speed because it has to receive, process and send the incoming packets.
You could also look into a Power Line Adapter, those are a tad more expensive but the difference in speed compared to wireless is amazing. Especially when there's walls and such between you and the router.

If that's not the case, I'd go with a 300mb/s or more USB adapter. I myself have a cisco AE1000, speed is great and it comes with a USB stand to easily position the adapter. It also supports dual band in case you have that. Only thing I have is that I lose connection at random times. However, this is most likely because I'm 2 floors away and have quite some walls between me and the router.

For some reason the Foxtel guy left a pair of $150 Netgear Power Line Adapters behind (basically Ethernet through the AC current from 1 power socket to another) which i'm keen to try out some time, just gotta wait for the storm season to end so we actually get proper power & internet restored first.

 

[Junkers]

I've had a look at Powerline tech and the concept seems pretty awesome. However couldn't the connection be disturbed due to the fact you're sending data along power lines which could create electrical interference?

 

[Rishwin]

I had the same concerns, looked it up last week and this post from the whirlpool forums explains a little -

The EoP (Ethernet over Power) subject seems to have a lot of confusion around it, so after many threads with the same questions the mods have suggested we make a sticky for it.

EoP devices are Ethernet Bridges effectively which pass your Ethernet network over the 110VAC/240VAC power lines.

EoP devices take wired Ethernet and convert it to inject the data as a 128bit key encrypted frequency over the powerlines. By plugging Ethernet into one EoP box and plugging that into a PowerPoint it makes the entire electrical phase a "hub". So you can plug in any number of EoP boxes onto that phase and you have Ethernet at that point. They do not have to be in "pairs".

eg. Plug one EoP box into your router, then one for any other device you want to connect to the powerline Ethernet network, and you can add Ethernet switches / hubs as well and mix it up. Example

To connect singles or additional units to an existing powerline network, the usual procedure is to press a button on the existing EoP device and also on the new EoP device to authenticate and share the encrypted key. This is only done once at setup, alternatively software is normally provided to configure them from a PC.

They are fairly large & bulky so i'd imagine they would have surge protectors and filters.

 

[EliteGM]

I actually have those AC Powerline plugs. Linksys/Cisco, I believe. They work perfectly fine!

 

[Junkers]

Good connection speeds aye? Also, do you know if you need to buy from the same brand or can you mix brands?

 

[Rishwin]

They come in pairs AFAIK but for them to work together they need to sync up with eachother (they do it automatically, just a push of a button) so i would imagine they would only sync to same brand/model.

 

[EliteGM]

The ones I got is basically 1 main box connected to my modem and a wall socket. My brother, sister and me have a 'receiver' plugged into the wall socket in each of our rooms and connected to our PCs.

So basically one hub sends the signal over the powerline and several receivers can make use of it.

Most of these AC powerline adapters come paired 1:1 though afaik.

 

[Rishwin]

Yea in the post i quoted it mentioned - By plugging Ethernet into one EoP box and plugging that into a PowerPoint it makes the entire electrical phase a "hub". So you can plug in any number of EoP boxes onto that phase and you have Ethernet at that point. They do not have to be in "pairs".

You need a minimum of 2, but after that as many as you want.

 

[Junkers]

You must be registered to see links

According to the product description of the adapters above, it's compatible with all other brands operating at the same connection speeds. IIRC brands like Belkin sell a base kit then "expansion" adapters.

 

[Lapje]

I was planning on buying the Netgear XAVB500X series. They seem to have great speed even over a large and clustered network and different groups.

Some adapters have a wireless option too. Meaning the receiver will broadcast wireless signal. The ones that I found with that had crappy speeds though, especially over larger distances. But you can look into that if you're having like, and iPad or even your phone laying around there.

 

[Samus.]

I used to have those alecto dataplug. They work quite well. You'll loose some speed but not that much. Also make sure you plug each adapter in a single slot. Not in a socket.

Now I managed to put a cable through downstairs and changed the location of the router. (We got a house with holes, lol)