WiFi Cards

[Rentatsu]

About a week ago I created a thread looking for some help with my new rig, but it just occurred to me that for probably about 6 months after building the computer it is not going to be practical to have it hooked directly into the router. I'm wondering if there is any particular card that you guys would recommend as being reliable for a few months but not overly expensive. Alternatively, I'm not opposed to buying a more expensive motherboard that has WiFi built in if you guys think that would be more cost effective than buying a separate card. If it makes any difference, the build is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Xigmatek GAIA SD1283 56.3 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Other: Arc Midi (sold out on Newegg so not listed on PCP)

[vesseblah]

it just occurred to me that for probably about 6 months after building the computer it is not going to be practical to have it hooked directly into the router.

Why not?

That's the most practical thing to do if possible. You can only get worse internet connection by going wireless.

[Rentatsu]

Why not?

That's the most practical thing to do if possible. You can only get worse internet connection by going wireless.

Because until I move it wont be physically possible to have the router and the computer near one another, and it wont be practical to have an ethernet cable stretched through the entire apartment.

[vesseblah]

If the cable's been there for six months it can be there longer.

Anyway, three basic rules of thumb:

- WLAN USB stick is shit, get internal card (buying new motherboard for it is excessive)
- More/bigger antennas you see on the card, the better reception you'll probably get.
- You'll probably get better reception if you buy same brand of internal card as your router is.

[TyloBedo]

If the cable's been there for six months it can be there longer.

Anyway, three basic rules of thumb:

- WLAN USB stick is shit, get internal card (buying new motherboard for it is excessive)
- More/bigger antennas you see on the card, the better reception you'll probably get.
- You'll probably get better reception if you buy same brand of internal card as your router is.

From my understanding he's building this computer now in an apartment with the router too far away to connect to it directly, in 6 months time he will be moving and will be able to connect directly to the router.


@op, do you know what brand of router you have and what frequency your network is running on?

[MasterNewbie]

When I moved my computer away from the router, I ended up getting a Rosewill PCI card. It's not stellar, but it isn't terrible and hasn't crapped out on me yet. Quick note, I have no basis of comparison between other wireless cards. When I first purchased the card, I had a Linksys router (bought in late 2005 I think) and it has since been replaced by a Belkin. Latency in online games wasn't significantly affected.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166051 That is what I would get if I needed to replace mine (mine is discontinued). Since yours is a temporary solution, you probably would be ok with a cheaper card if you wanted.

[TyloBedo]

When I moved my computer away from the router, I ended up getting a Rosewill PCI card. It's not stellar, but it isn't terrible and hasn't crapped out on me yet. Quick note, I have no basis of comparison between other wireless cards. When I first purchased the card, I had a Linksys router (bought in late 2005 I think) and it has since been replaced by a Belkin. Latency in online games wasn't significantly affected.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166051 That is what I would get if I needed to replace mine (mine is discontinued). Since yours is a temporary solution, you probably would be ok with a cheaper card if you wanted.

If you're running windows 8 I'd stay away from the rosewill cards. I recently got the n900pce from rosewill and and the drivers windows selects for it are terrible and rosewill doesn't currently support windows 8 and they also don't sign their drivers. Its not very straight forward to get windows 8 to accept unsigned drivers and even once I got them installed the 2.4 ghz frequency isn't functional.

If you're running windows 7 however I would highly recommend their cards, I've ran my card in windows 7 and the range is great and I'm getting higher up and down speeds than every other wifi device in the house. If you're running a 2.4 ghz network I'd get the card linked above, if you're running a 5ghz network the n900pce is only $5 more and is dual band.

[Dizey]

Because until I move it wont be physically possible to have the router and the computer near one another, and it wont be practical to have an ethernet cable stretched through the entire apartment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ps&Order=PRICE

[Rentatsu]

From my understanding he's building this computer now in an apartment with the router too far away to connect to it directly, in 6 months time he will be moving and will be able to connect directly to the router.


@op, do you know what brand of router you have and what frequency your network is running on?

That's correct, sorry if it wasn't clear. I actually don't know what brand my router is since I'm out of town. I'm actually visiting some family for the holidays, however, and one of my family members is a network engineer and when I mentioned my issue in passing he suggested that he just give/lend me a wireless extender that he no longer uses. I thought I might give that idea a try. I know it's not ideal compared to plugging directly into the router, but I'm sure it will at least be functional until I move. Thanks for all the ideas.