PCI Card verses USB

techi3

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I just got back from Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Staples. Neither of them carry the PCI Cards for desktops only USB. They said this was a dated form of wireless. I'm building a desktop at the moment and this is the last piece i need. I don't want a USB cause I'd like everything to be internal. Does it really matter which one I use? I was researching the PCI cards and they all come as 802.11 with different letters that follow, this is where I'm also getting lost. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
 
G is 54Mb and the former standard, N is 150/300 and the current standard. It doesn't matter, but they are right in saying that PCI cards are going the way of the DoDo. If you don't need that much range then it would probably be better just to grab a USB Wireless N device anyways. You can put it in the back with the USB ports and you wont even see it.
 
PCI is staying around for awhile longer, even newer motherboards have one or two slots still, though it is dieing. You can get PCIe Wireless cards if needed and your board supports PCIe and has an open PCIe slot, though they seem to be more difficult to locate.
 
Higher end boards yes, but people buying those boards are going to them for being high end, most people still buy every day boards and machines that still come with PCI. It will probably be another 3-5 years before PCI is phased out entirely, heck, we still have boards coming out that have old legacy connections that should have died long ago.
 
I've got a Linksys wireless N PCI card, dual band, dual aerials and works with MIMO.
Works really well.
model number: WMP600N
bought from PC world in the UK, not sure where you'd get it in the US. :)
 
G is 54Mb and the former standard, N is 150/300 and the current standard. It doesn't matter, but they are right in saying that PCI cards are going the way of the DoDo. If you don't need that much range then it would probably be better just to grab a USB Wireless N device anyways. You can put it in the back with the USB ports and you wont even see it.
Wireless N is up to 150mbps per stream, and per band.
With 2 streams, it can do 300mbps
With 3 streams, it can do 450mbps

Also 802.11ac devices are just coming out, which can do 1300mbps with 3 streams

But anyway, PCI-E is replacing PCI (and has replaced AGP).
Also, USB 2.0 has a limit of 480mbps (~320mbps usable bandwidth when you subtract overhead), so wireless N at 450mbps exceeds the limits of USB 2.0

PCI has a bandwidth of 133MB/s (1063 mbps), and can therefore handle two stream 802.11ac, but three stream 802.11ac exceeds its bandwidth.

Though PCI-E would be compatible with more motherboards in the future.
 
Wireless N is up to 150mbps per stream, and per band.
With 2 streams, it can do 300mbps
With 3 streams, it can do 450mbps

Also 802.11ac devices are just coming out, which can do 1300mbps with 3 streams

But anyway, PCI-E is replacing PCI (and has replaced AGP).
Also, USB 2.0 has a limit of 480mbps (~320mbps usable bandwidth when you subtract overhead), so wireless N at 450mbps exceeds the limits of USB 2.0

PCI has a bandwidth of 133MB/s (1063 mbps), and can therefore handle two stream 802.11ac, but three stream 802.11ac exceeds its bandwidth.

Though PCI-E would be compatible with more motherboards in the future.
Yea I know how it works, I was trying not to confuse the poor guy. And 150/300/450/900 is essentially halved by up and down. You can get a full 300Mb connection but your down or up speed locally will reflect that of 150. AC power line networking works this way as well because it's half duplex.
 
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