Wireless Adapter: Usb vs. Built-In

D

dwarfdude77

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My friend is buying a desktop, only problem is that it doesn't come with wireless capabilities.
http://www.amazon.com/CybertronPC-Borg-Q-GM4213A-Desktop-Blue/dp/B00GFG1B1A
Should he buy a usb adapter or one that I can actually go and install to the motherboard for him (this would be called built-in, correct?). We were leaning towards the usb route, is there any downfall of usb over built-in? If not so, any recommendations for which usb we should get? Thanks again!
 
I use USB and it works absolutely fine, even USB2 is 480Mbps, the majority of people's internet won't come anywhere near that speed, so it's not a bottleneck. From my experience it all depends on the actual receiver, there are some good USB ones, some bad ones, some bad internal ones and some good internal ones.

The plus side of a USB wifi adapter is that you can use it on other machines too if you're reinstalling drivers etc.
 
I disagree that PCIe is better than USB.. It all depends on the adapter, I have a USB Alfa AWUS036H and it works great! speed and range is amazing!

Another great USB adapter is TP-Link WN722N, my colleague has this but I find my Alfa out-performs it but that's debatable.. :cool:
 
i2D__ said:
I disagree that PCIe is better than USB.. It all depends on the adapter, I have a USB Alfa AWUS036H and it works great! speed and range is amazing!

Another great USB adapter is TP-Link WN722N, my colleague has this but I find my Alfa out-performs it but that's debatable.. :cool:
Click to expand...

I've got the TP-Link WN721N which works fine, I wouldn't recommend it though as I bought it a while ago so it'd be pretty old now.
 
PP Mguire said:
USB lacks speed and range compared to Add-In (what you were looking for).
Click to expand...

Since when? The bus shouldn't make a difference. If anything USB's range can be better as it can be moved further from sources of interference, or stuck on a wall instead of near the ground next to a large metal box.
 
Since USB sticks don't come with high gain antennas that are usually stuffed between a steel box and a wall and are powered by a 5v bus vs a 12v bus that also lacks the bandwidth compared to PCI-E?

I guarantee you that if you buy a 12 dollar USB **** stick vs a 12 dollar card the range and speed will definitely be better on the card. The only exception is the very few USB3 sticks that are out there, or the expensive MIMO USB sticks that exist. The only ones I could find were wireless G anyways.
 
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