Can someone give an explanation of wireless adapters?

chargersrool

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I know an efficient amount on computers and software, but I know know a thing on wireless adapters since I never had to use one until now. I go to walmart and all I see is 300mbps, 150mbps, dual band, 5ghz, 2.4ghz. I have no clue on what any of this means with adapters or with PCI? I have time warner and I get 16mbps download and 1mbps upload. Shouldnt a 150mbps adapter be good for anyone? Who has internet faster then 100mbps...Please help me out Im clueless. Im running Windows 8
This is my router- CDR KING

These are the adapters I saw at Walmart
Netgear N1500 Wireless USB Adapter - Walmart.com
Linksys Wireless N600 USB Adapter - Walmart.com
Netgear Wireless Adapter, WNDA3100-100NAS - Walmart.com
Which would you go with?
Or should I buy a PCI card?
If so which would you get with $50 on amazon?

Also someone recommended the Hiro H50191 300Mbps Wireless-N USB Network Adapter, would this be the best buy?
 

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300mbps or 150mbps is the theoretical max for data transfer but by the time it travels thru a few walls, downstairs, thru metal whatever and if you hanging more than one computer off your wireless router than the data transfer rate is going to be vastly less.

why a pci card, they are bulky and require you to open up your case to install them, do yourself a favor and just get a cheap usb wireless adapter, as stated before the hiro models are foolproof, check the tiger direct reviews, something like 166 reviews averaging almost 5 stars out of 5.

Hope something helps
 

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I would strongly recommend a PCI or at least a PCIe x1 network adapter over a USB wireless adapter any day. If you plan on downloading large amounts of data from your local network or the internet then the performance impact would be to great. That being said if you just want to download emails and browse the web (Not downloading software or games) then the USB adapter should be suffice.

Just a recommendation from personal experience :)

Josh!
 

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The main problem with USB connections is with speed to the motherboard for it process the data. A PCI has a much faster connection speed to the motherboard than USB 2.0. That being said if you have a USB 3.0 connection on your motherboard the performance impact won't be as bad. It is all good have a 100Mpbs download speed to the internet however you may be limited by the physical connection to the motherboard which could be remedied with a faster connection such as a PCI.

Hope This Helps,
Josh
 

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The main problem with USB connections is with speed to the motherboard for it process the data. A PCI has a much faster connection speed to the motherboard than USB 2.0.
While technically true, a USB 2.0 connection can support up to 480Mbps...which is far faster than any wireless card is going to go anyway. So, a USB 2.0 port will NOT be a bottleneck.


That being said if you have a USB 3.0 connection on your motherboard the performance impact won't be as bad. It is all good have a 100Mpbs download speed to the internet however you may be limited by the physical connection to the motherboard which could be remedied with a faster connection such as a PCI.
USB 3.0 has a signaling rate of 5Gbit/sec, with a usable data rate of 4Gbit/sec. Even if you have a massive 100Mbps (100 megabits per second) connection to the internet, you won't even be using a sliver of the possible bandwidth on USB 3.0. Heck, you would be using less than 20% of the possible bandwidth on USB 2.0.
 

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The main problem with USB connections is with speed to the motherboard for it process the data. A PCI has a much faster connection speed to the motherboard than USB 2.0.
While technically true, a USB 2.0 connection can support up to 480Mbps...which is far faster than any wireless card is going to go anyway. So, a USB 2.0 port will NOT be a bottleneck.


That being said if you have a USB 3.0 connection on your motherboard the performance impact won't be as bad. It is all good have a 100Mpbs download speed to the internet however you may be limited by the physical connection to the motherboard which could be remedied with a faster connection such as a PCI.
USB 3.0 has a signaling rate of 5Gbit/sec, with a usable data rate of 4Gbit/sec. Even if you have a massive 100Mbps (100 megabits per second) connection to the internet, you won't even be using a sliver of the possible bandwidth on USB 3.0. Heck, you would be using less than 20% of the possible bandwidth on USB 2.0.

I suppose it depends on the network card itself. For example more expensive cards support the new 802.11ac protocol - NETGEAR A6200 1167Mbps Wireless-AC USB Adapter | A6200-100WWS -. And with a USB 3.0 the only bottleneck in terms of the machine would be the speed from the south bridge to the north bridge.

chargersrool, are you able to provide a model? This will better tell us whether you have one. Based on the general consensus the USB wireless NIC would be suffice for your needs if you don't want to open up your machine :)
 

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I opened up the computer, its simple, I made it that way. the slot I think is a x16
------------------------- -----
Something similar to that haha.

The model number I am unable to give since the huge graphics card is covering it up. Sorry.
 

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The main problem with USB connections is with speed to the motherboard for it process the data. A PCI has a much faster connection speed to the motherboard than USB 2.0.
While technically true, a USB 2.0 connection can support up to 480Mbps...which is far faster than any wireless card is going to go anyway. So, a USB 2.0 port will NOT be a bottleneck.



Generally speaking you can achieve 300Mbps using a standard 802.11n USB NIC. Using PIC-e with 802.11n you can achieve 450Mbps. You need a router and NIC that is capable here. This assumes 5 bars connection strength with everything else optimized.

802.11ac changes the rules with it's beam forming and channel bonding technology on the 5Ghz frequency.

The most important thing to remember with 802.11n is that if you are running in mixed mode you can't achieve speeds faster than 54Mbps.

Therefore you must update your legacy clients "G or below", in order to run in the 802.11n Only mode because the legacy clients can't connect when running in N only mode. Using N only mode with channel bonding is how you get the best possible wireless speeds.

As for 480Mbps being faster than Any wireless card, really? Maybe not. Lets see someone get this through a USB 2.0.
 

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802.11ac changes the rules with it's beam forming and channel bonding technology on the 5Ghz frequency.

As for 480Mbps being faster than Any wireless card, really? Maybe not. Lets see someone get this through a USB 2.0.

Sure, if you are on the new 802.11ac standard...you can exceed USB 2.0. Very few people are using this yet. I didn't think the original poster was discussing this very new format.
 

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The question you need to answer first is What Kind of Router do you have?


the adapter won't matter if the router can't handle the data stream.
to answer some of your other questions
you have different 802.1 (wireless transmission modes) a, b, g, n, an now a/c


a,b,g = 54mbps and less
n = upto 450mbps
a/c = upto 1300mbps

2.4GHZ only has 11 channels it can broadcast on
5GHZ has over 20 channels

wireless N-routers can transmit on 2.5GHz but maximum speed is 300mbps
you need to utilize a 5GHz bandwith to achieve higher speeds

to my knowledge only one a/c adapter can come close to attaining 1300mbps (really more like 1200mbps), I think it was an ASUS internal card.


personally I use,
the Netgear R6300 a/c router (it can do 1300mbps) just no adapters can go that fast
and
the Netgear A6200 adapters, my connect speeds are 866mbps

I agonized over what to get, but I have to say they are absolutely flawless, and Netgear has great support, they will be able to help you with most things. Call them, they will tell you what to get :eek:

I have some tablets with internal adapters and they can connect upto 300mbps (standard for most laptops and tablets)


I believe my info to be accurate hope it helps.
 

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Thanks a lot KarterJK, dont get why anyone couldve said something like that earlier.
 

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802.11ac changes the rules with it's beam forming and channel bonding technology on the 5Ghz frequency.

As for 480Mbps being faster than Any wireless card, really? Maybe not. Lets see someone get this through a USB 2.0.

Sure, if you are on the new 802.11ac standard...you can exceed USB 2.0. Very few people are using this yet. I didn't think the original poster was discussing this very new format.

You should know better than to make such broad statements here in the networking forum. :)

Thanks a lot KarterJK, dont get why anyone couldve said something like that earlier.

I just said something like that earlier?
 

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Thanks a lot KarterJK, dont get why anyone couldve said something like that earlier.

I just said something like that earlier?

You might have explained partially, but KarterJK answered most of my questions in a way I can understand. What are legacy clients, channel bonding, etc. No need to scrutinize yourself for it.
 

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You should know better than to make such broad statements here in the networking forum. :)
Yes, fair enough. But I still think 99% of the time my statement is applicable.
 

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While technically true, a USB 2.0 connection can support up to 480Mbps...which is far faster than any wireless card is going to go anyway. So, a USB 2.0 port will NOT be a bottleneck.

I have a D-Link 802.11ac wireless adapter that plugs into the USB 2.0 port on my laptop. The Wi-Fi connection status shows a speed of 866.5 Mbps. When I test the wireless connection by sending a large file I only get around 200Mbps. I would guess that the USB 2.0 port is a bottleneck.

It looks like the connection speed is not related to your actual throughput? :shock:
 

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