Built in WiFi on Motherboards

Associate
Joined
8 Jan 2015
Posts
27
Location
England
I'm in the process of building a new computer & a little unsure on on-board Wi-Fi. At the moment I use a PCIE Wi-Fi card which is a wifi6e which works flawlessly delivering me full speeds(1gb). Will the on-board Wi-Fi do the same and if not, can I disable this setting or add my current card to the system without any compatibility issues?
 
I'm in the process of building a new computer & a little unsure on on-board Wi-Fi. At the moment I use a PCIE Wi-Fi card which is a wifi6e which works flawlessly delivering me full speeds(1gb). Will the on-board Wi-Fi do the same and if not, can I disable this setting or add my current card to the system without any compatibility issues?
Depends on the capability of the built in wifi as to whether it'll be as fast.

I am fairly sure most motherboards will have an option in the bios to disable the wifi completely and I can't see any reason your pcie card wouldn't work with the new motherboard.
 
What I didn’t realise is that if you don’t connect the WiFi antenna, the onboard bluetooth doesn’t work either.
When I had it enabled, it worked reasonably well if the antenna was positioned sensibly.
 
What I didn’t realise is that if you don’t connect the WiFi antenna, the onboard bluetooth doesn’t work either.
When I had it enabled, it worked reasonably well if the antenna was positioned sensibly.
Bluetooth and baseband WiFi are both 2.4GHz so usually share the same antenna array
 
What I didn’t realise is that if you don’t connect the WiFi antenna, the onboard bluetooth doesn’t work either.
When I had it enabled, it worked reasonably well if the antenna was positioned sensibly.

It will work, the signal will be dire though! (I speak from experience having not realised the antenna was required either)
 
Most modern boards have an external antenna with a couple of feet of wire.
Or in cases where it doesn't (like my MSI X570 Tomahawk), you can get a replacement antenna that does. Only use it for bluetooth but having the antennas on top of the desk instead of behind the PC makes a big difference.
 
Last edited:
The board I'm using is the first time I've ever used the on-board solution & it works just fine. My only complaint is that the wire for the antenna could be a bit longer.
 
I usually wont buy a mobo unless it has wifi and antenna

I find they just work, unlike USB wifi that i often get odd problems with that i find a nightmare to solve
 
I'm in the process of building a new computer & a little unsure on on-board Wi-Fi. At the moment I use a PCIE Wi-Fi card which is a wifi6e which works flawlessly delivering me full speeds(1gb). Will the on-board Wi-Fi do the same and if not, can I disable this setting or add my current card to the system without any compatibility issues?
Try the onboard, if you aren't happy with it, then install your pci-e one and use that.
 
I'm in the process of building a new computer & a little unsure on on-board Wi-Fi. At the moment I use a PCIE Wi-Fi card which is a wifi6e which works flawlessly delivering me full speeds(1gb). Will the on-board Wi-Fi do the same and if not, can I disable this setting or add my current card to the system without any compatibility issues?
My Wi-Fi was terrible on my MSI tomahawk X570 because the antenna is screwed into the back as Orcvader also pointed out. So I ordered a usb Wi-Fi 6 one of rainforest and it works well. I must remember to 're connect the antenna for Bluetooth though as didn't know about that. Incidentally which Wi-Fi card are you using now as I have VM 1 Gig here.
 
On the subject of seperate antennas, overclockers used to sell an antenna extension kit years ago if my memory serves correctly.

They don't seem to stock anything like that anymore, though I guess SMA leads are reasonably cheap on their own.
 
Back
Top Bottom