PCI-E or USB Wifi network adapter ?

The Matrix

The Matrix

The Matrix

Associate
Joined
12 Jul 2012
Posts
974
Which performs better for wifi, via PCI-E or via USB with an adapter that has twin aerials ?

I'm probably going to need a new network adapter due to the one i have is having a conflict with Windows 7 and Atheros, my current one is the one below

http://www.tp-link.com/lk/products/details/?model=TL-WN822N

Our router is downstairs in the hall, the one above is handy as i can use an extension lead so i have it outside the door so no walls are in the way between the adapter and the wireless router.

I'm open to suggestions, my Gigabyte G1 Sniper 5 actually comes with one included but ive no idea what speeds its capable of as ive not tested it as yet, i can't see it being high but i'll probably give it a go to see what it can do as a temp measure.
 
Ive already tried the the Atheros drivers, it's still blue screening hence why i need a new wifi adapter. I removed the drivers with Revo Uninstaller pro, installed the new drivers and still no change.
 
Basically this is what happened.

I built a new PC with a Gigabyte G1 Sniper 5 board, i got all the latest drivers from their website.

All the drivers install fine except for the Atheros one, it goes through the install but each time you try you get an error message saying it can't find the device or it maybe unplugged. The Ethernet and bluetooth side of things install ok, its just the wirless adapter driver that doesn't install.

I have an idea why that might be, the G1 Sniper 5 comes with its own PCI-E wifi card where you basically install it into a PCI-E slot then screw the wireless antenna to the back, i never bothered installing that as most people wouldn't use an included one as they are very slow and basic. Maybe it needs to be in just so i can get the wirless adapter driver installed then maybe my current wireless adapter would work on that driver as i'm sure the core of that one is Atheros as well.

I can get the TP-Link wireless adapter to work but i have to remove Atheros totally from the PC including bluetoot ansd the Ethernet side of things. I did a fresh install of windows earlier today and no matter what i do while the Atheros software is on the PC the TP-Link adapter will bluescreen if i use their own TP-Link driver, if i go to the Atheros site like i did and downloaded the latest wifi driver, no matter what i do it won't install, i tried everything but windows won't install it as it probably doesn't recognise the TP Link adapter.
 
You 100% sure you picked the right driver from the Atheros website?

I've never had a problem with the drivers on their site..
 
They were the right drivers, TP Link sent me a customer support reply with a direct link to the drivers.

Thank you for choosing TP-LINK, This is Niki from TP-LINK Technical Support.
Sorry for the trouble we caused. Have you tried to disbale the anti-virus software and firewall on this computer? If not, i hope you could try this. In most cases, it's helpful.
If it still make no sense, please try the driver from its chip manufacturer. The chip of this wireless adapter is AR7010+AR9287. Here is the link you can download it;

https://www.atheros.cz/atheros-wireless-drivers.php
 
Last edited:
Worth getting a magnifying glass (if you need one) to check what revision of TL-WN822N you have. It will be in very small letters on the rear label and seems to be three versions.

I personally would use the motherboard supplied wireless card. But instead of getting drivers from Gigabyte site, look at card to see what chip it uses and then get most recent drivers from chip manufacturer.
 
Looking for pictures it seems the motherboard provided Wi-Fi card uses Atheros AR5B22 according to Mad Shrimp review. So you might have to use Gigabyte hosted drivers as not found them listed elsewhere after a quick search.
 
Thanks for your research Bane.

I may have solved this riddle, the drivers listed on the Gigabyte website for the Atheros Killer Network and Wireless driver caused me nothing but problems, they must be the wrong driver package as normally drivers install very smoothly without a hitch, these were a ball ache, i selected windows 7 64 bit for all the drivers and that's what i was given.

I had a play around this afternoon, in the end i went directly to the Qualcomm website

http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/resources/driverdownloads/

and downloaded the Killer E2200 Killer wireless software, touch wood they seem to have installed perfectly and everything seems as it should be, my TP-Link adapter is now working with the Qualcomm software and driver package, it wouldn't work with the Atheros ones. I can only put it down to them being the wrong network drivers on the Gigabyte site as the Qualcomm ones seem to be fine and installed first time with no fuss.

Using the included wifi for the board is a no go, it only does 15mbs, my Line speed is 76mb, the TP Link adapter on average is giving between 68 - 75mb on ookla which i'm more than pleased with for wireless.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom