PCI-E or USB?

I have always used PCI wifi cards, what will the PC be used for?

I prefer the PCI version as never used the usb version
 
Gaming, Gaming and more Gaming!! :p
Maybe a little streaming too

The only thing i was looking at was that they are now doing USB 3 so i thought that'd increase speeds straight away.

I've got a PCI-E one at the moment and its ****!
 
If running an ethernet cable is impossible (and there are very few situations where this is true), then the next best thing would be powerline.
 
I've been using a generic TPlink USB wifi dongle for a couple of years now without any issues. However, I'd expect a pci-e one would be a superior and neater solution as I believe in theory USB has a CPU/IO overhead that pci-e doesn't. That could be an urban myth though! Plus the multiple antennas on a dedicated wifi PCI card should in theory get better wireless reception than a USB dongle.

YMMV though and I can't really comment as I've never actually used a pci-e wifi card!
 
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I'd choose a PCI-E solution but it's whether you want to spend the extra money. Would make sure it has an extended antenna as well.

silvagti said:
However, I'd expect a pci-e one would be a superior and neater solution as I believe in theory USB has a CPU/IO overhead that pci-e doesn't. That could be an urban myth though
Click to expand...

It is true in that USB devices use the CPU to manage the various protocols used much the same way a softmodem and onboard sound does. The CPU is basically doing the work rather than discrete hardware. The performance hit is minimal though with today's fast CPUs and the biggest issue is bad software/drivers.
 
If i'm honest, i'd rather spend the money as i get frustrated as hell when stuff takes forever to download or load in general.

What about this powerline thing?
I've done some reading and it seems like a good idea in principle, does it work as well as being connected directly to the router? or will wifi be quicker still?
 
As suggested, powerline would be the preferred option if cat5 isnt possible then pci-e wifi.

Just get a starter kit - you just plug a short cat5 cable into each end so its dead easy to set up. Speeds are decent but hard to compare with wifi without knowing your house and distances etc.
 
Okay, i shall invest in one of them. Anyone to recommend?

I'm upstairs right at the other end of the house with a baad sky router :( although, getting about 8/9Mbps when wired so.. can't really grumble!

Thanks for your help :)
 
I would get yourself this kit if you want to venture into powerlines, the next best thing if direct Ethernet is not achbievable.

Or if you could make use of multiple ports (i.e. games console, Sky box, 2nd PC/ laptop, etc) then grab this 3-port one instead.
 
I have a Superhub 2 (not the ac version)and have installed a TP LINK PCIe network card (TL-WDN4800) in my downstairs computer (two floors down from Superhub). On the 5Ghz channel i can easily get a 130Mbps internet speed (and have had 149). My virgin package is 150Mbps. I also have the TP Link USB N900 and it is excellent but does not pick up as stronger signal as the PCIe network card.
 
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