WiFi adapter for PC
- Thread starter Rage85
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So are you on about a USB based adapter as opposed to an internal PCI card ?
Yes mate
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Have you looked at the ones on OCUK ?
As much as you don't want anything "sitting on top of the tower", for best performance you are better off with a Wifi Adapter that does have separate antenna that can be relocated away from the back of the PC, just so that the antenna have more space and are removed from some of the interference caused by a PC.
Avoid the small plug in USB adapters at the very least, as the antennas are tiny - but PCIe adapters are normally better, as don't run the risk of overheating in a cramped USB form factor, and normally have 2 antenna.
If you definitely won't go for PCIe then the Asus USB linked below is at least a decent compromise, it has 2 antenna, is a decent form factor and comes with a USB Cable so you can position it.
My basket at OcUK:
Avoid the small plug in USB adapters at the very least, as the antennas are tiny - but PCIe adapters are normally better, as don't run the risk of overheating in a cramped USB form factor, and normally have 2 antenna.
If you definitely won't go for PCIe then the Asus USB linked below is at least a decent compromise, it has 2 antenna, is a decent form factor and comes with a USB Cable so you can position it.
My basket at OcUK:
- 1 x TP-Link Archer TX3000E Dual-Band Wireless AX3000 (WiFi 6) Bluetooth 5.0 PCI-E Adapter (SKU: NW-21U-TP) = £59.99
- 1 x Asus PCE-BE92BT Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) BE9400 Tri-Band PCIe Wi-Fi Adapter (SKU: NET-ASU-02365) = £84.99
- 1 x Asus USB-AC58 Wireless-AC1300 Dual-band USB Adapter (SKU: NET-ASU-02265) = £29.99
Total: £178.97 (includes delivery: £3.99)
£60
(incl. VAT)
£80
(incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
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how are you satisfied with it?
I just stumbled upon this post while researching about ASUS AC58 because I am fed up with my T3U plus (V1.0 bought in January 2023) as it is losing connection all the time (either it fully disconnects or says connected and good signal but no internet connection - or for example it completes Speedtest download and then disconnects on upload test)
Asus AC58 is 30 euros at my local shop and I dont want to spend more on wifi adapter, can you explain why you recommend it? Is it only specification based or reliability/ driver support/ personal experience?
£60
(incl. VAT)
£80
(incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
Afaik the pcie ones are all the same essentially as they either use the Intel AX200 or AX210 (wifi 6) chip, so its just a question of build quality and style after this. I'm using a cheap Cudy adaptor until I get cabled. I only get about 110 max but my pc is in the worst room for wifi and my pc is in a corner. Hence getting cabled 
The last time I used WiFi - when I had my desktop in place where I hadn't run a cable - I was only using a cheap generic Realtek USB 1300mbps thing, but the one improvement I made was to buy this USB extension.
Don't even remember where I bought that but searching for "USB extension cable with base" shows the ones I mean.
Aesthetically maybe a step back, but functiinally by being able to position the aerial correctly it made a huge difference to reception.
Plus, I have never been comfortable with hanging large or huge USB devices directly off their port.
Don't even remember where I bought that but searching for "USB extension cable with base" shows the ones I mean.
Aesthetically maybe a step back, but functiinally by being able to position the aerial correctly it made a huge difference to reception.
Plus, I have never been comfortable with hanging large or huge USB devices directly off their port.
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UPDATE: it turns out I made the stupidest mistake
I was managing my cables and in the process thought it would be better to plug my T3U Plus into USB 3.1 port (light blue) instead of USB 3.0 port (dark blue) and at the same time reinstalled drivers and updated windows... As it turns out this 3.1 port is not compatible with network adapters and this was the ONLY source of the problem.Anyway, I realized that only AFTER I bought Archer T4U Plus (only reasonably priced option with double antennas in my nextdoor store) and this one did not work at all in 3.1 port..
I did some repositioning of both router and adapter with WiFi Analyzer and NetSpot to track signal strength and now I am getting 270-280 download (300 max from provider) ping 4-5ms, which is probably bottlenecked by USB 2.0 extension cable but it doesnt really matter. (router and adapter are 1 floor and 7-8 meters apart and I get -65 dBm signal for 5ghz)