Wireless PCI Card vs USB

[DeadBattery]

I was thinking about switching my desktop computer's wireless internet from a USB adapter to a PCI card. (It didn't come with wireless out of the box)
Any thoughts on which one you think is better?
Also, if anyone is using one that they like let me know. I'm specifically looking for one that works on Windows 7 64-bit.

 

[justin.scherer14]

Okay, this is my opinion. A PCI card is better for the following reasons:

1.When I had a USB wireless device, every time I would switch things around, I would have to reinstall the drivers for it. It hated being unplugged and the thing was just temperamental. This actually has been a problem with most of the USB wireless devices.

2.The PCI device has no chance of you unplugging it by accident unless you are going into the computer.

3.The cards are usually well supported.

4.I have had overall better luck with the PCI wireless cards.

For Windows 7 64-bit, I would go with one from Belkin or Netgear. Both of them have had great support under the 64-bit system and I have had great success with both of those style cards. Good luck with your choice and remember, if this helped, do not be afraid to thank me lol.

 

[carl6969]

Interesting. I looked both a wireless PCI card and a wireless USB today for a computer I am trying to fix up for a friend. Both were compatible with XP and Vista but the label did not mention anything at all about compatibility with Win 7. Both "G" .I think both of these were LinkSys and both were priced at about $20.00. The only big difference in the two was that one required 400 MHZ processor and the other required 500 MHZ processor. Have not decided which one is best for my purposes just yet. It seems to me that the PCI with the small antenna should have better range.

 

[DeadBattery]

Thanks for the thoughts. There are only a few on Newegg that say they support Windows 7 64-bit but when I look at the reviews, half the people that tried it on Win7 64 say it didn't work. Then again they might not have used the software provided. My experience with Belkin has been rather good. I'm using one of their G routers and a G USB stick now (F5D7050).

 

[conzone]

pci card is better, less cpu overload,

 

[DeadBattery]

If you guys have a wireless PCI card, what brand and model is it and do you like it?

 

[Smith6612]

Go with the PCI card. Generally there is more power available on a PCI Bus than there is on USB, PCI is faster, and as someone mentioned before, FAR less CPU overhead. PCI Bus will communicate with the Southbridge a bit more rather than dealing with the processor first. Many PCI-based cards also have the ability to offload processing of data to the network card itself, rather than sending it to the CPU. And yes, every time you change USB ports you will wind up having the system reinstall a driver.

By the way if you have an available PCI-E 1x port, go with that. It's faster than traditional PCI. Also, I suggest grabbing the drivers from the Internet rather than use the ones on the CD. The ones found on the CD especially if it's an old card tend to become out of date quickly.

 

[DeadBattery]

Go with the PCI card. Generally there is more power available on a PCI Bus than there is on USB, PCI is faster, and as someone mentioned before, FAR less CPU overhead. PCI Bus will communicate with the Southbridge a bit more rather than dealing with the processor first. Many PCI-based cards also have the ability to offload processing of data to the network card itself, rather than sending it to the CPU. And yes, every time you change USB ports you will wind up having the system reinstall a driver.

By the way if you have an available PCI-E 1x port, go with that. It's faster than traditional PCI. Also, I suggest grabbing the drivers from the Internet rather than use the ones on the CD. The ones found on the CD especially if it's an old card tend to become out of date quickly.

Thanks, my computer has 2 PCI-E 1x ports.

 

[abouharga]

i have usb wireless and i use windows 7
i think usb is better than pci cardfor this reason
1- if u have usb wireless connect it and wait for a moment windows 7 automatically will search for the driver for u after it finish u can connect to your wireless
2-it fast than pci card
3- it easy to remove it or to connect it without any problem

 

[DeadBattery]

Thanks, I'm going to replace my USB with a PCI card.
Think this one will do the trick: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320048
(I think it is PCI express 1x)

 

[nilzxx]

I've always had much better experiences with PCI cards. For me they had been a lot more reliable and had much better hardware support. Not only do you also save a USB port, but it also looks much better to have the card tucked away with only the antenna(s) sticking out. (Maybe this is due to the limited selection of PCI and USB wlan devices I have used, but PCI tended to get much better reception and had less disconnect problems)

I still don't regret having wired the house with Cat6 as that is far more reliable than any wlan I ever used.

 

[DeadBattery]

Asus PCE-N13 did the trick. (NewEgg Link)
The speeds seem to be slightly less than my USB stick but it works well. It also supports wireless N networks which is great.
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