Best High Gain/ Range Wi-Fi Adapter?

topppbloke on 11/10/2021 - 11:43
Last edited 11/10/2021 - 13:48 by 1 other user

Hi fellow OZB's

I am looking at getting myself a wifi adapter for my PC.

Not entirely too happy with my current adapter:
TP-Link TL-WN881ND 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter

Should there be a major difference in quality/ range between USB & PCIe ?
Should I perhaps go for one with an external/ desktop antenna?

After doing a little research, i found he following

Edimax AC600 Wi-Fi Dual-Band Directional High Gain USB Adapter:
https://www.mwave.com.au/product/edimax-ac600-wifi-dualband-…

Edimax AC600 Wi-Fi Dual-Band High Gain USB Adapter:
https://www.catch.com.au/product/edimax-ac600-wi-fi-dual-ban…

Simplecom NW628 AC1200 Dual-Band USB3.0 WiFi Adapter
https://www.mwave.com.au/product/simplecom-nw628-ac1200-dual…

Volans AC1900 High Gain Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter
https://www.mwave.com.au/product/volans-ac1900-high-gain-wir…

TP-Link Archer T4U Plus Wireless USB Adapter
https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/networking/adapters/8446…

TP-Link TL-WN8200ND Wireless N300 USB Adapter
https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/networking/adapters/4881…

TP-Link Archer T9UH AC1900 High Gain Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter
https://www.centrecom.com.au/tp-link-archer-t9uh-ac1900-high…

I would really appreciate some feedback / recommendations.

Also, feel free to recommend anything that's not in the above lit.

Thank you

Poll Options

• 0
  Edimax AC600 Wi-Fi Dual-Band Directional High Gain USB Adapter
• 0
  Edimax AC600 Wi-Fi Dual-Band High Gain USB Adapter
• 1
  Simplecom NW628 AC1200 Dual-Band USB3.0 WiFi Adapter
• 1
  Volans AC1900 High Gain Wireless Dual Band USB Adaptor
• 1
  TP-Link Archer T4U Plus Wireless USB Adapter
• 0
  TP-Link TL-WN8200ND Wireless N300 USB Adapter
• 0
  TP-Link Archer T9UH AC1900 High Gain Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter

• 

  [Deactivated] on 11/10/2021 - 11:51

  +1

  Should there be a major difference in quality/ range between USB & PCIe ?

  PCIe is better.

  Should I perhaps go for one with an external/ desktop antenna?

  if you need more range, yes.

  • 

    topppbloke on 12/10/2021 - 02:33

    Thanks mate, will be going with PCIe for sure with an external

• 

  mskeggs on 11/10/2021 - 16:35

  +1

  Get a mesh system so your existing wifi in the PC doesn’t require long range.
  It will also improve signal for all other devices.

  • 

    topppbloke on 12/10/2021 - 02:34

    That's the plan, Just waiting for decent wifi6 mesh systems to go down on price

• 

  lurker123 on 11/10/2021 - 17:01

  You are wasting money buying any of those on your list. They are all using older wifi chips.

  Get any wireless card that uses the Intel AX200 or AX201 chip e.g. this:
  https://www.mwave.com.au/product/asus-pceax3000-wireless-dua…
  even better is the fact that this looks like a normal m.2 wifi chip (not the same slot as m.2 ssd) that is attached to a add on card.
  That way, in the future, you can just buy a newer chip and swap.

  Should I perhaps go for one with an external/ desktop antenna?

  The antenna will help with the range. If you need better range, just buy a better screw on antenna or antenna extension cable for e.g. the above card I linked. The problem is, the products you listed will have better antenna's leading to possibly better range than the one i listed. But they are on older technology, which may cancel out any gains you have from a better antenna, assuming your wireless router supports the latest technology to allow the ax200 chip in my link to reach it's full potential.

  If you do have significant wireless issues, as @mskeggs suggested, look into investing in a wifi mesh system or ethernet over power solution. One way to check if your wifi issue is bigger than replacing your wifi card, is to use your phone on your wifi, and test it where your pc is (make sure phone is using wifi and not your plan's data).

  • 

    topppbloke on 12/10/2021 - 02:32

    Hi mate,

    You seem to know what you're talking about, thank you.
    I've taken your advice onboard and managed to get the best of both worlds, AX200 Chip, with an external antenna, which one would be your pick?
    MSI Dual Band AX 200 WiFi 6 (AX905C) or Gigabyte GC-WBAX200 WiFi 6 AX200?
    Thank you

    • 

      lurker123 on 12/10/2021 - 13:24

      When I was looking for a new wifi card. I just purchased the cheapest name brand one with the ax 200 chip I could buy, which happened to be the gigabyte at the time.

      I didn't bother with the generic/no-name/unknown brands even though they have the same intel chip. Since with a big name brand, for warranty issues, you can call both the manufacturer, in my case gigabyte, and the shop you bought it from. Rather than with unknown branded ones, your solely relying on the store. Also I trust the large manufacturers more, not to skimp on components.

      Short of buying all 3 and testing them. I have no idea. Both the gigabyte and msi have 1 large antenna compared to the 2 antennas on the asus I linked above. I wouldn't know if 1 large antenna is better than 2. With the gigabyte and msi, you get a cable so you can move the antenna around for better placement. I can confirm the antenna base for the gigabyte is magnetic. I assume the msi would be the same.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuHgxPaXel8
      This reviewer seems to think you get what you pay for. However, his English is not that good and I question why he wasn't able to install the intel driver for the generic wireless card. I also question that the asus driver would be any better than the intel driver.

      In summary, better antenna definitely affects the result if your reception/ line of sight to the router is not good, which antenna is better, I have no idea. I question if there is really a difference between the different brands when they all use the same chip. Asus/Gigabyte/Msi are all well known manufacturers, with Asus in particularly producing a lot of good wifi products. I assume all 3 brands would be much the same with the intel driver installed.