Recommend a Wireless N PCI card

Anyone got any recommendations for a wireless N PCI card I can use? I would prefer PCI as it's tidier than USB,but would go USB if it's considerably better value.

I would like it to support 300mbps for future proofing (I have seen some that only support 150mbps).

Willing to spend up to around £30.

Thanks,

James

There are not many 300Mbps cards around yet - D-LINK DWA-556 for example.

Look for ones which have fully detachable antennas and extension cables. It is often the case that the antennas are behind the PC case, under a desk, close to a wall &c and wireless coverage at that location is not the optimum. I have often installed remote antennas which has significantly improved coverage and speed.

Thanks for that.

I was looking at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-7728In-802-11n-WiF...

This is half the price of the D-Link one, but I'm not sure how to figure out if it's worth paying the extra? Spec seems to be all but identical?

Spec's may be "identical" but what about performance? I have no experience of either - juts know that 300Mbps devices are "rare". What I did not is that te Edimax has an antenna relocation stand: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EA-MARS-Antenna-Reloc...

What you need are the detailed tech specs of both devices:

An example of a 150Mb device from Linksys/Cisco http://downloads.linksysbycisco.com/downloads/datash... which lists output power and receiver sensitivity along with antenna gain.

In reply to a post by jamesking:

Thanks for that.

I was looking at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-7728In-802-11n-WiF...

This is half the price of the D-Link one, but I'm not sure how to figure out if it's worth paying the extra? Spec seems to be all but identical?

Hi

I've had that same edimax card for a couple of years and its brilliant. Its installed on my PC upstairs (router is downstairs) and it gives me the full 5 bars signal all the time. Only thing i recommend is do NOT use the Edimax drivers....instead download the latest Ralink PCI drivers as the card is a rebadged Ralink card; ralink drivers will be newer and also you won't be forced to install utility software [censored].All in all highly recommended!
http://www.ralinktech.com/support.php

In reply to a post by jamesking:

Thanks for that.

I was looking at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edimax-EW-7728In-802-11n-WiF...

This is half the price of the D-Link one, but I'm not sure how to figure out if it's worth paying the extra? Spec seems to be all but identical?

I have an Edimax 802.11g with an external antenna and I am very happy with it. It reaches across the entire house with no problems. I would say that with any wireless card, an external antenna is a must.

Startech do a PCIE edit- yes just realised you want PCI, is PCIE definetly a no go? (PCIE will unburden resources on the shared PCI bus),
http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-Express-802-11N...

TP Link do a couple PCI ones,
http://www.tp-link.com/products/productList.asp?clas...

Edited by deleted (Wed 29-Jun-11 20:34:53)