Wireless adapters, USB or PCI?

I just picked up a new router a few days ago, and decommissioned my classic WRT54G V2.2. The new router is a Buffalo something or other, wireless N (said Nfiniti on the box, my guess is N 300), gigabit ethernet, and pre flashed with DD-WRT. The box also mentioned something about high power, but I have to wonder if that really makes much difference. So far, I love this router. I haven't had a single dropped connection, and no slow downs so far. The problem I am running into is the fact that my wifes rig is still picking up the wireless signal with the old Linksys WMP54G adapter, and I had a hard time getting that set up in Win7x64. It took me several hours to get it working, and I was getting severely frustrated. I decided that having an N router is pointless if the only thing besides a couple of BlackBerry's is a computer with a wireless G card. I went in to my local Fry's earlier today to have a look around to see what they have. They did have a Buffalo USB adapter, but it didn't seem to quite match the specs of the router, so I decided to check here first. There were a couple of Linksys Dual Band cards, several USB adapters from Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, and a couple other brands I have never heard of. Which am I better off going with? I think there were some Netgear and D-Link PCI cards, but I didn't look to hard at those. I also checked Newegg, to see what they had from Buffalo (figured I might try the AOSS setup), but it seems all they have is USB adapters. How is the reliability of the USB adapters compared to the PCI cards? The old Linksys card in her rig is several years old, and still works great. The problem is the lack of real driver support for it is limiting her wireless speed.

simple answer:
PCI

USB is easier (plug in and go, basically) and will work well if you are relatively close by your access point. PCI would be preferred if you had to go between floors or several walls.

Thanks guys. It looks like my assumption was correct. I did find a PCI card on Amazon that was Nfiniti rated, for about $19 shipped. It actually makes me wonder why Newegg doesn't have any Buffalo PCI cards.

I've never had a problem with the few USB adapters I've used, but I've also always used the more expensive ones. Linksys WUSB300N and WUSB600N have both been great.

petteyg359 said:

I've never had a problem with the few USB adapters I've used, but I've also always used the more expensive ones. Linksys WUSB300N and WUSB600N have both been great.

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Thanks for the suggestions, pettey. My actual plan was to give Buffalo a good shot to try to impress me, and the router seems to be doing just that. Between everything on the network being quicker and smoother, and the ease of getting it set up, so far I am very happy with it. I was actually hoping to get a PCI card for the wireless, but it seems that the only retailer on Amazon that still has any is one of those unknown companies. I am still considering making the purchase anyway, but I could always just go to my local Fry's and pick up a Linksys just as easily. I thought about picking up the Buffalo USB dongle they have, but I don't think there's much point of getting a 300N router just to use a 150N USB adapter on the only wireless rig. I doubt that I'll really notice the difference, but if I need to max it out, it would be nice to know that I can.

USB adapters are surprisingly good when configured properly, however you will without a doubt get the best performance using a pci adapter.

It would actually depend on your PCs location. The way my rig is set up, on a desk with the back right against a wall, I get little to no signal strength when using a PCI/PCI-E adapter because the antennae are right next to the wall. When I use a USB adapter, though, I can connect it to the top front USB port and I receive an excellent signal strength.

My Asus USB adapter has worked flawlessly for any system I've used it for. When I get too far away or through too many walls though it does weaken. USB is great and convenient, but PCI would definitely be a stronger choice.

I wound up going and picking up a Linksys WMP600N PCI card, and I have to say I am a bit disappointed. Upon first install into the rig, when instructed by the disc, I turned the rig back on, and it tells me the card is not installed. This wasn't the first card that had done this to me. The old WMP54G used to do the same thing every time I moved it from one rig to the next. I open the rig back up, pull the card back out, and put it back in the same exact PCI slot. Surprisingly enough, upon boot up, Windows detects the card, and starts installing drivers. Once it tells me the card is installed and ready to use, I move forward to connecting to the network. I go back to my rig to temporarily enable SSID broadcast in the router, save settings, and move back to the rig with the new card. Scan for networks, and it can't see the network. I try a few more times, and I'm getting tempted to rip the card out and take it back to Fry's. Finally, it somehow manages to find the network. I enter my WPA2 password, and it tells me it's incorrect. I try the same exact key, and it takes it this time (I'm chalking that one up to PBKAC error), but only connects at 54G speed. I log back in to the router to make sure all of the wireless N settings are correct, and they are. I check the laptop, and sure enough, it has a 300N connection. Check the clients list on the router, and the rig is at 54Mbps, as well as my BlackBerry, and everything else on the network seemed to have atleast 108Mbps. Finally after a couple hours of messing with wireless settings on the rig, it connects at full speed, and starts to feel more like a wired connection than wireless.

To be honest, I was expecting a little bit of work to get the Linksys card to work correctly, but I wasn't prepared for the amount of time it actually took. The card that it replaced was the same way, in some aspects, but usually only took a few minutes to get working, until I tried to use it in Win7x64. It was torture trying to get it working, just due to the fact that Cisco hadn't released a driver for the card for the OS. I ended up having to try several generic drivers from chip manufacturers to get it to work. All in all, now that the new card is set up and working properly, I am actually happy with it's performance. The part that really annoyed me was trying to get it set up, so that it is working the way it is supposed to.

deadlysyn said:

I go back to my rig to temporarily enable SSID broadcast in the router

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This is not security. Stick to WPA2 with a good key, and don't do anything silly like MAC filtering or turning off broadcast.

Wireless LAN Security Myths That Won't Die

petteyg359 said:

This is not security. Stick to WPA2 with a good key, and don't do anything silly like MAC filtering or turning off broadcast.

Wireless LAN Security Myths That Won't Die

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I always run with WPA2, with a very strong key. I just turn off SSID broadcast because I don't need it. To be honest, this was the first time I didn't have an option to manually configure the network on the rig. Usually I just type in all the info and click connect. I wonder if there is something on the Linksys disc that didn't install.

deadlysyn said:

I just turn off SSID broadcast because I don't need it.

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That makes no sense. A wireless router is not Windows XP's services.msc where there's a bunch of crap on by default that really shouldn't be.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

I just got this and it seems to do a great job.