PCI for £25 or USB for £15 Wireless LAN (n-300)

Just looking for advice, bought a Dell Vostro last week, however I opted not to pay £50 for an internal WiFi card.

I have been looking at the following alternatives and would welcome advice from those more versed. Would also welcome any alternatives if they can be suggested.

Thanks in advance.

USB

Sitecom Wireless 300N Dualband USB Adapter X2 - £15 delivered
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=S...i&lnk=showgrid

Optimal Performance - 300 Mbps speed on both frequencies
Two 2.4Ghz and two 5 Ghz Internal High Performance Antennas to strenghten the wireless network
Can be connected at the 2.4 Ghz or 5 Ghz wireless frequency
The 5 Ghz band is Ideal for downloading, streaming and time sensitive traffic
10 year manufacturer warranty
The USB adapter can transmit signals on the 2.4 or less crowded 5 Ghz frequency which offers optimal wireless performances for time sensitive traffic without any audio or video interference.
In Thanks to the WPS hard button, you can establish a secure wireless connection with just the push of a button.

Best Value Wireless 802.11n USB Adaptor 300Mbps
http://www.dabs.com/products/best-va...mbps-69F7.html

Complies with wireless IEEE802.11b/g and IEEE802.11n standards
Increases wireless coverage 4 times further
Includes multi-language setup wizard
Supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA, WPA2 encryption and software WPS button

PCI

TP Link WN851N - About £18 delivered
http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=...i&lnk=showgrid

The TL-WN851N Wireless N PCI Adapter complies with IEEE 802.11n (Draft 2.0), IEEE 802.11g, and IEEE 802.11b standards. Wireless transmission rates can reach up to 300Mbps. The PCI card employs MIMO technology and has two external detachable omni directional antennas providing even better wireless performance, transmission rates, stability and coverage. At the same time, CCA technology automatically avoids channel conflicts using its channel selection feature. This product supports 64/128/152-bit WEP encryptions, as well as WPA/WPA2 and WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK encryptions and mechanisms in addition to the adapter's QSS (Quick Secure Setup) feature, allowing users to quickly and easily configure wireless security. This product can also simultaneously operate bandwidth intensive applications such as voice and video. Applications using a lot of bandwidth that are sensitive to interruptions such as voice and video applications are given priority in order to assure quality. It also works well with other 11g and 11n protocol wireless products.

Edimax EW-7728In Network adapter
http://www.google.co.uk/products/cat...109&sa=title#p - £25 delivered

EW-7728In complies with 802.11n draft 2.0, the next generation wireless standard. With the advanced MIMO technology, it can support the data transmission rate 6 times more (up to 300Mbps) and the coverage 3 times more than IEEE 802.11b/g devices. EW-7728In stable wireless connection and high bandwidth enable you enjoying the network applications without any interruption. EW-7728In supports the WPS configuration function. This function provides easy procedures to set up wireless security.

I'd go for the 4th option on that list.

not the usb one

What brand of wireless router are you using? Some wireless N routers have been known to be fickle about which adaptors they work with. Usually best to try and get the same brand as your router if possible

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matty-hodgson

I'd go for the 4th option on that list.

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Ditto as I've had one of these for well over 10 months now and it's been nothing short of excellent.

The edimax EW-7728In is now running within windows 7 x64 with no issues at all.

Infact, when I recently moved, it detected over 14 wireless networks within the local area. I've also got the MARS antenna relocation cable set which can be found Here and this is a good addition to the card as it repositons the antenna from the rear of the PC to an area which is free from a large metal box blocking the signals.

I've also replaced one of the antennas with a higher DBi antenna on the unit, but that was for when I was using a neighbours wireless connection before I moved home :)

I'm using the edimax card with the linksys WRT160NL router and also a D-LINK DIR-615 router as well and it connects to both with no problems with the SSID hidden using wide-band mode and WPA2 encryption enabled.

O2 wireless II Box. I think its a Thomson from memory?

I must admit I am leaning towards option 1

Thanks for all the replies so far, certainly gave me something to think about.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matty-hodgson

I'd go for the 4th option on that list.

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+1.

Just installed one in my rig and it's fantastic. It worked straight out of the box and has very good signal strength, plus with the option to relocate the antennae with the optional extension cable.

The O2 wireless II box only supports 802.11b and 802.11g ( so n is not supported)

You could probably just get a b/g wireless client adaptor for less money

Yes I know, future proofing

I would go for n series USB adaptor. USB technology is quite stable these years and USB have the mobility advantage over the PCI version. To me, USB is simply Plug and Play.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kmac

What brand of wireless router are you using? Some wireless N routers have been known to be fickle about which adaptors they work with. Usually best to try and get the same brand as your router if possible

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Having a chipset from the same manufacturer in the router and wireless adapter is far more important than having the same brands. The brands like Linksys or Dlink use different chipsets interchangeably, sometimes a product will change chipsets completely part way through its life (e.g. the NetGear DG838G was originally a TI chipset and later versions used a Broadcom chipset).

My advice would be to buy the PCI card. it can be fitted with a larger antenna if you need to improve speed / reception at a later date.