Dual band wi-fi: USB dongles v. plug in cards

[NanLaew]

I am considering upgrades to the family gaming desktop and my 5 year old laptop to use the 5 Ghz wi-fi option that my routers provide.

 

The desktop has a regular Zycel 2.4 GHz NIC. I am assuming that changing that up to a card that also handles the 5 GHz band, the kids can get a better, faster gaming experience. Correct?

 

Is a plug-in USB type 5 GHz network adapter a better option?

 

For the laptop, the USB dongle is the only way to go so any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

NL

[wgdanson]

Depending on how far away from your router the laptop is, a 20 metre CAT6 cable from Lazada @ Bht 210 is far faster than any WiFI......1000Mb/s.

[robblok]

If its about gaming, ethernet (cable) is always best but if you can't have cables running around your 5 Ghz wifi is an option.

[NanLaew]

CAT cabling is an option but not a preference right now. Although the house was built with CAT5 (10 years ago?) outlets in each room, the actual wiring was never run since wi-fi was good enough and the wiring job went on a back-burner, then we moved away. It might be one of those jobs to do in the cooler months while I'm idle. I assume that the wall-mounted Haco brand LAN connectors will be OK and I just need to use CAT6 cable behind them?

 

The distance between the router and desktop is about 12 m through one, regular red-brick, cement-faced, interior wall. I will stick the router(s) up high in the corner of the master bedroom to see what signal improvement I get.

[Jeffrey346]

3 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Depending on how far away from your router the laptop is, a 20 metre CAT6 cable from Lazada @ Bht 210 is far faster than any WiFI......1000Mb/s.

It's 1000Mbs max if the router is a gigabit router. If not, he will get 100Mbs making the wifi a better option.

[Jeffrey346]

I just ordered this one..

https://shoptenda.com/product/tenda-u12-1300mbps-wireless-usb-network-cards-ac-dual-band-2-4g-5-0ghz-wifi-usb-network-adapterusb-3-0-gigabit-router-partner/

 

Lazada has it as well for B200 more but you will get it a lot faster.

[wgdanson]

23 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

I just ordered this one..

https://shoptenda.com/product/tenda-u12-1300mbps-wireless-usb-network-cards-ac-dual-band-2-4g-5-0ghz-wifi-usb-network-adapterusb-3-0-gigabit-router-partner/

 

Lazada has it as well for B200 more but you will get it a lot faster.

It will support up to 1300Mb/s but that depends on what you put into it, as you said previously. I think most modern routers are Gigabit outputs.