20 Best Wireless Card For Pc (2023 Updated)

I made a target account just to complain about this overpriced pile of steaming garbage. It’s absolutely plagued with disconnection issues (google it, i’m not the minority). Losing your internet every 2-3 minutes for about a minute straight because of poor driver design is unnacceptable for such a large corporation.

It drives you insane especially when you’re working from home. Sure you can sort of stablize it by downloading certain drivers, disabling certain services and switching off some other stuff in the back end, but if you don’t have any decent backend os knowledge DON’T BUY THIS.

Don’t buy it either way, it’s a slap in the face of the consumer. Drivers haven’t been updated since 2018 – netgear knows about the disconnection issues but doesnt care. They’ve abandoned this product and so should you.

Now that I got it working, I cannot imagine going back. Here are some tips: Windows 10 wouldn’t allow the software to be loaded on my late model laptop. It may have more to do with a certain “squad’s” utter incompetence in repairing my unit.

However, even if the software DID load, it wasn’t necessary. The instructions say in big red letters not to load the adapter until the software is installed. After hours of failure, I just decided to try plugging it in anyway.

VOILA! I instantly had access points to choose from. I believe the reason for this is because Windows 10 probably has the drivers already installed. If you’re trying to plug and play this Netgear device on a Windows 7 or 8, that might be a problem.

However, I easily installed the software on my Windows 8 laptop.

Got a new Desktop Computer. Was without WiFi. The Netgear was very easy to install with the provided CD. Very straight forward and no confusion. Runs very well with Windows 11. No connection problems and the speed is very fast (as provided information).

It’s a little bit more expensive, but if you relay on good connection and speed it’s well spend the bucks. The provided Stand helps to bring the Netgear in a goood position. After the installation you can use the Windows 11 connection or use the Netgear Software.

I’m sure this is more a problem with RealTek than with Asus, though I did – and continue to – have some issues, predominantly with drivers. I have an old Toshiba Satellite that has an embedded RealTek WiFi controller.

The chip is old enough that it doesn’t support anything more recent than the 802. 11n specification. Recent Windows 10 updates have rendered this embedded controller completely non-functional. The last RealTek drivers supporting this card were released 8 years ago.

In Windows 10, I’ve disabled the embedded controller in Device Manager (I cannot do that in BIOS). The RealTek drivers installed – sort of. The Asus adapter is recognized, yet it only supports 2. 4GHz networks in Windows.

(My wireless network has 2. 4GHz and 5GHz capability. ) In Ubuntu – yes, my machine dual-boots – the OS doesn’t even see the Asus adapter. Ironically, Ubuntu has no problem with connecting to my home 2.

4GHz network with the embedded controller. I spent an hour or two trying to get the Windows drivers figured out, and gave up in frustration. It seems as though the old RealTek driver and the new RealTek driver are fighting each other.

I have not tried to remove the embedded wireless controller – I’m not sure if that is even possible with an older Toshiba laptop, and it’s low on my priority list. I have wireless connectivity in Windows 10.

Could be better. What more can I say?.

Wow. I bought for my son an Asus gaming laptop for Christmas last year. He uses a wifi connection, and it’s been kind of okay until recently. It just stopped connecting to both 2. 4Ghz and 5Ghz access points, or it would connect and drop.

We have 100Mbps throughput with our internet provider, and he’d often get between 70-80Mbps when connected, but it was picky with access in different areas of our home. When his wifi connection started dying, I thought perhaps his internal wifi adapter was failing.

I was right. After researching different USB adapters, I settled on the TechKey adapter. One thing we weren’t very happy with was the USB stick came with the driver on a tiny CD. His laptop doesn’t have a CD drive, and without internet, it makes it a little complicated finding, downloading, and installing the driver.

I thought we should just plug it in and see if Windows 10 knows what driver to load. We plugged it in, and in about 15 seconds we had internet! OMG! We didn’t have to do anything. The best part is the throughput.

We went on a SpeedTest website and ran different tests throughout the house. Before, if he went upstairs, he’d often lose wifi. The router is downstairs, up by the ceiling to provide coverage upstairs as well.

All our devices work fine throughout the house, except his laptop–until now. Now, his throughput is crazy fast everywhere in the house, even the most remote locations. He gets anywhere from 85Mbps to 140 Mbps downstream and 6Mbps to 9Mbps upstream, which is outrageously fast! This little USB wifi adapter is fantastic for the price.

Fast and zippy and, best of all, it really is plug-and-play with Windows 10. Just plug it in and go! No messing around with any downloads or configuration. If you’re thinking of getting this, we very highly recommend it.

Thumbs up and five solid stars!.

Great little trinket; I needed internet on my PC, had no way of being able to hardwire in and so was in need to making Wifi available to my PC, went to Best Buy to ask about how to go about doing that, and this was one of I think three products that they sold that would do what I needed it to.

I believe this was the best/fastest option they had (something to do with the number after “AC” — “AC1200”), and IIRC it was the same price as a “lesser” option, so I just went with this one. It was the best ~$40 I had spent in a while! Does exactly what it’s meant to: provides Wifi to a PC that doesn’t otherwise have the ability to connect to Wifi.

I was using it to play online video games such as League of Legends and Warframe; no lag or DC issues that stemmed from this little magic-box that I know of! Best of all, IIRC, it’s basically “plug-and-play”, so you can just stick it into your PC’s USB port, run the wizard that opens right up for you, and wait the 15 seconds it takes to “set up” and you’re good to game! Definitely recommend this little thing.

I’m hardwired in now, permanently, but this thing is so little and such a lifesaver that I’ve just left it in the port so I don’t end up losing it, should I need it again someday!.

Nothing bad to say about this WiFi card. It installs easily and works right our of the box. Downloading the latest available drivers is always recommend to ensure it works to the fullest. I see very good speeds when on my home’s WiFi.

If your motherboard doesn’t have built in WiFi, this is a great addition to your build. Even if your board has WiFi, this could be even better. Very happy with the purchase and if I need another one, I’d buy a TP-Link card.

I bought this at the beginning of January in 2023. It worked well enough until roughly March/April. That’s when it started dropping the connection more frequently. Now, in May of 2022, it’s basically unusable.

Once inserted, I usually get a message that the device has malfunctioned. After removing and inserting 1 to 5 times, it will work. for ten whole minutes if I’m lucky. Usually I get five minutes or less.

Then I get the message that it malfunctioned and the computer can’t recognize it again. I got it working long enough to click “write a review,” give my rating, add a title, and write one sentence of the review.

The netgear I bought in 2014/2015 lasted more than five years, and it would have lasted longer if it hadn’t gotten so banged up. This one couldn’t even make it a whole five months while being treated 100x better.

Not happy.

This was a lifesaver for me! I’m a school teacher who was preparing for final exams week when the WiFi connecter in my laptop computer became disabled. When I was told it might take up to three to four days to repair, if it could be repaired, I was in a panic.

My laptop had all of my school-related work on it, and I’d only purchased it six months ago. While I was at Best Buy, Vince, the service technician at the Geek Squad service desk suggested this product, the NETGEAR – AC600 Dual-Band WiFi Mini Adapter, and even helped me install it on my laptop.

It worked like a charm! It enabled my computer to connect to every WiFi system I used. It worked well everywhere without fail – 100 percent dependable. I was able to get everything done during finals week without stressing about whether or not my laptop would connect to WiFi servers.

Thank you NETGEAR!.

I called Dell 800-number asking what to do to connect with my home Wi-Fi & I didn’t want to pay so much $$$ for Dell’s on-line maintenance for my 8-year-old Dell laptop. Luckily I went into my local Staples store & the tech steered me into purchasing a Wi-Fi mini adapter which gives my older laptop a boost with connection while at home.

At least I didn’t need to purchase an all-new Laptop (buying this W-Fi mini adapter seems to be the best stop-gap measure in giving me a connection with my older laptop for the time being). Paying approximately $ 33.

00 for this adapter was much better than having to “junk” the older laptop & needing to purchase an all-new Laptop for my personal needs. Thanks, Staples, you came to my rescue !.

The vendor packages this USB WiFi transceiver nicely and includes multi-language operating instructions. There is a mini CD also included, which I believe is to provide drivers if needed for your use case.

But I just dove in. I unpacked the item, removed the USB jack’s protective cap and plugged it in to one of my PC’s open USB ports. As I anticipated, Windows 10 automatically detected and configured the USB port.

Within a few seconds, windows presented me with the usual WiFi network detection list. I simply chose the proper network, supplied the password, and shazam. I was on line. Perhaps more complicated use cases might flesh out hiccups with the device.

But for me, the device did exactly what I asked it to do, seemlessly and without any configuration steps required. The detail-oriented folks reading this will be disappointed to see I haven’t supplied any throughput metrics, or other data oriented tidbits.

Sorry about that. There was no fuss with putting this thing into action and that met my needs perfectly. If any glitches pop up, I’ll update the review accordingly. initial use is flawless = 5 stars.

I have a need for a second wifi adapter because of a piece of hardware that connects via wifi but runs with a program that also needs internet. I’m not in a position where I can plug into a ethernet connection so this solves the problem very well.

I went on to the website and downloaded the driver and plugged it in and it works flawlessly. A great solution for someone who needs a Wi-Fi adapter.

My old Asus laptop was frequently dropping off my wifi network due to a problem with the built in network adaptor. After disabling the built in network adaptor I installed the UGREEN AC1300 USB WiFi Adapter and it has been working perfectly for over a month now.

I’m even getting a faster connection than I was previously.

The installation and configuration files come on a CD. in 2023. How quaint. Raise your hand if your new PC has an optical drive. Anyone? Didn’t think so. Even modern laptops don’t have them anymore. ASUS hasn’t realized that USB drives are how files are transferred nowadays.

They’re a tech company, right? They manufacture hardware, right? SMH. Anyway, it works well once you track down someone with an external optical drive, but what a pain! Or I guess you can give ASUS more money and buy one of *their* optical drives.

I got this on a sale and I am glade I did. I was previously using the ASUS AC1200 USB. It was great for general usage, but when it came to gaming, I would get drops. I am about 7 yards away from the router and a few walls in between.

The AC1900 has no problem connecting to the router. I do get drops once in a great while, but it quickly picks up again without me missing a beat (unlike the AC1200 USB). I am planning on buying more for my kid’s computer as they are currently using the AC1200 USB as well.

Part I: When changing from one ISP to another, the new carrier, instead of using Ethernet, employed a wireless base station. I wasn’t thrilled about it, since I prefer wired connections, but decided to try this Asus adapter in my desktop PC.

After installing the card, antenna, and software, I fired it up and the provided application immediately found my ISP’s network. I logged on and BOOM: ‘Connected, Secured’. Speeds were generally comparable to cable, although prolonged use might see the occasional glitch.

Given that I’m almost 60 feet from the WAP though, it’s not bad. Part II: A few months later, went back to my old ISP. Not because of the wireless, but because of the incessant lying. With my old ISP, I was able to use my own router (NetGear NightHawk), configured my own way (no corporate identifiers in the SSID).

Still using wireless throughout the house and it’s all working great. This adapter in particular is fairly quick, pulling 200MB down and 35MBPS up on Ookla. Part III: My only gripe is not really with the Asus, but with Windows.

A recent Windows update broke the provided wireless manager app. The wireless connection still works flawlessly, I just can’t use some of advanced features in the manager. Not sure who should be fixing this, but think I know (I’m thinking negative thoughts at YOU, Microsoft).

Overall, very pleased with this unit. Lots of range, lots of speed, simple to set up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

As I owned six computers and two laptops I found this USB network adapter obviously easy to install. The only thing that I failed to do when I installed the software was to uninstall the software from my Netgear wireless adapter which I had moved to another computer.

Initially there was a conflict but once I removed the Netgear software there was no problem at all this device boots up quickly and gets on the router really fast the range is excellent as well.

My old, cheap WiFi N USB adapter connected at Speed: 54. 0 Mbps but had to be unplugged occasionally. This new one connected at Speed: 36 Mbps. I returned it because I saw no setting that would speed it up.

The two adapters were connected to the same port on my Windows 10 desktop.

This is a very powerful bit of kit very fast hardly no lagging connection is supper fast ‘ this is good build quality robust material ; dust cover when not I use and signal blue display to show quality of connection when in while it is in use.

marks 10/10.

After a quick install, the WiFi seemed to work great at first – ran a few tests on my internal network to see if I was getting the advertised performance and things started off great. I was getting file transfer speeds between devices on my network in excess of 900 Mbps – not exactly what it claims it can do.

I also ran some online tests and got a passable result of 920 Mbps to my ISP from ookla. So far so good right? Well, after about 20 minutes of use, I noticed that things slowed down dramatically. I went to check my connection status and is seemed like the device had dropped connection completely.

After a minute or so, it reconnected on its own and things seemed to be smooth again. This process never stopped. The longest the card was able to remain connected to my 5GHz network was about 33 minutes.

It constantly dropped the connection, and would take about 60 to 120 seconds to reconnect. This is my first TP-Link product and has honestly sort of ruined my interest in them because of how poorly the device performed.

Great card for price. WiFi is as good as any source it gets. Awesome part is I can Bluetooth my display and audio to my TV to watch movies from my computer without a cable connection or network. Only reason I have only given 4 instead of 5 starts is because the heatsink cover isn’t actually touching the components, there is a visible air gap (from the side) that appears like a thermal pad should be between them.

Meaning the heatsink is just for show. Either way card works great for price, and Asus one without a heatsink costs more anyway.

This is easily the fastest, best overall performing PCIe wifi/bluetooth adapter I’ve ever owned. However, I was very disappointed to learn that installing this device requires an available USB 2. 0 header on the motherboard, in addition to the open PCIe slot.

To make this work, I had to disconnect my front panel USB 2. 0 slots. Not a huge loss, but disappointing because nothing in the description of this product, or its images, indicated or showed a USB 2.

0 requirement. I’ve seen wifi only PCIe adapters that don’t require USB 2. 0, but due to lack of vendor provided specs on their products, I don’t know if a wifi/bluetooth adapter is possible without using a USB 2.

0 header (excluding a USB dongle). Feedback welcome.

I had bought this card for the Bluetooth purposes so that i could use my xbox controller and airpods with my pc. I hadnt even notices that this was a dual action card: both wifi and bluetooth. When i had finished installing the card i had neglected to plug in my ethernet.

I used the onboard wifi for 6 WHOLE DAYS without noticing any difference in network performance. Great product!!!.

I bought this to add wifi to my pc build. I love the way it looks and MSI is a reputable brand so I decided to take a chance. I ran speed tests and it is fast. It also has built in bluetooth which was a plus.

I had to remove my USB bluetooth adapter because this makes the other one useless. Perhaps, it causes a conflict. Recently, I experienced connection loss randomly. I have to disable then enable the wifi from the device manager to make it work again.

I installed the latest drivers prior to installing and it worked flawlessly the first time. It does not detect any wifi signals at all when it begins to act up. My router is in the same room and it didn’t matter.

If I use wired connection, no problems. It’s not as reliable as I thought. When it works, is great. When it drops there wifi, it’s annoying.

TL;DR This card doesn’t work well with an Xbox One controller, but has a reliable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection with all other devices. I specifically bought this card for using an Xbox One controller with my PC, but sadly the connection isn’t stable enough to play, and even worse is that’s only 6-8ft away from the receiver.

No issues with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connections with any other devices. It seems as if the Xbox One controller doesn’t like third party Bluetooth receivers. If you’re looking to use this with a Bluetooth Xbox One controller, pass on this or any other Bluetooth receiver and just buy the official Xbox One controller adapter for the PC.

I bought this product 12/20/2018 after I upgraded my internet to at&t fiber optics internet getting upwards for 300-400mbps. I usually prefer wired but I had to opt into wireless due to apartment constructions.

Anyway, I bought this adapter due the it saying it supports 802. 11ac(5Ghz) which is required to get the full speed of 100+mbps, but instead I am stuck on 2. 4ghz. I’ve checked to make sure I have the correct drivers, uninstalled and reinstalled, and I’ve made set the protocol to only find 802.

11ac, but it will not find the network I’m trying to connect to. I’ve also tried other protocols such as 802. 11n to try to use 5ghz to no avail. In the end if this network adapter worked as advertised, I would rate this higher, but so far it has not worked properly for me.

I’ve recently bought a Netgear A6100 USB wifi adapter that currently gets me an average of 120-150mbps. I will say there maybe a chance I’ve installed it improperly or got unlucky and bought a bad batch.

From what I can tell, this thing is plug and play 2. 4 GHz 802. 11n with no fuss. It doesn’t do 5 GHz, it doesn’t do other modes, and it’s nothing fancy, but it’s absolutely tiny, it’s $6, and it gives you working wifi.

I didn’t even need to install the provided driver (though I went on the website and installed it anyway, just to check out the utility and see if it added any functionality). I got exactly what I expected and I have no complaints.

I plugged this into an older computer that didnt have wifi and this adapter works until it doesn’t. will stay connected for a while but will randomly disconnect and reconnect throughout the day

So when I first tried to install the device the bluetooth worked just fine, but the wifi part couldn’t be found on my device lists. After taking the adapter out and fitting it to 3 different ports it eventually started working.

And when it does work its a really good device, and honestly the speed is basically the same when i have an ethernet plugged in. However about 2 weeks ago windows did an update and for w/e reason the adapter stopped working.

Computer kept saying device not found. Eventually i got the wifi part to work again by doing what i did the first time but now the bluetooth isn’t working at all. Says it cant find the device. I’ve done a little digging and it seems like a semi common problem.

So while i would love to recommend this device because when it works it is really good, but i don’t want you to gamble with your monies.

I have an older laptop that ran only 2G. Not wishing to have to try to replace the WIFI card in the laptop I found it easier to just get a USB dongle for WIFI. I am familiar with Netgear being a good product so I decided to go with the dongle for 5G by Netgear.

It has been eight months so far no problems. Very simple to install. Since buying the dongle I have purchased Netgear’s router with the eight ports from BestBuy. One thing i did like is their price matching for the ASUS – AX6000 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Router.

Don’t know if it is still on sale, but it allows me to upgrade to WIFI 6 in the future. Should I choose to do so. I don’t think much about brands when they claim one thing and do another. However with Netgear it seems that for the home the dongle and the router is a good foundation for streaming from PC, tablets and other automation devices.

As with any networking device it is only as good as your network provider’s service. I say this because one’s expectations should not be to clear up bad internet service by purchasing a better router, because there isn’t a router made that can do that.

A good router will enhance the service provided by a good internet provider by allowing the devices in one’s home or office to be more efficient. So if your looking to update an old PC to WIFI 5 this is the dongle that did it for me.

Happy web surfing!.

I was out on a very long road trip, and the internal WiFi card in my laptop was having great difficulty making/keeping connections to most hotel and other public WiFi’s. I didn’t want to perform “surgery” to replace my internal card with a new one while out on the road — worried about damaging something else.

So I stopped at the nearest Best Buy and picked this up. Software installation couldn’t be easier, and I was immediately on line with this adapter. It worked 100% reliably on the many different WiFi’s I used for the rest of the trip.

Suddenly I lost my wireless internet connection. After several attempts to reinstall drivers and run diagnostic procedures. I gave up and brought my laptop in to Staples for a new Network Card. I was told about this simple USB adapter in place of spending for expensive repairs on an old laptop.

This USB Adapter was easy and quick to install and provides excellent wireless connections to my laptop. Thank you for the recommendation and great product.

Most PCIe WiFi adapters have normal antennas attached directly to the card behind the case. This one gave me more versatility than those allowing me to place it anywhere on my desk unobstructed by a wall or my pc case.

Would’ve been a 5 star review, but the cord is a bit short and there wasn’t any type of adhesive or Velcro included. Needs about another foot if your pc is below your desk. If you have your case on top of your desk the cord length is fine.

I mention the adhesive because the cord causes the housing for the antenna to not sit right on a flat surface it’s always lifted at an angle, and the housing is so light that it constantly slides and moves with the slightest touch or bump.

Potentially falling or getting caught on something and being pulled. The cords are very thin so a hard unintentional tug could cause serious damage.

I was a huge non-believer in wireless & refused to get a built in adapter until now. The new router paired with this adapter is so fast that it matched the performance of my wired connection! Granted, my internet connection is only 50mbps, but still.

It maxed out the ISP’s advertised speeds with the same ping as that of the wired connection. The Bluetooth is the added cherry on top! Previously, I used a micro USB dongle to provide Bluetooth coverage.

As some of you may know, there is interference due to the USB 3. 0 ports. This made using Bluetooth horrible, with controllers timing out/disconnecting completely, and not having enough bandwidth to use true wireless earbuds without audio distortion.

The Bluetooth 5 functionality provided by the network adapter solves it completely! It no longer suffers from the USB 3. 0 interference and the coverage is boosted by a large amount! Connection issues are a thing of the past, and all devices work perfectly now.

In conclusion, I’d recommend this network adapter to anybody who needs one and perhaps just upgraded their wireless router. It’s the real deal and will definitely get you the performance you’re looking for and THEN some!.

I have a seven-year-old Dell Inspiron 660 that sits on the furthest side of the house but within 50 feet of a router. The embedded wireless card barely pulled 9 mps over an 18 month period. I have a 10-year-old Netgear dual-band USB adapter that quadrupled this, but I hoped to better this by getting the AC1200.

At first, it did FAR worse. Reading up on the Netgear troubleshooting blogs and YouTubers’ experiences, I followed the tweaking tips they advised. After six hours, it worked. The adapter pulls over 11 times the mps rate compared to Dell’s wireless card.

If you’re not conversant with making general PC config/modification changes, this may be difficult. If you are, following a quick list will yield VERY satisfactory results. I ran the before/after tests once per three hours for five days, and I’m convinced.

I wanted to return this, as did many other users, but am very pleased with its performance. It is unusual that these issues haven’t been corrected since the product’s rollout (several years?), and that one has to dig deep to yield optimum results.

For this product, it is worth it.