I recently bought a used PC system for my girlfriend, which includes a Ryzen 5600, 32GB of RAM, and a GeForce 3080, all for £700. The issue is that the motherboard doesn't have WiFi, and the graphics card is blocking all the PCIe slots on this mATX board. I'm wondering if there are good USB alternatives for WiFi, or should I consider using a PCIe riser cable with a WiFi card instead. I'm not really able to run cables throughout the house, so full wired connectivity isn't practical for us right now.
4 Answers
What motherboard do you have? Usually, there's a WiFi slot for antennas on most motherboards. If that’s not an option, a PCIe adapter for a WiFi 7 card might be the way to go, offering both WiFi and Bluetooth support.
I suggested a couple of options; some motherboards have hidden WiFi slots, so check near the control panel. Also, consider an adapter like the Gigabyte GC-WIFI7 PCI-Express Card if it’s compatible with your setup and OS!
Honestly, if you use a fast USB port (3.0 and above), USB WiFi adapters can work pretty well! A PCIe adapter is another valid route, but I’ve had solid experiences with USB options too.
Got any specific USB adapter recommendations? The last one I tried was from ages ago when 36mbps was considered fast!
If your WiFi speed is decent, you might try ethernet over power line as an option. A lot of people say it’s unreliable, but I’ve had good luck with it; I get full speed in my two-bedroom house. Just a thought!
WiFi works great in my space too! I consistently hit my 500mbps, although I've tried power line before and had bad results. Thanks for the tip!
I don't think my motherboard has that WiFi slot. It's a Gigabyte B550M... can I maybe use a normal M.2 slot?