Powerful Wi-Fi adapter for your computer. Choosing an inexpensive and good Wi-fi adapter

A Wi-Fi adapter is a device that receives a data signal from a router or any access point. Such devices are used everywhere no possibility stretch the cable to connect to the Internet. Wireless Internet connection adapters are a new generation of data broadcasting from the Internet. In many offices they are used when connecting via a local network, so as not to pull wires.

There are different types of such gadgets. The most popular of them will be described below.

Adapter Types

Exists several types these devices.

• Internal with PCI, PCI-e, mini PCI-e interface.
• External with USB interface.
• Expansion cards, card-bus type.

The very first, internal adapters built inside computer into the motherboard connectors. Connector types – pci, pci-e, Mini pci-e. The performance of such devices is high, since the connection goes directly to the processor, ensuring stable reception of data from the router. Used in laptops as built-in board inside the case. And on a computer, such devices can be recognized by the antenna protruding from the back wall of the system unit. Of course, the price of such devices will be much higher than the following types described.

Internal adapter

USB adapters. From the name itself it should be concluded that they connected via USB connector on the front or back of the computer. Some types are connected using a cable to a USB connector.

Such gadgets have low speed data transmission. However, this disadvantage is compensated by the low cost.

Expansion cards or card-bus are designed for computers and laptops that have a special PC-card connector. The antenna is located inside such a device. However, these devices are almost never used and are not widespread.

How adapters work

Data reception and transmission devices operate using the TCP/IP protocol. Selected frequency range operating from the factory is 2.4 GHz. There is a second type of range, which is 5 GHz. IN modern world and in high-rise buildings, the first type of range is too noisy, since almost all residents use routers tuned to this particular frequency.

When a person accesses any website through a browser, a data packet with a request arrives via a wireless network to the router, then the site corresponding to the request is found via the wire and again transmitted via wire to the home router, and from the router this signal is picked up by your Wi-Fi receiver, the desired page opens on the screen of your laptop or computer.

When receiving and transmitting data they play an important role receiver standards and routers, compatibility, frequencies on which they operate. The speed of your PC on the Internet will depend on them. Therefore, it is important to consider all these characteristics when purchasing a Wi-Fi receiver.

What to look for when choosing

First of all, we look at standards and speed. There are several standards in the world.

• 802 11.a – does not apply in Russia. Its range is small, but the throughput is good - up to 54 Mb/s. Not worth buying as there are no devices that work with it.
• 802 11.b – speed (11 Mb/s) and security of this standard leaves much to be desired. Range up to 50 meters.
• 802 11.g - this standard has a high speed of up to 54 Mb/s and a range of up to 50 meters.
• 802.11i is the modern standard. It uses state-of-the-art data encryption. The speed is 125 Mb/s, and the radius is 50 meters. Contains WEP, WPA, WPA2 protocols.
• And the latest standard today is 802 11.n. Data transfer occurs at a speed of 540 Mb/s, and the coverage radius is up to 200 meters. Security is high.

For the average user suitable device with 802 11g standard. These inexpensive gadgets allow you to surf the Internet, watch movies, and play online games with pleasure.

The second thing we pay attention to is router compatibility. It is better to buy adapters from the same company as the router. This way you can avoid many problems that arise when connecting incompatible devices.

Frequency on which the adapter works. As was already said at the beginning of the article, each adapter operates at its own frequency. There are only two of them. 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz. Since 2.4 GHz is widely used in today's world, it is best to buy a 5 GHz adapter.

Once you are satisfied with the listed parameters, pay attention to transmitter power and number of antennas. It is not recommended to buy a power less than 20 dbM. The signal will be weak and the covered distance will also decrease. It is advisable to buy a device with two or more antennas. And with an external antenna, the device receives and transmits the signal better.

Antennas are divided into types according to directionality and polarization . By direction There are narrowly focused, omnidirectional and sectoral.

• Directed– antennas distribute the signal in the form of a narrow beam. Chart width from 5 degrees to 15 degrees.
• Sectoral– distribute the signal in a certain sector: vertically 15 degrees, horizontally from sixty to one hundred and twenty. They are used when it is necessary to connect a large number of clients.
• Omnidirectional These are the antennas that distribute the signal 360 degrees.

By polarization antennas are divided into two types.

• Unipolarization. They use one connection connector.
• Bipolarization. The connection is made using two connectors. Such antennas have a strong signal, since the broadcast is carried out in two streams: vertically and horizontally.

In addition, the device must support such encryption like WPA/WPA2, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK. These are modern safety standards.

The longer the transmission and reception range, the better.

Basic mistakes when choosing an adapter

The most important and first mistake when choosing - it's a beautiful appearance and a cheap price. Almost no one pays attention to its characteristics. This cannot be done when purchasing this device.

Another mistake is based on a stereotype - all Chinese technology is bad. Quality depends on the model, not the company.

When purchasing first read the specifications, reviews about the device, and then draw conclusions.

How to connect a Wi-Fi adapter to a computer

The simplest adapters when connecting to a system unit are external ones. They connect to the USB output via a cable or without it. The system finds drivers on its own. And the user just has to connect to his network and start working.

It will be more difficult with internal ones. For this the case is disassembled system unit, there is a PCI-e interface on the motherboard.

The antenna on the adapter is unscrewed and the device is inserted into a special hole.

The antenna is screwed onto the adapter from the outside of the unit.

You must do everything as shown in the picture above. Then insert the disc with the driver and install it into the system. After the drivers are installed, go to the device manager.

If you did everything correctly, you should have this driver appear in the manager. Then we go to control center networks. Right-click on the point indicated in the figure.

In the window that opens, click on the block Change adapter settings.

Then we look at your adapter driver. If everything is correct, and in most cases it is automatically configured, then you will see a green ladder. If not, then go into it by right-clicking on the block and go to properties.

In properties we find “ Internet Protocol versionIP4 " and double-click on it with the left button. Change the specified values ​​there to “Obtain an IP address automatically.”

The settings of the Card-bus adapter are identical to the settings of the internal adapter or usb. This card is inserted into a special slot on a laptop or computer.

If you have a regular desktop computer and the Internet is connected via a Wi-Fi router, then there are at least two ways in which you can connect your PC to the router.

Let's look at both options:

1. Using a network cable. In this case, there is one big minus and one big plus. The downside is that you need to lay a network cable from the router to the computer. And if the router is installed near the PC, then this is not a problem. But it is not always possible to stretch the cable. It is not always convenient and beautiful. Well, the plus is that the cable connection is more stable and the Internet speed will be higher.
2. Via Wi-Fi network, using a special adapter. Desktop computers, as a rule, do not have built-in Wi-Fi adapters, and in order to connect the PC to a wireless network, this adapter must be purchased, installed and configured. This is not a problem, but it is an additional cost. But no wires. I wrote about this in the article: .

In this article, we will look in detail at what Wi-Fi adapters for PCs are, what to look for when choosing, and how to choose a suitable adapter for a desktop computer. It should be noted that the USB adapters discussed in this article can also be used on laptops without any problems. If the built-in module is broken or does not work for some other reason.

In the meantime, you are choosing a Wi-Fi adapter, you can use an Android mobile device instead. I wrote in the article how to set it all up.

Perhaps you have another router, then you can try setting it up as a receiver according to the instructions.

What types of Wi-Fi adapters are there? Deciding on the connection interface

First of all, I advise you to decide on the interface through which the adapter will connect to your desktop computer. The most popular are USB and PCI Express. There is also PCMCIA (mainly for laptops), but they are no longer very relevant, therefore, we will not consider them. Let's take a closer look at receivers that connect via USB and PCI.

I think you have decided on the connection interface. As for other characteristics, there are no differences between USB and PCI. The information you will find below applies to Wi-Fi adapters with different interfaces.

Selecting a Wi-Fi receiver based on technical characteristics

Once you have decided on the connection interface, you need to look at other technical characteristics. Basically, this is one indicator: the speed of data transfer over a wireless Wi-Fi network. The Internet connection speed that you will get on your computer when connected via a Wi-Fi receiver depends on this.

Also pay attention to the gain of the Wi-Fi network. I looked at different adapters, but the characteristics usually do not indicate the power of the antennas. If your computer is installed far from the router, where the signal is not very stable, then for good Wi-Fi signal reception, take a receiver with external antennas. The system unit is usually installed on the floor. Therefore, for better reception, the adapter can be connected via a USB extension cable (if you have an external model) and put it on the table.

Wi-Fi standard, support 802.11ac (5 GHz)

At the time of writing this article (end of March 2017), the most adapters on sale support the 802.11n standard. Wireless network speed up to 300 Mbps (maybe higher). The cheapest Wi-Fi adapters provide speeds of up to 150 Mbps. I would advise buying such adapters only if you need to save a lot. It’s better, of course, to buy a receiver with speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s, and even better with support for the modern 802.11ac standard.

Also, by connecting the Internet to your computer via a network cable and installing a Wi-Fi adapter, you can distribute Wi-Fi rather than receive it. I wrote how to do this in the article: .

If your PC was previously connected to the Internet via cable, then after connecting via Wi-Fi, the connection speed may drop significantly. There is nothing wrong with this, and it does not mean that you did something wrong or configured something incorrectly. True, it all depends on how much the speed has dropped. You can find tips on increasing the speed of your Wi-Fi connection in the article.

In the comments you can leave your question, or share useful information on this topic!

WiFi adapters are devices that, by connecting internally or externally to a computer, can implement wireless Internet support in it. For the most part, these devices are designed for desktop computers. Wi-Fi adapters provide an aesthetic solution when carrying the Internet to other rooms or offices in the premises. There is no need to lay a cable, hide it under finishing, incur financial costs in connection with this, or endure the inconvenience of repairs.

A Wi-Fi adapter can become a budget alternative when increasing the number of PCs in a room with a low-power router that supports an insufficient number of network ports. Wi-Fi adapter is also a solution for laptops, tablets, TV- set-top boxes, smartphones and other devices with their own Wi-Fi receivers on board, if the latter are out of order, poorly receive a signal or slow down the Internet speed.

What criteria are important when choosing this device?

1. Connection type

As for the types of connection of the Wi-Fi adapter - internal and external, everything is extremely simple here: with the first, the device is connected through, respectively, the internal hardware interfaces of a PC or laptop, and with the second - through USB . The benefit of the latter option is obvious: not everyone understands computer technology enough to independently implement the internal filling, while connecting USB-even beginners can use the device. Plus, the internal hardware interface slots should not be occupied by other components (video cards, SSD, etc.) .

With USB, this matter is, of course, easier. This Wi-Fi adapter is universal; it can be connected to any device with USB ports on board. But the hardware interfaces within each individual type of equipment are different. Thus, the internal Wi-Fi adapter used inside the PC assembly cannot be disconnected and inserted inside the laptop. Not to mention a smartphone or tablet.

Internal Wi-Fi adapters benefit, in fact, only in data transmission throughput. For external ones, it is usually limited by the capabilities of the USB 2.0 interface, which, by the way, is what most of the input adapters and output computer devices are equipped with. But there is a nuance here: unfortunately, it is not possible to get real benefit from such an advantage in every case. In addition to the connection interface, there are many other factors on which Internet speed depends. This, in particular, is the technical potential of the router, its settings, radio interference, and the provider cutting the speed promised under the tariff.

There is an opinion that only Wi-Fi adapters with an internal connection type are capable of providing acceptable signal strength due to the presence of an antenna. Or at least provide a connector for connecting it from the outside. This is not true: USB Wi-Fi adapters can also be equipped with a powerful antenna. It’s just that some budget models of the latter, which look like a small flash drive, are designed to have a compact shape and a narrow range of action acceptable for everyday needs. For example, for use in small apartments.

2. Connection interface

Internal Wi-Fi adapters are usually connected to the PC assembly via hardware interfaces PCI And PCI Express , and to laptops – via mini PCI Express And PCMCIA . Devices with an external connection type are simply inserted into the ports USB.

3. Network card with Wi-Fi support

The network card included with the Wi-Fi module is intended for implementing both wired and wireless networks. What's the advantage? The functionality is in reserve: another network port will never be superfluous; it can come in handy if, for example, a port on the motherboard fails. Of course, provided that such a backup option does not significantly increase the final cost of the device.

4. Wi-Fi standard and data transfer speed

Any equipment participating in the wireless data transmission chain must support the Wi-Fi standard 802.11N . This is a kind of standard. Its maximum throughput can reach 600 Mbit/s, however, in reality this will only be 220 Mbit/s. If with this standard the manufacturer promises maximum speed 150 Mbit/s, the real figure will not exceed 55 Mbit/s. The last option is for extreme cases.

The best option would be to purchase a Wi-Fi adapter that provides maximum speed 300 or 450 Mbit/s. In reality, these values ​​will be limited, respectively, 110 And 165 Mbit/s.

Is it worth overpaying to support the most modern and high-speed standard? 802.11 AC ? In theory, it is capable of transmitting data over the network at speeds up to 6.77 Gbps. But the question is: will such a speed be realized in practice, taking into account the technical capabilities of other devices participating in the data transmission chain? And this is support for the standard by the router, fairly powerful computer devices with SSD-storage devices on board, high-speed tariff plan from the provider.

5. Antenna

The optimal antenna power of a Wi-Fi adapter is considered to be 20 dBm. More is better. But less is acceptable if the router is located somewhere nearby. If the signal source is far away, the presence of a powerful external antenna on the device should be the main characteristic that determines the choice.

6. Adaptation at the software level

The Wi-Fi adapter, in addition to supporting the required hardware interface, must also be detected at the software level - using the operating system or after installing the driver. Driver for DVD Not all manufacturers may supply a disk along with a Wi-Fi adapter, in particular, this applies to cheap Chinese goods. Sellers may claim that there is no need to manually install the driver, saying that Windows itself should detect the device when it is connected to the port USB. They are partly right, but this is not always the case. Windows 8.1 and 10 versions usually detect connected Wi-Fi devices themselves. But in versions of Windows 7 and older, manual work may be required to install the required driver.

If it turns out that Windows is not "sees" connected Wi-Fi adapter, you need to carry out the standard procedure for installing the driver manually. To do this, you can use special software to automatically scan the system and install missing drivers. Or you can get it in device manager ID (identifier) adapter to find the required driver on the Internet.

Devices that Windows could not detect are usually listed in the manager column "Other devices", they are accompanied by a yellow exclamation mark. On the intended Wi-Fi adapter, you need to call the context menu and open "Properties".

Then in the column "Intelligence" in the drop-down list of properties we set "Equipment ID" and copy (or remember) its meaning.

Modern people are faced with the need to connect to Wi-Fi everywhere: wireless networks are much more practical and convenient than their cable “brothers”.

It’s just that similar WiFi privileges are mainly used by all kinds of mobile gadgets: phones, tablets, smartphones and most modern laptops. Accordingly, the question arises: why is a “classical” personal computer worse? After all, working on a desktop computer is much more convenient, but connecting to cable Internet often causes a lot of trouble.

And in this article we will look at how to connect a desktop computer to wifi, and what needs to be done for the computer to “catch” invisible Wi-Fi.

By the way, the age of the device is not directly related to the creation of a wireless network, and you can connect WiFi even to a relatively old computer.

Can a regular computer be connected to wifi?

Some difficulties with connecting Wi-Fi on a personal computer are not at all related to the “prejudice” of the developers or the unfortunate fate of this device, full of hardships.

The fact is that mobile devices and modern laptops are initially equipped with a built-in Wi-Fi adapter for connecting to a wireless network (which is not available on a desktop computer). However, such devices are mostly designed for short-term access to the network, and have a rather meager set of functionality.

While a desktop computer is designed for long-term work with both serious offline software and any resources of the global information network. Accordingly, the connection to all peripheral devices and external networks (Internet, power supply, etc.) is carried out here in a more reliable cable way.

A cable Internet connection for a desktop computer is more stable than a wireless Wi-Fi connection. Thus, with a WiFi connection, the reliability and speed of the network directly depend on the number of active connections, channel congestion, room architecture and many other third-party factors.

Therefore, it’s still not worth deciding to connect your home computer to wifi solely for aesthetic reasons. “Standard” cable connection is more reliable, more efficient ( Not), and causes much less damage to the health of the Internet user.

However, if a hard connection to the Internet source is unavailable for some reason, then you can connect Wi-Fi on your home computer in a matter of minutes.

How to connect your home computer to wifi?

To connect wifi to a desktop PC, first of all, you need to purchase a special removable Wi-Fi adapter - a miniature antenna that will “catch” the Internet signal transmitted by the router and return the data processed by the user to the router.

The most popular and inexpensive solution here would be to choose a removable USB adapter for your computer.

In order not to get a “pig in a poke”, it is better to buy a device from well-known and time-tested manufacturers: TP-Link, D-Link, etc.

If you purchased the adapter from an official distributor, the device comes with a disk with a special program for installing drivers.

How to install Wi-Fi on a computer running Windows 7?

1. Connect your adapter to any USB port on your computer.

2. Insert the disk into the drive, run the auto-configuration utility and, when prompted by the program, click the “Next” button.

3. After installing the driver, in the “Network Center” folder for Windows 7 (or “Network Connections” for Windows XP), you will see a new shortcut (in addition to the usual “Local Area Connection”). The name of the label will contain the brand of the manufacturer of your adapter.

4. Now you can connect your desktop computer to wifi. To do this, right-click on the shortcut once -> “Connection” -> Select the name of your Wi-Fi network and enter the password.

How to set up Wi-Fi if there is no installation disk?

In addition to the “classic” purchase of a brand new licensed adapter, there are cases when the user needed Wi-Fi on the computer “here and now”, and he borrowed/purchased an old used WiFi adapter from friends.

Naturally, the disk with the driver for such an adapter has long been lost.

In such a situation, you need to download the archive with the driver from the Internet.

“But there is no Internet!” - you say - “What to do?”

Here To connect your desktop computer to wifi you should:

1.

Connect the computer you are setting up to the router using a cable (if possible).

Go to the official website of the manufacturer of this adapter (or the specialized resource ddriver.ru), find the driver you need by the name of the USB-Wi-Fi adapter and download the software to your computer.

If a cable connection to the router is not possible, download the driver you need onto any computer connected to the Internet, and using removable media (flash drive) copy the archive to your wired computer.

2. Next, right-click once on the “My Computer” shortcut, then “Manage” and select “Device Manager” here. In the “Network Adapters” section, find the name of our USB adapter, right-click on it and select the “Update Driver” menu item. Next, specify the folder into which the archive with the necessary drivers was copied and click “OK”.

3. Once the installation is complete, you will be able to connect your desktop computer to wifi. To do this, in “Network Connections”:

Select a new shortcut;

Right-click on it;

Select the menu item “Connection”;

Select the name of your Wi-Fi network (which you specified in the SSID when setting up the router);

Enter your password and you can use the Internet.