There are a lot of wonderful Wi-Fi playing cards, however we advocate sticking with a giant model identify akin to Asus, TP-Hyperlink, or Netgear. If you would like a Wi-Fi 6 card on your desktop, we will vouch for the TP-Link Archer TX3000E ($50). It provides velocity, vary, and reliability at an affordable value. For Wi-Fi 6E, improve to the TP-Link Archer TXE75E ($55). TP-Hyperlink’s magnetic antenna attachment is superb and may go wherever you get the strongest sign.
Laptops will be harder to suit a brand new card in. For older laptops (Wi-Fi 4 or earlier) and fashions the place the Wi-Fi adapter is soldered onto the motherboard, it might be inconceivable. You want an NGFF (Subsequent-Technology Kind Issue) 2230 (22 mm extensive, 33 mm lengthy) M.2 slot that’s Key A or Key E. Right here’s a fast M2 explainer if you wish to know extra. You additionally want appropriate antenna wires to connect to the cardboard.
The simplest solution to decide whether or not your laptop computer is appropriate is to make use of the strategy above to search out the Wi-Fi card that’s at present in your laptop computer and seek for it to make sure it’s an NGFF 2230 card (you possibly can all the time examine the connector keys and antenna connectors). Should you search YouTube for “improve Wi-Fi card + [your computer model]” you possibly can seemingly discover a video information. Should you don’t need to do it your self, think about asking a tech-savvy member of the family or pal. You possibly can additionally take it to a restore store the place they’ll do it whilst you wait.
Should you want a card for a laptop computer (or have a good price range), the Intel AX210 card ($16) works nice for Wi-Fi 6E, and comes with antennas for a laptop computer, attempt one thing like this AX210 kit ($30) for a desktop. Should you really feel Wi-Fi 6 is sufficient for now, you may get the Intel AX200 ($14) for a laptop computer or go for the Intel AX200 kit ($22) for a desktop.
You possibly can all the time purchase an adapter or dongle that slots into an out there USB port in your desktop or laptop computer. A plug-in adapter is the simplest solution to improve your Wi-Fi if you happen to don’t need to open your laptop. Some adapters are plug and play, however you will have to run by an set up, obtain drivers, and disable your previous community adapter. (Disabling your previous community adapter avoids conflicts and ensures your laptop makes use of the brand new adapter.)
Before you purchase any adapter, guarantee you’ve got a spare USB-A port and test the necessities. The most recent adapters work greatest with a USB 3.0 port. The USB model is commonly printed subsequent to the port, so search for a quantity or letters (for instance, SS stands for SuperSpeed and denotes USB 3.0). Right here’s how one can test when there’s nothing printed:
- Home windows: Click on the Home windows brand or key, seek for and open Gadget Supervisor, click on on Common Serial Bus controllers. If the USB model isn’t clear, you possibly can proper click on on the units listed for extra info.
- Mac: Click on the Apple brand, select About This Mac, after which System Report. Look underneath {Hardware} within the left pane and click on on USB.
- Chromebook: Open the Chrome browser and kind chrome://system within the tackle bar. Click on Develop All and scroll by the listing, or press Ctrl and F to open a search window and seek for “USB” to search out your ports.
