Newbie Question: What's the difference between wireless card options?

[Fuzzball]

I'm hoping to get a gaming/all-purpose laptop, and I have no idea what the different 'Bluetooth & Wireless' options available to me mean! I'd have thought just the standard option would be sufficient, but was wondering if the more expensive options might actually improve my connectivity to the Internet. In my room my previous laptops have often had difficulty remaining connected to the weaker wireless signal. (Hopefully this will be helped with a more advanced router box we're about to install.)

I have questions:
1) In simple terms, what is the difference between the wireless options?
2) Does a better wireless card (Is that the right term?) mean you'll actually get faster Internet and download speeds on the laptop? I realise of course the actual speed you get at the wi-fi router would be far more important.
3) Do the different wireless cards excel at different functions? Would some be better at downloading things? That would be useful for when I have to re-download my Steam library.
4) What factors do I need to consider when deciding which wireless option is best for me?

Also, a side point, why do none of PC Specialist's laptops have a physical switch on the case to turn the wireless function on/off? My last two Sony VAIOs have both had this, and I thought it was standard for laptops. Does this mean PCS's laptops' wireless functions are always "on" and constantly searching for wi-fi signals? It seems to me it would be good to have that physical switch to reset things if necessary...

 

[Toxophilix]

The more expensive options will give you a faster connection between your PC and your router. Also, I believe the "Killer" products are supposed to give a lower-latency connection for gamers by prioritising games-related traffic (I find that hard to take seriously, but maybe someone who has one can comment).

As you say, the actual speed of Internet downloads is really dependent on the router's own connection to the outside world (and also on the bandwidth which the server you are downloading from will support). So, if you are downloading over a typical domestic ADSL line then having a wifi card that supports 300Mps rather than 150 is not going to have any useful effect. The advantage of the faster options is rather that they give you a faster connection to a LAN (so useful if you need to connect to a network at work, or if you have a home network, perhaps with a "home server" for shared media). Also, we might get much faster home internet in the near future.

The more expensive options should not be needed just to get a stable, strong connection. The standard one should be 100% fine for that. If you have a problem there I would try to fix it by getting a better router (which you say you are doing). Also, you could try the Homeplugs which PCS sell, which let you use the ordinary electric wires in your walls to transmit data. That could allow you to use a wired connection while at home, which is probably going to be better than any wi-fi yet invented.

 

[Fuzzball]

Thanks for the thorough and helpful explanation!

The message I seem to be getting is that different wireless cards won't really have much effect, but better ones might make the connection between my laptop and router slightly faster. So that would make my Internet speed ever so slightly faster? Also, if I get one of the 'killer gaming' ones, it might make my Internet connection in games more reliable. Is that correct?

 

[Toxophilix]

Thanks for the thorough and helpful explanation!

The message I seem to be getting is that different wireless cards won't really have much effect, but better ones might make the connection between my laptop and router slightly faster. So that would make my Internet speed ever so slightly faster? Also, if I get one of the 'killer gaming' ones, it might make my Internet connection in games more reliable. Is that correct?

Well, not exactly.

The better cards would make the connection between your laptop and router faster, but that is not where the bottleneck is if you are downloading from the Internet over a home ADSL connection.

I don't think the Killer products claim to give a more reliable connection. What they do is prioritise network traffic so that important stuff (by which they mean traffic related to a game you are playing) is transmitted with higher priority than anything else. I am personally skeptical that it would make any real-world difference.

To be honest I would stick with the standard wifi offering. If you have some of your budget free there are almost certainly better places to spend it than this.

 

[Fuzzball]

To be honest I would stick with the standard wifi offering. If you have some of your budget free there are almost certainly better places to spend it than this.

Alright. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Fuzzball]

One final question: Do the better cards give the laptop's wireless ability more range? The descriptions on the PCS configurator seem to suggest they do.

 

[vanthus]

One final question: Do the better cards give the laptop's wireless ability more range? The descriptions on the PCS configurator seem to suggest they do.

Yes,they do have greater range.

 

[hargil]

Also - I think

as mentioned, a faster WiFi card will give you a faster connection to your LAN, useful if you have a NAS on the LAN

BUT.....

the router has to be able to support the faster speeds,

a lot of routers will only support lower speeds so you won't be any better of until you upgrade your router as well (if you have a low speed router - i mean the WiFi part of the router of course).