[SOLVED] what wifi card will fit my desktop motherboard?

rblampain · 11-02-2017, 07:41 AM

I have a GA-AB350 motherboard with the following slots:
1 x PCIEX16 currently occupied by a video card
1 x PCIEX4 free
1 x PCIEX1_1 free
1 x PCIEX1_2 free
1 x PCIEX1_3 free
I am looking to purchase a wifi card but the only mention found in the advertising is "PCE" or "PCIe", What should I be looking for?
I do not need long-distance reception since all of the other hardware is located in the same room and this set up will not change, it is for low traffic although I need it to connect to a WiFi mobile modem (how I get Internet access but no gaming, no big download or the like).

If you can suggest particular cards known to work under Linux (Debian7-Debian9), that will be a bonus.

Thank you for your help.

bitfuzzy · 11-02-2017, 08:02 AM

This "should" work

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-333-_-Product

rokytnji · 11-02-2017, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bitfuzzy

This "should" work

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-333-_-Product

Sure looks like it

Quote:

Pros: The movable antenna makes a world of difference. My computer is on the 2nd story of my house and the wireless router is on the first. The speeds on my old card were so-so at best. I installed this one, moved the antenna around a bit, and it's like my computer is in the same room with the router.

I'm running this on Linux. I tried it on mint, and it worked right off the bat. I also have it working on gentoo. Enabling the IWLWIFI in the kernel config and emerging linux-firmware got it working easily I don't tend to compile drivers that I'm not using on gentoo, so when there aren't a lot of extra steps to getting it working, that is a good sign. It uses the Intel 8620 chipset, and in my experience, Intel means good open source support. I haven't messed with the bluetooth yet.

Built in bluetooth also. Keeewl.

Quote:

Pros: I'm using both Windows 10 and Linux (Ubuntu Gnome 17.04). Linux is my main system.

Before buying this card I spent some time searching the internet. I needed a good AC WiFi card from a reputable brand with excellent Linux support. This card was one of the candidates. I didn't know if it has good linux support and if both WiFi and Bluetooth will work on Linux.

The card arrived really fast and I unpacked the box. It was nicely packaged and the package has the card itself, the external antenna and a spare bracket.

Facts (I've been using it for 3 days so far):

Chip: Intel 8260
Launch date: Q2 of 2015
Antenna: 2x2
WiFi standards: AC, A/B/G
Bands: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz
Max speed (theoretical): 867 Mbps
Bluetooth version: 4.2

You will need at least kernel 4.1 for this to work out of the box. For older kernels you will need to download official linux firmware.

On my computer I get around 180Mbps, which is exactly the same as a wired connection. No drops on linux and the quality is very stable.

I will only briefly touch Windows, because I use it only for gaming. No issues found, drivers installed automatically, all worked out of the box.

Cons: Does not support MU-MIMO.

Other Thoughts: I didn't fully figure out the Bluetooth support on Linux, but my wireless speaker is not working with this card. I have a JBL Rumble.
I can pair with the speaker and connect to it, but I don't see the output device in the sound control center. I am not sure yet if it's a limitation of the kernel or the ubuntu.

I kinda sorta went through this also.

https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/n...ernal-speaker/

So if me. I'd buy it. Edit: Ooops. If only G wireless. Maybe a mis-print or bad comment though. But if true . I'd pass on buying it. But in your initial post. You seem to not care too much about that.

I'll leave it to others for hardware recommendations. Since all my Desktops are hand me downs. I use cheapo rosewill wifi pci and pcie on my older desktop computers

2nd edit: Not sure about Newegg and Australia either. Being from the Mexican border myself.

IsaacKuo · 11-02-2017, 11:05 AM

If it needs the iwlwifi, then this is part of Debian's non-free repositories. You can manually install it by adding "contrib non-free" to the lines in /etc/apt/sources.list and then running:

Code:

su -
apt-get update
apt-get dist-upgrade
apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi

I use this a lot because it's used on a lot of Fujitsu Lifebook laptops; I have a lot of Fujitsu laptops.