Upgrading Wireless card to 5ghz

[NickRoseSN]

We just got fiber optice but to get the highest speed for my desktop I have to upgrade the card from a 2.4ghz to 5ghz. Is there any card that I can replace the 802.11 wireless b/g/n & bluetooth 3.0 half-length PCI-Express Mini Card with?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

If your PC has two antenna leads currently connected to the wifi card, you can get one of these...

If you have a dual band AC router...

Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac 2x2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo

HP Part # 724935-001

If you have a dual band wireless N router, and don't plan to upgrade it in the near future...

Broadcom BCM943228HMB WiDi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2x2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 combo	HP Part # 730668-001

Do your search by the HP part number, not the model of the wifi card.

Either card should be available on eBay or Amazon.

[NickRoseSN]

The router is a At&T router model 5268ACFXN. I assume this is a dual band AC router?

Also my parents have a HP P6-2120.  I believe it has a Interface: PCI Express x1, Technology: Realtek RTL8171E gigabit ethernet controller, Data transfer speeds: up to 10/100/1000 Mb/s, Transmission standards: 1000-Base-T Ethernet Is this the best for this computer or is there another card that will get higher speed. The best that we have gotten is around 600 down and 700 up and this is connected hard line to the router. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

It appears to be an AC router.

I couldn't help you with finding another ethernet adapter.  I don't know of any that support speeds in excess of 1 GB.

The connection speed is 1 GB but download speeds may be less.

I don't know what that model should be getting, but several forum members have complained that they have never gotten more than 100 MB out of that adapter.

You may also benefit by using a Cat 6 ethernet cable if you don't have one already.

[NickRoseSN]

I guess my parents are lucky that there getting more then that. Will the Cat6 improve speed? There is already a Cat5e from the Computer to the router and a Cat5e running from the router to the box that converts the fiber to digital.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I can't say for sure, but if it were me, I would invest a few bucks into a couple of Cat 6 cables.

One from the PC to the router, and one from the router to the box.

[NickRoseSN]

For my other computer which is a HP Envy 17 Product# FOD50AV which adapter would be better Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 802.11ac 1×1 WiFi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter or Broadcom BCM4352 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi + BT 4.0 Combo Adapter ? What is the difference between them. I looked at the manual and are recommened.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

In most notebook PC's with AMD chipsets, Intel wifi cards won't work.

I'm not sure that an Intel card will or will not work with desktop PC's with amd chipsets, so I don't recommend them when I know the broadcom card would work.

The BCM4352AC card is better than the Intel 3160AC card.  2x2 vice 1x1 TX/RX streams.

The equivalent Intel card to the BCM4352 is the Intel 7260AC.  The Intel 7260 has 2x2 TX/RX streams.

[NickRoseSN]

Between the BCM4352AC and the Intel 7260AC is one better then the other or is the differnce just the brand name.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

I think Intel makes the best wifi cards but Broadcom is a close second.

But like I said...I cannot guarantee an Intel wifi card will work in your PC, since it has an AMD processor, so you are in uncharted waters if you go that route.