Network Adapters

Internet Across the Airwaves

As mentioned above, typically Wi-Fi has been the preserve of laptop users, with the prevailing perception being that only wired local area network access (LAN) offers suitable speed and low enough latency for playing fast paced action games online. To that end, many gaming focused motherboards do not include WiFi connectivity out of the box.

In recent times WiFi has improved considerably, with the recent WiFi 6 standard offering 600 to 9608 Mbit/s connections. If you happen to have a motherboard that lacks built-in WiFi not to worry, there are many ways to add wireless connectivity to your Gaming Rig.

The most straightforward option is via a USB dongle. Such devices connect to any standard USB port and are typically plug and play, so you can be online with WiFi in moments. In fact, often these dongles support Bluetooth too, so you can easily connect your PC to bluetooth peripherals and devices like gamepads. Good connection is obtained by an aerial that is generally built into these devices.

For gamers who want a more permanent or internal option, there are WiFi cards that can be installed inside your system via your motherboards expansion slots. Generally, these cards take up a single PCI-e slot, but there are also versions that take advantage of an M.2 slot.

For the laptop user

With all the advances in wireless tech, there still remain some advantages to having a wired connection. Laptop users know full well the problems an unstable connection causes for even light work or audio/video streaming, let alone gaming.

If you do encounter this issue with your laptop, there are many connectors that can convert a USB port to a standard Ethernet LAN port. Simply connect this to your laptop and plug it into your router via an Ethernet cable.

In fact, these LAN adaptors often include additional USB ports, which is also great for laptop users with slim models that lack connection options.

Whatever preference or need you have, we have the right network adaptor for you from great brands like ASUS, TP-Link, Edimax, and Intel.