Ariel McKenzie

Case Project 2-1: Pricing Wireless NICs

Both laptop and desktop are the popular home and office choice for personal computers. Every computer has the capability of connecting to internet via a wired structure. This is possible through one of the peripheral connection in the rear of a desktop or on one of the side of a laptop. This connection is referred as the Ethernet. The internal type of card within the computer is called a Network Integrated Card (NIC). With all that said, there is a high demand for wireless connectivity. Most laptops bought these days already have an integrated Wireless NIC card, which means they already have the device needed to connect wirelessly to the internet. Although this might true as well to most desktops that are available in market, some of them only have the wired connection capability. With that said, there are both internal and external devices that can be added to a desktop computer to enable wireless network connectivity. This following table will show an example of several devices: Device Internal / External External (USB) ASUS USB-N13 B1 Internal (PCI-E) ASUS PCE AC68 TPLINK TL-WN823N External (USB) 2.4Ghz & 5GHz (DualBand) 2.4GHz Frequen cy 2.4GHz Max Data Rate Up to 300Mbps (802.11b/g/n) Security 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPS support 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPA, WPA2 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, 802.1X 64/128-bit WEP (Hex & ASCII), WPA/WPA2, WPA(TKIP with IEEE 802.1x)/WPA2(AES with IEEE 802.1x) 64/128 bit WEP, WPA/WPA2, WPAPSK/WPA2-PSK (TKIP/AES), IEEE802.1X Price $22.99

Up to 1.3Gbps (802.11a/b/g/n/ ac Up to 300Mbps (802.11b/g/n) Up to 450Mbps (802.11a/b/g/n)

$99.99

$15.99

TPLINK TL-WDN4800

Internal (PCI-E)

Rosewill RNX-N180UB

External (USB)

2.4Ghz & 5GHz (DualBand) 2.4Ghz

$42.99

Up to 300Mbps (802.11b/g/n)

$14.99

Rosewill N900PCE

Internal (PCI-E)

2.4Ghz & 5 GHz (DualBand)

Up to 450 Mbps (802.11a/b/g/n)

$32.99

Ariel McKenzie In conclusion, with the information that is presented in the table above, I prefer to add an internal NIC to a desktop computer. My reasons for this decision are: 1. External USB devices are more prone to damaged and fault, compared to a PCI-E internal card that is connected into the motherboard into its appropriate slot. 2. Most external NICs come with dedicated software for easy install and future configuration. Although some of the USB external devices might have software too, not all of them do. 3. Most external NIC cards come with 1-3 antennas. This is what aides the device to have higher speeds and performance.