Internal wifi vs USB wifi Adapter

[upthecreek]

I'm buying a refurbished laptop I'm between 2 one has built in WiFi the other comes with a USB adapter Is there a big difference? A Google search provided mixed results I'd like to hear from some who may be using either Thanks

[TexasDolly]

Originally Posted by upthecreek

I'm buying a refurbished laptop I'm between 2 one has built in WiFi the other comes with a USB adapter Is there a big difference? A Google search provided mixed results I'd like to hear from some who may be using either Thanks

UTC, Probably not much difference . Buy the one with internal and if needed, buy the USB device later for under $ 10( I think mine was $ 6.00 on sale on Amazon). I've used both and haven't noticed any difference.
TD

[Flysofree]

Originally Posted by upthecreek

I'm buying a refurbished laptop I'm between 2 one has built in WiFi the other comes with a USB adapter Is there a big difference? A Google search provided mixed results I'd like to hear from some who may be using either Thanks

I'm very ignorant about such things, but the laptop without WIFI built in must be several years older than the one with it built in. Just thinking outloud, as am sure there are other factors that enter into decision besides age.

[upthecreek]

Originally Posted by Flysofree

I'm very ignorant about such things, but the laptop without WIFI built in must be several years older than the one with it built in. Just thinking outloud, as am sure there are other factors that enter into decision besides age.

Same laptop,I don't know why the difference

[TexasDolly]

Originally Posted by upthecreek

Same laptop,I don't know why the difference

The internal one probably failed and was replaced with the usb device.
TD

[Dave Schwartz]

Don't be afraid of the USB versions.

Truthfully, if you can figure out which USB model is the best, you may find that it is actually better than the internal one.

I have a tech guy that always seems to be up on brands and when he' disabled my wife's laptop internal and switched to the USB it was far faster than the other one had ever been.

[MJC922]

Generally speaking for a laptop you would want to favor the internal wifi over the usb adapter but if the internal wifi has issues such as flaky drivers or just doesn't play well with a certain router then it's definitely worth giving a usb wifi adapter a shot. On my desktop I actually run a USB wifi adapter with a high gain antenna, works far better than the stock internal wifi.

[upthecreek]

Thanks for all the responses I bought the one with internal WiFi ,802n

[Flysofree]

Originally Posted by upthecreek

Thanks for all the responses I bought the one with internal WiFi ,802n

That's what I have on my Toshiba laptop (about 5 years old) never a minutes problem.

[upthecreek]

Originally Posted by Flysofree

That's what I have on my Toshiba laptop (about 5 years old) never a minutes problem.

That's what I'm hoping for I got a good deal on a Dell refurbished with W7 It comes with a yr. warranty

[tucker6]

Originally Posted by TexasDolly

The internal one probably failed and was replaced with the usb device.
TD

ding, ding, ding

My internal wifi failed a couple years ago, and I bought the USB external wifi. No difference in signal. Only pain is that I need to remember to bring it with me when I travel. It is also slightly bigger than the port access, so it is sometimes difficult to plug in the printer access under it. Of course, if you have wireless printer, you'll have no issues.

[pandy]

I just realized that my laptop doesn't have bluetooth built in, so I bought a USB bluetooth adapter at Best Buy for $20. I could have gotten one cheaper online. But it works great, I was streaming music from my office upstairs to the living room.

[davew]

Where are you going to be using this?

removing the USB is a pretty good firewall if you do not want internet connection all the time

[Flysofree]

Originally Posted by tucker6

ding, ding, ding

My internal wifi failed a couple years ago, and I bought the USB external wifi. No difference in signal. Only pain is that I need to remember to bring it with me when I travel. It is also slightly bigger than the port access, so it is sometimes difficult to plug in the printer access under it. Of course, if you have wireless printer, you'll have no issues.

Was there anything that happened which caused it to fail...Did it just start dropping the signal all at once or was it a slow process? Do you have any ideas what happened and is this a rare thing or happens to them all at some point?

Guess I'm a born worrier.

[tucker6]

Originally Posted by Flysofree

Was there anything that happened which caused it to fail...Did it just start dropping the signal all at once or was it a slow process? Do you have any ideas what happened and is this a rare thing or happens to them all at some point?

Guess I'm a born worrier.

don't worry. I was a road warrior. I traveled through many airports internationally about 26 weeks a year. Just normal banging around wear and tear. Became intermittent over time and then one day failed. Was a cheap fix. Recently though, I've noticed it works again, but I still use the external wifi because I can count on it.