ASUS PCE-AC56 2x2 802.11ac WiFi AC1300 PCIe Adapter

Pros: Before Windows 10 version 1709 card was fast stable and very reliable.

Cons: The Broadcom chip set that is on this device has a major flaw and will code 10 after the Windows 10 Version 1709 update there is a an entire blog dedicated to this phenomenon in the Microsoft community with people for the answer and Asus has not even chimed in on the subject or provided a work around.

Overall Review: The Broadcom chip set that is on this device has a major flaw and will code 10 after the Windows 10 Version 1709 update there is a an entire blog dedicated to this phenomenon in the Microsoft community with people for the answer and Asus has not even chimed in on the subject or provided a work around. I will update if a work around is ever found

Pros: Absolutely rock solid and fast wireless connection. Extremely easy installation in Win 10. It was actually plug and play compatible with no driver installation on a separate Win 8.1 machine that I had to borrow for a short time. This was a complete 180 from what I was used to in the past, going through many painful years of weak USB wireless adapters and more recently a Netgear wireless adapter hub that connected to my PC via ethernet.

Cons: The only con to these kinds of adapters is that you just need to make sure that you have room around your PCI slots to slide in this card. This card itself is tiny and only requires one slot, but if you have a huge PCI x16 graphics card (or two) taking up multiple slots obstructing your extra PCI 1x slots you could find some difficulty as some of the newer graphics cards have absolutely massive 2.5 slot heatsink/fan components. This wasn't an issue for me but could be for some that haven't checked out their motherboard layout in a while.

Overall Review: Zero regrets about this purchase. If you have a flaky wireless adapter and/or flaky router, you can rest assured that if you install one of these and still have an issue then you need to look into your router. I'm using this through multiple walls on a separate floor from my fairly inexpensive TP LINK router and have experienced zero drops in signal over the past 3 months.

Pros: -Fast connection -Supports wireless AC -NO PING SPIKES OR DROPPED CONNECTION -Red matches my pc looks nice -Magnetic antennae, has great range -Plug and play, no driver installations required

Cons: -slightly annoying blue activity light in the back -silver pcie bracket stands out in my black case

Overall Review: I have gone with cheaper $30 or less wifi cards in the past and they always had some sort of connection issues so I went with this one this time and I am very happy with it. Worth it if you need to use for gaming or something like that.

Pros: - Slim profile (fits with 2x Nvidia 980 SLI) - External attachable antenna - Great reception & link speed - Plug & play drivers

Cons: Cable length for the external antenna could be longer. Currently ~2 feet; would be optimal if it was at least 4 feet so you can mount it high or reach the other side of a desk.

Overall Review: I purchased this because I got tired of my USB wireless adapter not performing well. The one I bought had an issue with being stuck in USB2 even though it's advertised as USB3. This capped my download speeds at ~300 Mbps, not very ideal considering I'm pay for 400 Mbps internet service. I decided to go with PCI-E to eliminate the issues associated with USB dongles. Even with the router 20+ feet away and behind at least one wall, I can achieve almost maximum link speed of ~800 Mbps on the 5 Ghz band. Speed tests always show this is downloading at ~430 Mbps, the same as if connected via Ethernet. Of course Ethernet is superior than wireless, but it's amazing that modern wireless speeds are approaching gigabit speed. The best drivers are actually the Broadcom drivers installed by Windows when first plugged in. I would stay away from any ASUS drivers found online. The ones I found online caused this to have terrible performance, with link speed limited to ~200 Mbps. Not very ideal considering this can perform 800+ Mbps. Driver rollback instantly fixed the performance issue. On most full-size ATX boards, the smaller PCI-E slot this fits in is right in between the two larger PCI-E x16 slots. Contrary to what another reviewer said, this DOES fit with 2 large modern graphics cards. I have 2x Nvidia 980s in SLI format with a large aftermarket cooler (EVGA ACX 2.0 coolers) and this fits in between them. It's snug, but it fits. After installing this, there's not much space between, maybe 5 mm between the adapter and graphics cards.

Pros: Super easy, plugged in, started up Windows 10 and everything just worked! Love the extension that allows for better line of sight. Transfers are brilliant.

Cons: Didn't come with any candy

Cons: 5g Connection Issues

Overall Review: This adapter can have problems connecting to a 5G network, which I discovered after hours and hours of trying to get it to connect. It could not connect to my 5G network, and couldn't even see it, but my phone and tablet could. Also, this adapter is relatively old (perhaps 2014-2015). The problem arises because some of the 5G network channels are what are called DFS 5G channels. This adapter cannot "see" or connect with those channels. As such, if your router is set to a DFS channel, or if your router is set to automatically choose a channel and it chooses a DFS channel, it won't connect. And it won't even see the SSID for your 5G network. And that is the case even if you manually enter the SSID into your adapter/wireless software. You can also search online for a list of which 5g channels are DFS channels, and you can look in your router to see if your 5g network is using one of those DFS 5g channels [or perhaps it is set to automatic (as many are) and set itself to a DFS 5g channel]. When I manually changed the 5g channel in the router to a non-DFS channel, the adapter saw the 5g network SSID and connected. So it is fixable, manually, but less than optimal because you have to figure out which channel to pick, and which channel is best in your area, and some channels are faster than others. And many of those issues could be resolved automatically by the adapter if the adapter worked with DFS channels. Also, this problem could cause your adapter to have and then lose a connection if the router is set to automatic and changes the channel to a DFS channel. And yes, I updated the driver for the adapter, but I found that the newest driver from ASUS is from 2015 and it still does not see DFS channels. I would have sent it back but my 2.4 g network is working well. Bottom line, buy a different adapter. One that works with DFS 5g channels.

Pros: - Easy installation - No drivers needed for Windows 10 - Excellent reception signal strength

Cons: - After updating to Windows 10 v1709, the card would not work at all

Overall Review: To get the card working properly again on Windows 10 v1709, perform the following steps: Hit windows button and R > Type msconfig > Go to boot tab > Click advanced options >Look for pci lock on the left side > Check that box > Restart > Card will work again immediately

Pros: -46 to -50dBi with the external flexible antenna to the next room. Full bar connection and sexy heat sink.

Cons: Constant buzzing/cricket noise during activity while LED flashes in the rear So annoying it's enough for me to return it.

Overall Review: Returning for refund.