An article written clearly about WiFi6 wireless adapters. The information about WiFi6 wireless adapters has been introduced in many articles and answers.
However, the information is scattered and the information is not comprehensive enough.
Recently, the number of friends who come to me to consult WiFi6 wireless adapters has increased, so it is necessary to try to explain all things about WiFi6 wireless adapters through an article.
Why do you need WiFi6 adapter?
The first question at the beginning of the article, we need to figure out: why do we need WiFi6 network card (adapter)?
On the one hand: the WiFi6 adapter allows the computer to join the WiFi6 network, completing the last link of the home WiFi6 network.
Routers, mobile phones, computers, these three are basically the three most important network devices in most homes.
Router: Since 2019, WiFi6 routers have gradually entered the market, and after about 2 years of great development, they have been recognized by most ordinary users and entered ordinary people’s homes;
Mobile phones: The popularity of WiFi6 on mobile phones is also very fast; From the initial flagship configuration, it has basically become the standard configuration of the thousand-yuan machine; The rapid popularity of WiFi6 on mobile phones is the result of the active promotion of mobile phone manufacturers and the passive choice of consumers.
The popularity of WiFi6 on computers is quite slow: although most of the newly listed laptops in the past two years are equipped with WiFi6 network cards, in the large-scale existing computer market and DIY installation market, the popularity of WiFi6 requires more consumers to actively choose.
In contrast, the transition from WiFi5 to WiFi6 can take much longer.
On the other hand: the improvement of the wireless Internet experience brought by the WiFi6 network card to the computer.
WiFi 6 is still very obvious for the wireless Internet experience.
The most obvious is the increase in internet speed. For example, WiFi6 mobile phones can run full of gigabit broadband, and WiFi5 mobile phones are only about 600Mbps at most; In addition, WiFi6 also significantly improves the network experience in multi-user scenarios.
The same is true for computers that need wireless Internet access, and the WiFi experience is better by using the WiFi6 wireless adapter.
A large inventory of all WiFi6 network cards on the market
Unlike WiFi6 routers, there are many models, and there are only a few WiFi6 network card models.
In the past 2 years, Intel’s AX200 series network cards are available for users to choose from. There have only been some new models recently, as well as some new news.
So what WiFi6 network cards are available on the market, and what are the differences in the configuration parameters of different models of network cards?
Which WiFi 6 adapter is stronger?
Intel’s AX200 series is undoubtedly the strongest WiFi6 adapter at present, so how to sort other models?
From performance, price, supply, system compatibility… Comprehensive comparison, can probably be sorted in the following order, can be used as a reference when purchasing.
Unique file: Intel AX200 series;
Reason: The current strongest performance WiFi6 adapter, although the price increase this year is obvious, but the price is still within an acceptable range, the biggest problem may be out of stock.
The second gear: Intel killer series WiFi6 network card
The killer brand is now owned by Intel. killer’s WiFi6 adapter, which is exactly the same as the AX200 series hardware; But with more features added, the playability is higher. Since the killer adapter is much more expensive and the brand is not well known among ordinary users, it ranks one notch lower than the AX200.
Third gear: Realtek’s USB network card RTL883AU
This is the only WiFi6 adapter with USB interface, and the platform and system applicability are very strong; Suitable for friends who cannot use the PCIe interface. However, the specification is AX1800, which does not support 160MHz bandwidth and cannot replace the performance of AX200;
Fourth gear: Realtek’s RTL8852AE, MediaTek’s MT7921
RTL8852AE is a series of products with RTL883AU, the interface is M.2, and there is a relatively large installed scale in notebooks;
MediaTek’s MT7921 can also be seen on some notebooks, and some network card equipment manufacturers have begun to use it, mainly to replace the out-of-stock AX200.
Both models are also available only in AX1800 specifications.
The fifth gear: Qualcomm QCA6391
Qualcomm’s QCA6391 is used on a large scale on Qualcomm’s flagship mobile phones in 2020, such as Xiaomi 10 and other mobile phones. However, as a network adapter module, almost no one uses it, and there are almost no purchase channels. Just need to know that there is such a model.
Others are some models that have not been officially released for the time being, and the paper parameters introduced in some press releases are good, but the release time and real performance parameters should be compared after the official launch.
