Recommended Wi-Fi PCI card for generic PC
-
I am building a home router with generic PC hardware.
Which Wi-Fi PCI card do you recommend?
Should I better go with Access Point instead to save me the hassle? (I already have the needed number of Ethernet ports) I am reluctant to use extra boxes where not necessary, and to pay extra too.
-
I have had good service from a TP-LINK TL-WN651G, a PCI card using the Atheros WiFi chipset. The Atheros chipset is well regarded in the FreeBSD/pfSense community.
A possible problem with getting a WiFi card from some card manufacturers is that they reuse the same model name for cards with different chipsets. This is generally not an issue when the card supplier also supplies the drivers, but with FreeBSD/pfSense you are generally stuck with the included drivers because there aren't many suppliers who provide their own drivers.
Also, as best I can tell, there isn't any support for "wireless N" cards in FreeBSD so steer clear of them.