PCI-E Wireless inteface
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Hi, I would like to add wireless to my pfsense box, but I only have a PCI-E slot available. Can anyone recommend a good (and by "good" i mean "cheap" of course) Wireless card that would be supported? I had a look at the list of supported hardware but I was finding it hard to figure out which ones I could find with PCI-E. Anyone doing something similar?
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A retail computer shop near where I live lists 11 PCI wireless cards (from $16) and 1 PCIe wireless card ($98).
Are you open to using a USB wireless NIC? There are some which support Access Point mode (from $16).
Another option (for cheap) would be to get an external wireless AP (from $30) and a PCIe NIC (from $30).
You might well find better deals in your area or online, but likely PCIe won't be cheap.
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I'm not looking for jsut any ole PCIE wireles card, I'm looking for something that I know pfSense will support. I was thinking of going the route of the external AP and a regular NIC, will there be a difference in performance? And how does a USB NIC compare?
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It depends on what you want. For example, if you want 802.11n, an external AP is currently your only option.
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Happy to go with G. I'm not looking for anything fancy, just stable.
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I've had good results for casual usage from a TP-Link TL-WN321G and a Tenda W311U around my steel frame two floor 200sq mtr house supporting up to 4 wireless clients. These are supported from pfSense 1.2.3 and pfSense 2.0 (respectively). I have not stressed either by trying sustained bulk transfers.
Neither of these will be suitable if you need an external antenna for any reason.