🛜 A Wi-Fi card—also called a wireless network adapter—is a small hardware component that lets your device connect to wireless networks like your home Wi-Fi. It’s essentially the device’s bridge to the internet, minus the cables.

💡 Here’s what it does:

• Receives and transmits signals: It communicates with your Wi-Fi router using radio waves.
• Handles encryption and security: It supports Wi-Fi security protocols (like WPA3) to keep your connection safe.
• Supports different speeds and bands: Newer cards can connect to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, and even the blazing-fast Wi-Fi 6 or 6E.

🧰 Where it lives:

• In laptops: Often built-in, but you can upgrade with a USB Wi-Fi adapter.
• In desktops: Can be a PCIe card installed inside the computer or an external USB adapter.

If your device isn’t connecting well, upgrading your Wi-Fi card can work wonders—like switching from a bicycle to a sports car. 

📶 Wi-Fi speeds refer to how fast data travels between your device and your wireless router. It’s kind of like traffic on a highway—the wider and smoother the road, the faster things move.

⚡ Here’s what affects Wi-Fi speed:

• Wi-Fi Standard: Each version (e.g. Wi-Fi 4, 5, 6, 6E, 7) increases speed and reduces interference.
• Frequency Band:
  • 2.4 GHz: Longer range, slower speeds, more interference.
  • 5 GHz: Faster, shorter range, less interference.
  • 6 GHz (Wi-Fi 6E/7): Even faster and less congested, ideal for modern devices.
• Internet Plan Speed: Your Wi-Fi can only be as fast as your internet provider allows.
• Router Quality: Older routers may bottleneck performance.
• Device Capability: Some phones and laptops can’t tap into the fastest speeds.
• Network Congestion: Lots of connected devices can slow things down.

🧪 Example speeds: