Connecting IPX Wifi antenna on a regular motherboard

[Asheshs]

My friend was having a extra pair of wifi antenna that he got with the motherboard. It is a kind of IPX antenna which fits on Wifi to go card. It comes with Asus motherboard. I am having a Gigabyte motherboard which is not having any kind of wifi support. I want to add this wifi on it. I had tried to find information on it, but it looks there is no option available. Is there any specific thing I can do to hook this wifi antenna on my regular pc.

[Gimbya]

No you cannot. It works well with wifi to go only. The issue lies with connectivity here. Regular system does not has any connectivity options available for IPX connection. So there is no way to use the same.

[Quasim]

You can use it on a laptop but you cannot use it on a desktop. The problem lies with connection. In a laptop there is a wifi card available on which you can connect this antenna. The device which you are having is not a complete wifi device. It is just the antenna part. You will need a wifi card also. Now if you search for a desktop you can find ample of cheap wifi pci card on which you do not require to use this antenna. It works fine and has no issue with connection and other stuff. You can keep this thing aside. Many high end motherboards offers you on-board wifi connectivity by a dedicated wifi card. Wifi to go in one of them. It comes hooked on the board on which you just require to connect the antenna to get better coverage. While in pci card the antenna come attached in it. There is no need to add it separately. I had configured wifi on my old motherboard in the same way. I had purchased a card from ebay that came for Rs.874. So that is quiet enough I think. If you go at some shop you can get a more cheaper one. Just get a good pci card, install the drivers and done. It will work.

[Geniee]

I will to advice the same. You must add a pci card in your system which is quiet easy to find and replace also. While for antenna you have to do certain modification which is not possible for any average user.

[jamiejohn]

You can also use a usb wifi dongle. That is another easy way to get wifi on your system. I am using the one. It is simple to use and you can keep it aside when not needed. Most of the usb wifi devices offer you enough bandwidth for data transfer. You can go on ebay and find ample of products on it. While for having a on-board wifi support you will need to purchase a pci card. That is the only best way and cheaper also. Almost all kind of system gives you a pci card support. So there is no issue with compatibility also. I will advice you to go with the pci card only. Do not try to hook the existing wifi antenna. It is worthless.

[Arun K]

I am also using a wifi pci card from IBM. It is fine for internet surfing. For desktop we are not having really great solution for wifi connectivity. But for laptop we get a integrated card. Just get a pci card that's all.

[Skullnit]

Why you really need a wifi connection on a desktop pc. The best thing you can do is by a router or modem/router combo. It will put your system on wifi for file sharing. I use my 3 pc like this this. I am having a modem+router device. All share files on those system are accessible on other devices via wifi. It is very easy to configure also. You just require to share the files by right clicking on the folder and then modify the properties. And to get those files you will need to put the other devices on the same wifi network. A wifi pci card will be costly if you go for a new one. By adding few more bucks on it you can buy a modem/router which is a bit more cheaper. You can use it with different devices also.