PC compatible M.2 Bluetooth card solution
PC compatible M.2 Bluetooth card solution
Hey everyone, here’s what I found about the motherboard. It’s an Asus B250 Prime Plus with two M.2 slots—probably NVMe, so it should support B+M. The details about Bluetooth aren’t clear, but I’m focusing on a Bluetooth solution since my wireless headphones lag a bit (up to half a second). Switching to a USB stick reduced the delay to 0.1–0.2 seconds, which is better. I’m considering M.2 or PCIe slots for Bluetooth before purchasing. I need to confirm if it fits on my board. Most sources mention B+M compatibility, but there’s no confirmation about actual functionality. The card I found is an Intel Dual Band WLAN-AC 8265 M.2 adapter, which also supports BT 4.2—perfect for my headphones. Should I go with USB or stick to a hard drive? USB feels less ideal for constant use since it drains the port and other connections are full. It’s simpler to just install it directly if I need to move it later; I’m okay losing an internal slot, especially since my video card already uses slot two and I have three slots total. I chose the ASUS PCE-AC55BT B1 for flexibility—can fit in any slot and works as an adapter. Let me know what you think!
Bluetooth adapters typically rely on USB connections no matter the connection method. The main advantage of an M.2 card appears when it includes WiFi, as it can use the same antennas for a stronger signal. Performance should be similar to what you'd get with a wired adapter. On the other hand, a USB card can be positioned directly in front of your PC, offering a clearer signal path and potentially better results than a wireless adapter whose signal may be blocked by the case.
In short, using M.2 won't reduce latency compared to USB. The main difference is the Bluetooth version—USB supports BT 4.0 while my headset only works with BT 4.2. Extra Wi-Fi isn’t an issue; I have two connections (PCI and USB), but only one is active. If the other Wi-Fi performs better, I could free up a slot for backup. I was considering the PCI ASUS PCE-AC55BT B1, but it seems to use a USB port too. Sent from PowerChaos on September 4, 2018 – added a link.
I chose the ASUS PCE-AC55BT B1 for PC expansion, allowing future upgrades if necessary.
Warm regards from PowerChaos
Great decision. I’d probably assume PCIe works better with WiFi since the antennas are spaced out and could offer more gain. Let me know if Bluetooth might be an option too—it’s always good to verify.
The Wi-Fi performance isn't significantly improved over the AC68 I already have. It's decent but not outstanding, mainly due to a slow download speed of 26mbps and some issues with the AES protocol. Compared to my Ralink and the AC68, the chip here is Intel DualLink 8260 (BT 4.2), which isn't too bad for audio quality. After updating the drivers, it sometimes syncs properly but can get a bit out of sync, possibly due to buffer issues. I also found that using both the mic and sound at the same time with BT USB 4.0 causes lag, so I had to turn off the Hand Free setting in Windows to fix it. The new BT 5.0 card (9260) is newer and should be available soon—likely within a week or two. It’s worth testing if it works for me, as it could be upgraded or replaced at the same cost as a USB stick. There don’t seem to be BT USB 4.0 devices that support 5.0 yet. Here’s a summary of the differences and why I chose the 9260: https://ark.intel.com/compare/99445,86068
Greetings from PowerChaos
I own the 7260 in my laptop, which offers a download speed of 866Mbit and a real-world rate of 350Mbit (likely affected by my WiFi access point). I'm located in the same room as the WiFi router.
I join a hotspot with various locations; it might be possible I’m connected to different spots. I reside on the second floor, and both under me and next to me share the same internet provider. One of these hotspots is also used by my adapter, all from the same provider. Essentially, I’m in an area where the connection fluctuates between 144.4 and 13.2 Mbps. Sometimes it works and I can log in with AEP, other times it fails to connect or shows no credentials (like a 169.x.x.x address). My setup is complicated because my AC68 gives a link speed of 1.3G or 450 Mbit, but my actual speed never surpasses 20Mbps (the hotspot limit). On the other side, using a BT and Wi-Fi card in a laptop works fine—especially with the latest drivers. Wi-Fi also functions adequately after some adjustments. For a laptop Wi-Fi, it’s at least as good as USB BT, which costs around 25€ and includes an antenna (though I’ve switched from a 2DB to an 8DB one for better stability). At the end, note: Asus supports BeamForming, while Intel does not. Compared to Intel, I see more stable speeds with my Asus setup, though not as consistently as Intel. Greets from PowerChaos
@Alex Atkin UK i just got my new ac9260 card and got it installed (for a few hours now ) now it seems that it syncs better sometimes , some kind of a buffering i guess ? it does a better job with BT5.0 then BT 4.2 on the AC8260 i was getting a delay all the time, on the AC9260 i get a delay when i first sync the headset , but after a min or so then the delay is gone for the wifi , it is also more stable for the AC9260 at current moment ( link rate of 104mbps instead 26.4 mbps ) now i wonder about the Killer AC 1550 , it is based on the same intel chip ( AC 9260 ) but they claim to be better and contains beamforming (and more stuff that intel does not have ) as i can not find that card , i can sadly enough not test this out even this card took me 2 weeks to get shipped to me and it was already hard to find Greets From PowerChaos
Looking at the number of cases where the Killer software disrupts WiFi, it seems like a significant issue is being overlooked.