Tiny, micro or mini desktop PCs usually come with built in wifi cards, some with single band 2.4Ghz Wifi, some with dual band 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz Wifi. These Wifi cards can come with or without bluetooth capability.
There are 2 common interfaces for these wifi cards, namely the NGFF M.2 and Mini PCIE Express. Older Lenovo M73 and M93p Tiny use the bigger Mini PCIE Express interface. The connector to the antenna is also larger. Newer PCs tend to have the NGFF M.2 interface with smaller antenna connector.
There are several manufacturers of these wifi cards, the most common being Intel. Dell, the desktop PC manufacturer also produces its own wifi card. Other manufacturers include Realtek and Qualcom. It is easy for users to ascertain the model of these cards by checking the device manager on their desktop.
Consumers nowadays insist on dual band wifi cards with bluetooth capability. However there are differences in the dual band wifi cards. Most of the newer tiny, micro or mini desktop PCs comes with Intel NGFF M.2 wifi cards. Hence, the focus of this post will be on Intel NGFF M.2 dual band wifi cards with bluetooth capability.
The most basic NGFF wifi card with bluetooth capability nowadays is the Intel 3168NGW. The 3168NGW uses 802.11ac with a maximum speed of 433Mbps and bluetooth 4.2. The next 2 common wifi cards are Intel 8260NGW and 8265NGW. The 8260NGW and 8265NGW specs are similar to that of 3168NGW except that the max wifi speed is 867Mbps. The 8265NGW being a slightly newer model than the 8260NGW.
The Intel 9260NGW and 9560NGW specs show a significant change. The max speed for the 5Ghz band wifi is now 1.73Gbps. Bluetooth has been upgraded to version 5.1. The Intel 9560NGW being a slightly newer model that the 9260NGW.
The Intel AX201NGW wifi card boasts a maximum speed of 2.4Gbps and bluetooth version 5.2. The Intel AX201 Wifi card fits in the same NGFF M.2 socket as the other earlier wifi cards. However when one tries to install the Ax201 card in some of the older tiny, micro or mini desktop PCs, the PCs were unable to detect the wifi card.
Faster than the AX201NGW is the Intel AX210NGW. The AX210NGW has 3 frequency options, ie 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and 6Ghz. Its maximum wifi speed is 2.4Ghz, the same as AX201NGW but the bluetooth version is 5.3.
Obviously the newer Intel wifi cards are more costly to purchase than the earlier wifi cards. However there is no point in installing a, say, Intel 9560NGW card if one’s home wifi is only operating on 2.4Ghz. Even if one’s home wifi operates at 5Ghz, the maximum transfer speed could be lower than the 1.73Gbps that the wifi card is capable off. Hence it is prudent to check this aspect before making a purchase.