There are already variations of this question, but I haven't found the help I'm looking for.
I have a Gateway NV series laptop that doesn't work anymore. I bought it only a year ago and I think the hard drive is fried because I would play intense and demanding games all day on it. Why it's messed up doesn't matter, but I recently bought a new desktop PC. It's a CyberpowerPC Ultra Gamer, and it has everything except wifi on it.
I was wondering if I could take out the wifi card from my laptop (I already know how to do this) and somehow put it in my new desktop PC? How would I go about doing this? Would I need a special adapter or something? And finally, if I was able to get the wireless card from my laptop into my desktop PC, how would I install the new hardware (wifi card)? Would I need special drivers or what?
4 Answers
You can get a mini pci -> pci (for a mini PCI) or a mini pci-e adaptor fairly cheap. Its just a simple 'mechanical' adaptor that routes the pins on the mini card to its full sized cousin. You can then use the same drivers as for the laptop
These are actually specifically made for this, and look something like
for a mini pci - > pci based adaptor
or
for a mini pci-e to PCIe based one.
Try these google searches 1 2 for details
5The biggest problem you're going to face is finding a compatible slot on your motherboard for the laptop's WiFi card. It's highly unlikely that there'll be a compatible slot.
It would be far simpler to buy a wireless USB adapter and use that. You can pick them up for less than £10 (UK prices) and they'll "just work" after you plug them in.
If the transfer rate on a USB adapter isn't good enough you can pick up a wireless network card for less than £20 (UK prices).
Though looking here at the transfer rates they all seem to be roughly the same. The only thing that seems to correlate is the cost. The more you are prepared to spend, the higher the transfer rate.
5Honestly it depends on your type of laptop because some adapters for a desktop are larger and smaller than most laptop cards so it will be very hard to find the right type unless you have a adapter that gives you the right size and gives it power
Geez, if you are going to go to all that trouble, and you are actually going to "purchase" something (you need the PCI conversion card, right?) ...
...you may as well must buy an external USB Wifi adapter...much easier, and you can use longer USB cables to get some length and move the adapter closer to the router (if you actually needed to) ...why in the world would anyone actually buy this for wifi, I have NO idea!
