Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Make sure there isn't an external antenna somewhere in the box, or at the very least the port for an external antenna on the back of the motherboard. The plug will 99% be SMA, which is a little coax port with an outside thread. If there is one, get a cheap ($10 max) dipole antenna for it.
If there isn't, it's magic you get any signal at all. The PC case is a Faraday cage, and the back of the mainboard is a really bad place for a compact print antenna - it almost certainly points the wrong way. In that case, just get an external USB wifi card with external antennas. I've got an Alpha Networks card with two antenna ports for $25. I replaced one of the dipole antennas with a directional patch antenna. The thing gets signal at the other end of my parking lot, through several walls, inside the car.
The reason phones and laptops have such good wifi is that they usually have 3 antennas built in around the inside of the screen, behind the plastic bezel. Much better than a single antenna in/behind a Faraday cage.
WiFi antennas, at least in the US, are typically RP-SMA, which swaps the polarity of the pin and the socket from standard SMA. It's still a 1/4"-ish threaded connection, but it's explicitly not compatible with standard SMA RF equipment.
But this is just being fairly pedantic: it's the only flavor of SMA most consumers see. But it is a pain in the rear buying RF parts to make sure you get compatible ones.
Yes, important point. Buy a "2.4 GHz/5 GHz wifi antenna" on Amazon/Ali Express, not a "12 cm full band dipole antenna" at your local HAM/radio nerd supplier. That should get around the problem.
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You just saved me. I was convinced that since this was a pre-built, they must have set up antennae, if the system had them. I'd looked around before and hasn't seen them. But given your strong insistence, I checked the motherboard pdf, saw them mentioned, then dug around in the box of parts and found them! I hope I've managed to screw them in now, thank you for the help!
If you're the sort to write reviews for places you buy from, I would recommend mentioning this as part of the review. The vendor may not realize it as a potential problem that could have been solved with a single-page printout or a sticker, and it's not just bad for the frustration. While modern WiFi is less likely to damage itself from running without a load than older devices, it's still not great for the hardware.
I'm tactically refraining from writing a review. I suspect the reason this particular pc was several hundred pounds cheaper than others with similar specs was because of the abysmal 3.2 star rating. Apparently a bunch of people received it missing the CPU. Well, mine boots and runs well, and if it's just the 5080 doing all the heavy lifting, Nvidia has my stamp of approval haha.
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