Choosing a WiFi Card - Intel 7260 or BigFoot 1202N

Hello everyone,

So, with COMEX happening here in Singapore, local Clevo builder Aftershock PC (who have been so generous as to help me with my NP8150 troubles) are holding a generous sale with their W230ST. I'm planning to grab one.

They're offering an Intel 7260 AC -or- a BigFoot 1202N at no cost. Which would be the better choice? I understand that the 7260 is a new card, but I really can't tell which I would be better off with.

Thanks.

 

The 7260 AC is the AC wireless band. If you have an AC capable router or will get one, it's the better choice. Much higher throughput with AC over N with the Bigfoot. The AC is backwards compatible, so it will work with non AC routers too.

 

AC is the newest to join A/B/G/N it can transfer much faster per antenna. You really only would see the additional speeds within your network as G and N are still much faster then your normal broadband connection. If you plan on gaming wirelessly much the Bigfoot still may be a better choice. But to "future proof" the wireless card the Intel 7260 would be the better choice.

 

I remember one person in this forum benchmarked the killer. The performance was the same as the Intel. He recomended the Intel for the AC, and because any issues should be fixed by drivers. Strength in numbers...

 

I went for the 1202, just purely because I won't be getting a new wireless AC router anytime soon and the Killer cards are meant to be better for gaming etc..

 

You wont notice any difference for gaming.
I've had 2 Intel WiFi cards so far, they perform like bosses on distance transmission while gaming. Same pings as direct cable LAN.

 

Killer does nothing special except some QoS via software which unless at the same time your machine is doing lots of network intensive activities you won't notice a difference. Your game ping time will always be a result of your ISP. Your local ping of 1ms or 2ms won't make a difference lol. Heck even if you max out your internet connection your local ping will still be 1 or 2ms because your local connection will be faster vs. your ISP.

That said, FPS and MMO games don't generally use much beyond a FEW Mbps, some not even that much. So even if you are streaming music you will have 0 impact on your gaming. The only way you will hurt your gaming is if you peg your upload or download as now everything is fighting. Most routers have the option to enable QoS in them and most programs, even bit torrents you can mess with speed limits in. You can run torrents all day long and game and if you setup properly have 0 impact on your gaming.

IMO Killer is just a marketing hype and brand fab. They are Atheros chips and actually the same ones used on a few other cards. The software is the only thing licensed different and in a few rare situations may be a benny but for 99% it makes no difference.

The Intel card in this case will be the better card and more future proof. Having no AC router now doesn't matter as it's backwards compatible. In a year you will probably have an AC router, why waste money upgrading your wireless nic again?
On that note Atheros will be releasing some new Killer products soon. So either wait if you can or buy the Intel but I wouldn't bother with an older 1202 and honestly wouldn't bother waiting as these are cheap products.

That said, though I kept mentioning gaming, don't take that wrong. Even if you're not a gamer the logic is the same. I am referring to latency and bandwidth really.

I have done a lot of testing on Killer 1202 and Intel 7260 and my latency and speeds on both cards often had been within 1% of each other which is expected due to tolerance levels. Intel is also built more for enterprise and stability and guaranteed delivery, Atheros tries to go towards speed a little more but in today's age it's not much of a difference. Not like old days when WiFi pings was 3-6ms. today they are generally always 1ms or less. I can ping from my 7260-AC card to another remote AC bridged router (so through 2 wireless connections) and my ping is between 1 and 2 ms still. Directly to my router it is generally about 0.6-0.8ms. A hardwired connection generally is 0.3msish give or take a tad. A human will never notice a few ms

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone - I went with the Intel AC, as I wouldn't need any of the BigFoot software features anyway. Cheers guys!

 

I think it will treat you well, john!

 

I went with the AC on mine also

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

 

I ordered from PCS in uk, i configured it with the 1202 killer as they did not have the 7260 in but they were dishonest so i cancelled my order and ordered from mysn uk, an they happened to have the 7260, the cancellation from PCS was a blessing i believe , as i wanted the 7260 all along, Bryanu is right the only thing the killers have advantage of is the software side otherwise the intel are just as good if not better, my 2 cents