SilverStone Release Mini PCIe to PCIe Adapter with Antennas

New wireless add-in cards usually get released for notebooks and other portable units first, as that’s where they’re likely to be used most over stationary cabled systems. When that happens, the adapters are usually released as Mini PCI Express cards and SilverStone just release a new PCIe add-in card adapter for those to be using in normal desktop systems, allowing them to take advantage of the same new technologies.

The new add-in card is the ECWA1 that also comes in a slimmed down version called the ECWA1-Lite. The difference between the two is the accessory package, allowing you to choose the one with what you need. The Silverstone ECWA1-Lite Mini PCIe to PCIe adapter comes with two dual-band MIMO antennas for operation on the 2.4GHz band with 2dBi and on the 5GHz band with 3dBi. The non-lite version comes with 5dBi antennas that operated at 3dBi on the 2.4GHz band.

The card supports both 1.5V and 3V cards, allowing you to choose from a wider variety of options. SilverStone has their ECW02 which is an 802.11ac specced mPCIe card that would go great with this adapter. The add-in card is only a PCIe x1 card, but that should allow for more than enough throughput with its possible 2000Mbps (250MB/s) each way.

As previously mentioned, there are two versions of the card. The Lite version and the normal one. The non-Lite version also comes with a pair of circular magnetic bases with gold plated SMA plug RP and 1.5m cable for remote placement of the antennas. This could for example come in useful if the system is placed under your desk. Moving the antennas up higher will give a better connection as there will be less interference.

As for the price, the ECWA1-LITE has an MSRP of €20,30 and the ECWA1 has an MSRP of €33,10. We will also bring you a review on this card as well as SilverStone’s ECW02 802.11ac Mini PCIe WiFi card.