Would a PCI wifi card work when a PCI ethernet card does not?

[zer0nix]

alternatively, could someone recommend a good usb wifi adapter? i've got an n900 router (linksys E4200) but i don't think n900 is required. i THINK that overheating is what killed my last one.

the deets:
a few years ago, i purchased an average tier pc at a tremendous discount due to the fact that onboard networking was somehow broken.

i tried adding 2 different pci ethernet cards and neither one was able to go online.

a usb wifi adapter sufficed until recently when it started dropping connections and getting tremendously hot. now, it cannot connect at all. it can see my home network and gives it 3 bars of connectivity but absolutely fails to connect.

thanks in advance for all your advice!

 

[deaedius]

Yes it will work just fine. I've used a PCI Ethernet card when an onboard NIC failed.

 

[Nobu]

Do you remember what the ethernet cards were? Seems strange that they wouldn't work (and a usb wifi adaptor would) unless they were just a pass-through for the onboard network controller.