I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but let's give it a shot.
My friend recently bought a used desktop build with Asus Gene V motherboard(link below) that comes with a mPCIe Combo Card that can be used as an adapter for mPCIe wifi cards, however it doesn't include antenna or antenna cable and my friend happens to have couple broken laptops lying around that should probably have working wifi cards and antenna inside.
So the question is the following, is it possible to salvage and use the laptop wifi card with the internal antenna and install it to the desktop build using the mPCIe Combo Card? (Assuming that the card is actually mPCIe.) Or at best case do we need to buy external antenna+cable? If that is the case, what does my friend, need to consider?
Also someone suggested it might be possible to use the wlan card without antenna if the transmitter is close enough, true or not true?
Motherboard: https://www.asus.com/us/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/MAXIMUS_V_GENE/
Best Answer
The mPCIe Combo Card from a broken or donor laptop should not be a problem, as long as it meets the physical requirements as it only takes a half-sized module (26.8mm x 30mm). You should also take into account the availability of appropriate drivers for your WiFi card.
From reading the manual, it looks like I/O Shield has two holes that you mount the antenna cable into:
From there you connect the Antenna Connector cables to the mPCIe card:
HOWEVER, it seems as if this cable will need to be purchased separately, as it is not listed on the Package Contents, and the manual specifically states this:
Since these have a screw type fitting on one end (as shown in the screenshot above), you will more than likely need to purchase new antenna cables. I don't know enough about WiFi cables to say one way or another that using the existing cables from the laptop would work fine inside a metal box. I would guess that the PC case might interfere with the signal in some situations.