networking

Most motherboards come with relatively decent wifi on board but cards are an option if necessary. In terms of specs I usually just look for something that supports the latest WiFi spec (ax).

If you're going to be a long distance from the wireless router then you probably want to find one with an external antenna that you can position to your liking.

The biggest thing (in my experience) to watch out for is driver compatibility - check the reviews to make sure users with your operating system aren't complaining about frequent disconnects or other driver related issues.

And remember, unless you've got some serious equipment, you're probably never going to fully utilize the 3+Gb speeds many modern cards boast.

Depends on the use case it's being purchased for. All laptops and most motherboards come with usable wifi for ordinary use, so it'll be a special case, like greater power or driver support for monitor mode.

But if we're talking a consumer oriented purchase, then a working driver included in the OS is high on my list. More than once have I had to help people get a wifi driver downloaded to a phone and then transfered the driver with USB. Which itself can be a handful as most third party cables are only for charging. I reckon that it wouldn't cost a lot to put 64MB flash memory on a wifi dongle, but I have yet to see it... Anyway that's a bit of a rant, but you definitely want a way to get the driver.

Other than that? What everyone else has said about standards, speeds, and whatnot.

I check to see if it has 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Maybe check advertised mpbs since higher is better although a wifi card actually reaching speeds of 300mbps is laughable and I've never once seen it.

If possible I’d try to get an Intel based chip like the AX200 or AX210. It’s not like a decade ago where every guy in IT knew the sentence „Nobody got ever fired for buying Intel“ - but when it comes to WiFi stuff I still find them more reliable then other solutions like Realtek.