USB Wireless Adapter

[brett]

Anyone using a USB wireless adapter? I have an opportunity to get an unused business computer that has no wireless card. Wondering how reliable they are and if they are dependable. Is the set up fairly straightforward?

 

[easysurfer]

I've used one in the past on a desktop without a wireless card. Was quite happy. Very dependable.

Make sure the one you get isn't so old that it doesn't have decent security. Other than that, I think you are good to go.

 

[Ian S]

Got one off amazon. works fine and cheap.

 

[calmloki]

We've been running "refurbished" 'bay ~$225 business desktops for several years - they normally are furnished with USB wireless dongles which have done just fine. We can stream music or send video to the tv.

 

[travelover]

We've been running "refurbished" 'bay ~$225 business desktops for several years - they normally are furnished with USB wireless dongles which have done just fine. We can stream music or send video to the tv.

Me, too. It is just a little $15 dongle that plugs into the USB port.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Some of the older cheaper ones don't work with Windows 10. Some of the newer ones will go much faster than I need. I bought a 600 Mbps for an older PC that I don't want to run a cable to. I bought dual band - 2.4Ghz and 5.8Ghz. I bought one that does 802.11ac, which is the newer standard. (Newer than N). It has a little antenna. You can buy flush USB, but I don't know how far they will reach. All for 13.99 plus tax. Plug-N-Play.

 

[mountainsoft]

Anyone using a USB wireless adapter? I have an opportunity to get an unused business computer that has no wireless card. Wondering how reliable they are and if they are dependable. Is the set up fairly straightforward?

I bought this one for my daughter a few months ago:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P5PRK7J

Her apartment only has one internet connection where her wireless router is located. Her desktop computer is set up on the other side of the apartment. Installation is just a matter of plugging it into an unused USB port. I can't remember if I even needed to install a driver, I think it was ready to go immediately. Otherwise it's just a matter of installing the driver.

She has been using it since February with no issues.

They make smaller ones that look like a tiny flash drive. My wife's refurbished computer came with some generic WiFi adapter that worked fine until I could get the wired ethernet hooked up.

Here's one example:
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-wireless-network-Adapter-SoftAP/dp/B008IFXQFU

 

[Rustic23]

have 3 around the house somewhere. Don't need them now, but, as stated, they work and are cheap. In the early days getting the right driver was a problem. I would guess that has been overcome now. They are old tech now.

I also have one of these that works with my laptop.

 

[brett]

Thank. Decided not to buy the refurbished business desktop.

Raised my desktop from it's premature graveyard.. Installed a new system hard drive. Amazing. 1TB for $45. Found the restore disks after three moves, and they worked. Good to get a fresh install. System works just fine for our purposes and we will stay on windows 7 for now.

 

[OldShooter]

FWIW to others looking at the thread, the WiFi adapter in my Surface Pro 3 got flaky so I bought one of the little nubbin adapters that plugs into the USB. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PB1X4CN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

It works fine but as I expected due to lack of a real antenna it is severely range-limited. More range limited than I expected: Within 10 feet of the WAP it works OK even with a house floor between the nubbin and the WAP. Performance falls off rapidly from that point, however. At 20-30 feet it is essentially worthless. I would suggest that anyone going the adapter route get one with an actual antenna. Years ago I used some like that and they worked well.

YMMV of course.

 

[erkevin]

FWIW to others looking at the thread, the WiFi adapter in my Surface Pro 3 got flaky so I bought one of the little nubbin adapters that plugs into the USB. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PB1X4CN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

It works fine but as I expected due to lack of a real antenna it is severely range-limited. More range limited than I expected: Within 10 feet of the WAP it works OK even with a house floor between the nubbin and the WAP. Performance falls off rapidly from that point, however. At 20-30 feet it is essentially worthless. I would suggest that anyone going the adapter route get one with an actual antenna. Years ago I used some like that and they worked well.

YMMV of course.

I purchased a USB adapter and was not happy with its performance. I then purchased a USB "extender cable" (less than $1). It allowed me to basically put the adapter five feet above the floor (antenna-like). Performance was much improved.

 

[jim584672]

I've been using an ASUS N10 wifi dongle for years. Plug and go, even with different OSes.

 

[Tadpole]

I use a Linksys AE6000 on a old Inspiron I upgraded to Windows 10. It worked fine for Windows 7 and 10.