USB Wireless or WiFi connectivity supports all Major OS
Windows XP 32-64
Windows Vista 32-64
Windows 7 32-64
Linux, Ubuntu
WiFi USB with External Antenna
Customer Review
1-
I realize I paid less than six bucks for this thing, but it sure made me work for the savings. Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, this thing did not install easily. Not only did it not auto-install the driver, I had to jump through all kinds of hoops to install it from the disk. The Windows installation wizard couldn't find the correct driver on the disk. The disk has at least five "setup.exe" files for a number of different devices. Of course the adapter gives you no indication of what model it might be, so I ended up installing them all, one by one, until I got to the one that worked. On top of everything, I had to disable my antivirus in order to get the drivers to install. After about two hours I did finally get the thing to work. I don't recommend this unit for the technically challenged, or for anyone with a low frustration threshold.
2-
I've been trying to get a wireless adapter for my Windows 7 64bit operating system for a few weeks, but none of them had drivers that worked with my PC. And then I stumbled upon this little beauty and it worked as soon as I plugged it in - the drivers installed automatically (I didn't even have to use the drive mini-CD that came with the device).
I purchased two of these for my wife and myself because we like to sit out back on nicer evenings and wear down our laptop batteries together.
I have installed the drivers on XP, Vista, Windows 7 and tonight on Ubuntu 10.10. In order of ease-of-install I go with Win7, Vista, Ubuntu and XP. Win7 and Vista both installed the drivers without the disk, Ubuntu seemed trickier but not really. I plugged it in, ran update manager and rebooted (Ubuntu does a full reboot on my netbook in under a minute and a half.) XP was a nightmare of picking through the mis-labeled folders on the disk, giving up and finding the drivers online.
As far as performance is concerned, I saw little signal boost on XP (went from 1 bar without to 2 bars with.) Win7 and Vista both showed a steady two bar increase (1 without to 3 with) but the most impressive was Ubuntu. On Ubuntu I went from barely 1 bar without the dongle to full signal with a rare fluctuation down to 3 bars if someone stands directly in the signal path.
I've read the other reviews and they seem pretty mixed but my opinion is that this is hands-down the best purchase under $20 I've ever made.
I'm writing this review from my back patio with my Ubuntu powered Ideapad s10-3t and wireless dongle.
"A computer is like an air conditioner, it works great until you open Windows."
I have installed the drivers on XP, Vista, Windows 7 and tonight on Ubuntu 10.10. In order of ease-of-install I go with Win7, Vista, Ubuntu and XP. Win7 and Vista both installed the drivers without the disk, Ubuntu seemed trickier but not really. I plugged it in, ran update manager and rebooted (Ubuntu does a full reboot on my netbook in under a minute and a half.) XP was a nightmare of picking through the mis-labeled folders on the disk, giving up and finding the drivers online.
As far as performance is concerned, I saw little signal boost on XP (went from 1 bar without to 2 bars with.) Win7 and Vista both showed a steady two bar increase (1 without to 3 with) but the most impressive was Ubuntu. On Ubuntu I went from barely 1 bar without the dongle to full signal with a rare fluctuation down to 3 bars if someone stands directly in the signal path.
I've read the other reviews and they seem pretty mixed but my opinion is that this is hands-down the best purchase under $20 I've ever made.
I'm writing this review from my back patio with my Ubuntu powered Ideapad s10-3t and wireless dongle.
"A computer is like an air conditioner, it works great until you open Windows."
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