Wireless N USB Adapters- Now Inexpensive, Fast, and Tiny
Many laptops, even those bought within the last year or so, don’t offer wireless-N built-in. That’s because the final specification isn’t out, and the standards aren’t completed. Still, with wireless-N routers now becoming more common, and the drastic improvements in bandwidth possible from them, you might want to look at investing in wireless-N if you plan on streaming video or transferring a lot of files.
We’ve been using the HighPower 11n wireless mini-USB adapter- they also make even smaller versions, but ours worked really well and was a normally-sized dongle. With theoretical speeds up to 150 Mbps (the same as other wireless-N products), we still managed to get our computer transferring files at two to three times the speed compared with using a wireless-G connection… but still much slower than using an ethernet cable of course.
The drivers didn’t show up as being certified for use with Windows, nor did they automatically install from the disk which is a bit annoying- but the software does install easily and then automatically installs the correct drivers without a hitch. You can use their built-in wireless software, or the default Windows wireless configuration utility- both are decent, but you may want to stick with the Windows config simply for ease of instructions, updates, etc. The drivers also support Vista and even Mac OSX 10.3 and above. And for under $30 or so, the PCI/Planex GW-USMini2N is a decent bargain.
