Best USB wireless adapter?

Draeger · 5 May 2014 at 18:13

Looking for a USB wireless adapter, currently the wife's PC uses a TP Link WN822N which has been good up till now but I think its on the blink now so looking to replace it. Should I just grab a new one or is there something else I should be considering along the same lines? Toying with the idea of going the power line route but wondered what was considered to be the market leader of USB adapters?

Ta.

Duke · 5 May 2014 at 18:43

Cat5e/6 cable, powerline adapter then pci-e wireless card would be my order of preference.

Philtor · 5 May 2014 at 18:49

Would go the powerline route myself. I've always found them USB Wireless adapters to be very hit and miss.

Draeger · 5 May 2014 at 18:50

Have been looking at power line adapters but don't really know much about them. What's the difference between 85, 200 and 500 mbps versions as far as speed goes? My missus sometimes uses BBC iPlayer over the network, would 85 Mbps be enough for that?

Duke · 5 May 2014 at 19:07

85 would be more than ample but the faster kits aren't that much more now? Something like this would be a good buy - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-032-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604

Draeger · 5 May 2014 at 19:53

Those look the very ticket!! Thanks for the link. Think I'll go with powerline rather than wifi this time around to give it a go.

Going by the reviews of those they even seem to work fine plugged into surge protection strip adapters which was a concern of mine.

Draeger · 5 May 2014 at 19:59

Found these too, 500 Mbps versions, are they any better? Exactly the same price as the 200 ones?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-094-TP&groupid=46&catid=1604

kefan77 · 5 May 2014 at 20:37

TP-LINK 500Mbps Mini Powerline Adapter Starter KIT TL-PA411KIT

Interface: 10/100Mbps Ethernet Port

makes your choice easier.

Kotu · 5 May 2014 at 20:45

The speeds are quite deceptive for powerline, the quoted numbers count for transfers in both directions, ie 40+40, 100+100, 250+250. Also the max speed will only be achieved under perfect conditions (plugged in right next to each other), if they are in different rooms then you can potentially halve the speed again.

The 200Mbps ones might be ok for streaming 1080p but they probably will not be fast enough to maximise your internet connection if its 80mb+

At this stage I would only consider the 500Mb ones.

Draeger · 5 May 2014 at 21:35

The 500 Mbps ones I linked to mention:-

Interface: 10/100Mbps Ethernet Port

wheras the 200Mbps ones Duke linked to mention:-

With high-speed data transfer rates of up to 200Mbps

Does that mean that although the 500Mbps ones 'sound' better/faster, they will be limited to 100Mbps and thus effectively the 200Mbps ones will be double that? To me it looks like crafty advertising wording on TP Link's part? Found THIS thread which appears to be discussing something similar.

TL-PA411 is 100Mb. It may say it's 500Mb, but if you put a 100Mb port on it then it wont go any faster than 100Mb. Runs around 2w of power.

Or am I barking up the wrong tree here?

Kotu · 5 May 2014 at 21:44

The TL-PA511 has a GB Interface, most of them don't even max out the 100Mb interface though.

Draeger · 6 May 2014 at 07:35

Ok, so stupid question time - out of both sets at the same price which one would be better to purchase? Everything available at a similar price point @£30 looks to be 10/100 - Gigabit specced stuff is at least double the price as far as I can tell.

Duke · 6 May 2014 at 13:01

May as well get the higher one if the price is the same.

IceWind · 6 May 2014 at 15:06

Dont go too cheap. What you want is Homeplug AV... some of the 85mbps adaptors dont support AV. Most of the interfaces are 10/100 however when you get a 200mpbs or a 500mbps you increase the overall bandwidth of the powerline network so if you had multiple adapters you can have up to 500mbps through put on the network even though the actual adaptor will only supply 10/100.

Homeplug AV is backward compatible with homeplug but not the other way around. ( ie if you plug your network into a homeplug av and have a homeplug adaptor it will work but not the other way round )

Rhoxy · 6 May 2014 at 18:38

Powerline is a lot faster than using a USB adapter. When I purchased my build I bought both to try, and the USB went straight back into the box.

Make sure you plug the powerline adapters in a main socket, not an extension. It reduces the speed otherwise, by a lot.

ScoobyDoo · 7 May 2014 at 13:34

Ive stuck with usb wireless , ive got virgin 100mb and get 106mb/s through my wireless adapter, its a TPLink wn322n 2.4ghz and a asus rt-66nu.

My router is enclosed in a cabinet downstairs and my computer is situated upstairs in the rear study, the signal has got to travel through quite a few thick walls.

I did have to play around with selecting the best wireless channel and position of the receiver but once that was sorted i cant complain about the speed

I would have gone with powerline adapters but i tried these and because of different ring circuits and some strange wiring in an old house they didnt perform well at all, max i was getting was 40mb/s.