Netgear Wireless N 150 USB Adapter

I've been using a cheap usb adapter that was supplied with my pc, and have been having difficulty receiving a wifi signal from my downstairs router. After a little research I decided to try this product, as it had received favourable reviews and was for sale at a reasonable price. The adapter was easy to set up - just pop in the CD and follow the instructions. Managed to connect without any problems, and the connection seems to be strong and fast. The long cable and cradle supplied with the adapter are a handy addition as I can move the adapter away from possible signal interference. Couldn't be happier with this product, and would definitely recommend!

I'm an IT person with over 20 years experience working with PCs. As to be expected my home is wired or rather very wireless with over 9 devices that connect to the internet one way or the other (and the number is always increasing it seems). I already owned two Netgear WNA1100 802.11n adapters and and I was happy to order two more from Amazon. I downloaded the drivers from the Netgear website, never looked at the drivers on the disk. Long story short they worked great and with no issues with Windows 7 32bit and 64 bit but this is not where the story ends, I got my best performance after I optimized my wireless network. In some cases I was able to double my connection speeds. Let me share how I optimized my wireless network: a) I used the websites speedtest.net and pingtest.net to determine my internet connection speed (use a wired connection to the router for this). This is your REAL baseline, it is very hard for a wireless connection to beat a shielded wired connection to a router. If your wireless connection equals the speed of your wired connection you are good and probably as good as you are going to get. b) Find a wireless channel that is not in used near your house. The default channel in most routers is 6 and you have a choice from 1 to 11. Use the Netgear Network connectivity software and find an unused channel and test again. You will need access to your router settings for this. This is especially important if your neighbors are close like on apartments or townhouses. I have over 13 wireless networks in range of my house and using a channel that the others are not using was the best improvement I did to my wireless network. c) Move the Netgear WNA1100 802.11n to new locations. Moving the Netgear WNA1100 802.11n on top of the computer or another place on my desks helped increased speed in some cases by over 50%. Always test your speed after any change. To those people only looking at connection speeds to their router (looking for for the mythical 144 mbps); it matters little, why? I can connect at 144 mbps or at 65 mbps to my router but my internet connection is only 25 mbps (that is my case, even from work I get no more than 48 mbps on a commercial internet connection, speedtest.net ). Now, this MAY vary (maybe you have a SUPER fast internet connection) but let me say that the average internet speed in the US is from 10 to 12 mbps. Keep this in mind when trying to upgrade to a faster router, your bottleneck may actually be your provider and not your router (or your adapters). If it is Internet speed what you are looking for begin by evaluating what your internet provider is giving you. Note about the Netgear WNA1100 802.11n: This N adapter uses the 2.4 MHz band ONLY and depending on where you live this frequency might be too congested. Other N adapters (the N300 series) can run on the 5 MHz band (newer, faster, and less congested) but you will also need a router that supports the 5 Mhz. Also note that the 5 Mhz band has a shorter range than the 2.4 MHz band but it also faster (but will not give you faster speeds than a wired connection to your router. If you already run as fast as your wired connection using a wireless adapter you are probably at your best internet connection speed already). Also note that many N capable devices (like iPhones) do not support the 5 Mhz band. Some routers (dual band) will let you run BOTH on the 5 MHz band and 2.4 MHz band at the same time.

This wireless Adapter works very well and I like the docking port that it comes with. I ran the installation software on a very old Dell laptop and a newer HP desktop that are both running XP. The software installed on both without any trouble and the adapter found my wireless router quickly. It couldn't have been much simpler. On the old laptop however, during installation the software did say it had trouble detecting the router, but as soon as I clicked on the wireless icon in the system tray it brought up the Netgear connection screen and the router was indeed located. The data speed seems to be pretty fast. I have a new Acer laptop with internal wireless running Windows 7 and the Netgear adapter connects the older computers just as well as the Acer, which has very good connection capability. I'm so pleased with it that I may order a second one so that I don't have to swap it between the desktop and old laptop. Nice product. Would recommend it to friends. Update: 7 months later and the adapter is still working perfectly with enough speed to stream HD videos. Very pleased. I purchased a second one for another desktop and it's working perfectly too.

Ordered this one as I thought spending a little more now, for something that I would be using for years to come, was worth the extra money. I had read reviews about cheaper wifi dongles and I wasn't prepared to delve into mysterious installation instructions so I plumped for this Netgear one, based on brand. Yes, I could have paid less and did a bit more research but I thought I'd rather it just work straightaway. I paid £18.31 and got a nice, piano black dongle with a dock. The dock connects to the PC via a USB cable, thereby enabling you to move the dongle around in order to improve your signal. I tried it on the shelf above my desk, on the desk itself and near the floor, to see if this affected my signal strength (which varies between 4 to a maximum of 5 bars). This didn't make any difference to my signal strength but it does look rather cool on my desk (see photo. According to the well written and clear manual, this apparently "can extend the range of your adaptor and improve wireless reception." I'm sure others might see an improvement but I didn't - my PC is on the first floor with the router in the kitchen downstairs, with a fridge and a wall in between. My cable broadband is a 40Mb connection and when I did a Speedtest, it comes up around 30Mb. I guess that's because of the obstructions. Please see my photos for notes.

I didn't have a MyFi compatable computer, of course I had just ordered it and forgot to click the button. I had been using my MyFi thingie attached to my computer, via USB port, but it wouldn't work with the other computers in the house while plugged into my computer, thus the need of an adapter! It works good, only thing it has a few snags when I try to use it on the computer "it" is attached to, takes longer to get online via that computer. On the laptop in the den, it automaticly connects when I go on that computer, no problems. When you are installing it, don't give up. Take the time it takes to install to relax. Do not give up if you don't connect right away. Sometimes you have to remove the adapter from the holder and let it reconnect again. All in all it has helped me connect all my computers to the Verizon MyFi thingie, and that is a PLUS!