USB wifi adapters that work with Windows 10?

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jonathan18

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#193836 25-Mar-2016 19:45

I've found many others with my laptop (Dell 15R 5520) have reported the same issues I've had with (and sought help here for) really slow wifi after upgrading to Win 10; I've tried everything I can to sort out the speed issues and having read of there being a driver issue that no-one appears to have been able to sort, I've now decided to try an external adapter.

So, I'm looking for an USB adapter with AC - likely something off this list: http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?k=s263850180

Ideally wanting something compact, given it's for a laptop.

But... a high proportion of the models I've looked at seem to have problems with Windows 10! Or the reception on them's rubbish (not too surprising as these ones are typically so compact) or they're good but huge (eg this D-Link model).

Can anyone recommend an adapter suitable for laptops that is known to play nicely with Windows 10? Ideally AC, but as long as it works well I'll be ok with it.

Thanks!

lNomNoml

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#1519808 25-Mar-2016 20:08

I was going to recommend this one: http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NETTPL0004&name=TP-LINK-Archer-T4U-Dual-Band-AC1200-Wireless-USB-A

But there are a few people complaining about it, it does have a Windows 10 driver and utility though, if you do decide to give it a try download and install the utility before connecting it to your laptop.

jonathan18

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#1519840 25-Mar-2016 20:55

Thanks - that was indeed the one I had intended to get!

The TU2, the cheaper model, is still waiting for Win 10 compatibility, wheat the TU4 is supposed to be compatible.

There's also this Netgear one that claims to work with Windows 10, so had my hopes up, but then I came across a 27 page of whinges that it doesn't do a great job at this! http://www.impc.co.nz/products/kt_A6210-10000S.html

nitrotech

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#1519922 26-Mar-2016 08:02

I've never had great success with usb wifi sticks - if your laptop isn't bios locked to the current pci card why not just swap it out?

richms

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#1519985 26-Mar-2016 12:00

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5GHz-2-4G-AC600-Dual-Band-Fast-USB-Wi-Fi-Wireless-USB-Network-Adapter-433Mbps-802/32576782547.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/High-Speed-1200Mbps-802-11AC-Dual-Band-2-4Ghz-5-8Ghz-USB-3-0-Wireless-Adapter/32363239634.html

Both plugged in and worked fine on windows 10, no BS software needed.

Richard rich.ms

jonathan18

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#1520653 28-Mar-2016 09:18

richms:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5GHz-2-4G-AC600-Dual-Band-Fast-USB-Wi-Fi-Wireless-USB-Network-Adapter-433Mbps-802/32576782547.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/High-Speed-1200Mbps-802-11AC-Dual-Band-2-4Ghz-5-8Ghz-USB-3-0-Wireless-Adapter/32363239634.html

Both plugged in and worked fine on windows 10, no BS software needed.

Thanks heaps for the links - I've ordered the slower, non-antenna version, given it's for a laptop. Price is so cheap it's worth just seeing if this does fix the problem (and only $15NZ if purchased via the AliExpress app - significant discount over buying via a browser).

It's frustrating that how many months on from the official Windows 10 release date (let alone years since pre-release versions started coming out) so many of the branded adapters still aren't working on Windows 10, yet some $15 no-brand adapter from China apparently works fine!

richms

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#1520770 28-Mar-2016 15:25

Often the branded ones will work if you force the drivers for the actual chipset in them. They change the USB identifying VID and PID pairs so that it installs drivers with their name on it, even tho the chip is from ralink/realtek/whoever. The generic windows drivers will only automatically install if you have the stock chip vendors ID's

Richard rich.ms

Gordy7

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#1520814 28-Mar-2016 17:55

Have 3 of these... Edimax EW-7811UTC.

All work fine on Windows 10 especially on 802.11ac for me.

No drivers required.

http://www.edimax.com/au/produce_detail.php?pl1_id=28&pl2_id=138&pl3_id=384&pd_id=498

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

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Crowdie

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#1524957 3-Apr-2016 00:14

jonathan18:

Thanks heaps for the links - I've ordered the slower, non-antenna version, given it's for a laptop. Price is so cheap it's worth just seeing if this does fix the problem (and only $15NZ if purchased via the AliExpress app - significant discount over buying via a browser).

As a general rule unless you are buying a wireless adapter for a very short range connection, a wireless keyboard for example, you should always look at the antenna specifications.

jonathan18:

It's frustrating that how many months on from the official Windows 10 release date (let alone years since pre-release versions started coming out) so many of the branded adapters still aren't working on Windows 10, yet some $15 no-brand adapter from China apparently works fine!

A large number of the consumer wireless adapters are just market silicon with different enclosures. The silicon manufacturer makes a "generic" driver and commonly the vendor just changes the installer or makes very small changes to the driver.