Linksys AE2500-NP Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Adapter

Had my 3-computer (Win 8.1 desktop, Win8.1 laptop, and Win7 laptop) Wi-Fi set up on a good Linsys router (N600). Prevously, all was on an Ethernet tangle of wires which worked well, but wanted to move into the Wi-Fi world. Got set up with good speed, at 30 Mbps. Then my provider changed twice over a 1-year period, and the latest provider has done a good job generally. But while the Win7 laptop was still on Ethernet, the other two were Wi-Fi. I noted some speed loss, and ran my antivirus, ran a disc cleaner recommended by my IT pro son, made sure my disc was defragged, checked for disc problems, and damage to the platter. Very little improvement. Son then reminded me that Wi-Fi is generally slower than Ethernet, so if I wanted to return to 30+ Mbps from my current 4 to 15 Mbps, Ethernet was necessary, or try an (expensive) new router. Put the desktop back on Ethernet, and got my 30+ Mbps back. Hooray! How about the Win8.1 laptop? A wire across the desk (my setup) again? Again my son came to my rescue, noting the laptop had an Intel Wi-Fi from 2 years ago, before 20+ Mbps was common. Get a "dongle" instead that will handle the faster speed. Not sure I want something hanging off my USB 3.0 port, but ok. So ordered this (to match the router's capability) from Amazon, and when it came, installed it. Voila! back to 30 Mbps for the Wi-Fi laptop, bypassing the slower (obsolete?) Intel Wi-Fi. Me like a LOT. For the price, an inexpensive upgrade to stay near the (b)leading edge of computing. Amazon got it here in two working days, solving the issue. I am pleased with this item. Uploads remain at about 5 Mbps, but downloads are FAST. ADDENDUM: July 2015: Since then, the AC1200 dongle, together with a newer Linksys EA6350 will pull Charter's full 60+ Mbps Wi-Fi with no problems. The AC1200 says it will only handle up to N300 or AC867, the 60+ is well below capacity, and doesn't bottleneck at all. I don't have AC hardware OEM on either computer. This newer setup is "whizzbang" Wi-Fi. Windows 10 downloaded in just under 5 minutes (2.72 Gb) to both computers (desktop died), ready to install. I have put Win10 on the Win 7 Toshiba laptop, and am learning it. So far, no problems due to Wi-Fi. Plan to upgrade the Win 8.1 HP laptop in the next week or so. Both computers found no issues against updating (MS's compatibility wizard). ADDENDUM: 7/10/2015: Desktop died (not Wi-Fi), now only two laptops. Sudden failure of Wi-Fi a week ago, during research, found the basic dongle isn't supposed to work with Windows 8.1. Upgraded to Linksys AC1200+ (Model 6350 has N300+AC867, I have only N). Minor difficulty installing, but found thruput reduced. Got USB3.0 version (two blue lights rather than one) AC1200, and restored 60 Mbps (max so far has been 65 with Charter!), and for a week now, it's magnificent. Negative is that the dongle is slightly wider, so rubs against the USB plug for mouse on one side, power cord on the other, so no perfectly seated. But running fine. Still recommend for Win 8/8.1 with 6350 router.

I have an OLD Dell laptop. And due to some unfortunate home network pre-planning on my part, my main internet connection port, and subsequently, my wireless router, is not exactly in an optimal spot for good wifi distribution throughout my home. For a long time I blamed that bad router placement for my experiencing so many connection drops on the laptop whenever I'd visit any kind of graphics-heavy website or attempt to download a file of more than about a megabyte in size. I even had a hard time transferring files from other computers on my home network to the laptop without losing the connection in the middle of the transfer. It was extremely frustrating. However I noticed that when my kids would come home with their newer, Windows Vista laptops, they had none of the same connection problems I did. So recently, I decided to upgrade the old laptop's OS from Win XP to Windows 7, thinking that might help the router and laptop work together a little better. Heh. Just my luck, the laptop's internal wifi adapter wasn't supported by Win 7. So I did a little research and decided on the Linksys AE2500 Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Adapter, which I purchased through Amazon. Wow. The installation could not have been simpler and the performance has been amazing. Now I get a strong, fast connection from anywhere in my house, all via the same router with no change to its setup or location. The problem was the laptop's old internal wifi adapter all the time! I'm extremely satisfied with the Linksys AE2500 adapter. It's fabulous and it just works! And at under $40 it's a great deal as well. My ONLY concern is for its seemingly flimsy construction, so I'd say that care should probably be taken that nothing touches or exerts any considerable downward pressure on the adapter body while it's inserted into your laptop's USB port. While I certainly haven't tested its tensile strength, the thing seems as though it might snap off fairly easily. But no other complaints! If you need a USB wifi adapter, this is a good one!

I bought the Linksys E2500 dual band wireless n router basically to upgrade so I could try and get a better connection for my Kindle Fire. I have a pc in my daughter's room which was hard-wired with a cat-5 cable. I decided to make her pc wireless and got this adapter. At first, it did work, however, I soon noticed that it had the same problem of dropping or not connecting that we had a while ago when we were using an older trendNet router and usb adapter. I ended up using the ethernet cable again to connec t her pc and just let it go. Then, my Kindle started to drop connection or not connect at all again. I had many issues with the Fire connecting, and actually this is my 2nd one of those, so initially I figured it was just the Fire again until my other little tablet (Elocity A 7+ ) also was unable to connect. I re-hooked up the linksys adapter to the other pc and since there was still a problem- this time it said the drivers were installed correctly, the firmware was up to date, but the device itself had some issue. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers. Still, no connection. The signal from the router was good however. Since all 3 devices were not working, I called Cisco support. At first she said my 90 day warranty was up on the adapter, and I could PAY for support. Now angry, I said that had I known I had to pay for help, I wouldn't have bought this unit. Then I said," wait a minute, my receipt shows I still have 2 1/2 weeks left; I'll fax it to you "She said she used the serial # on the adapter to determine when my 90 days were up ( how that works, I have no idea) Anyway, she said she'd take my word for it and help. Now, here is the interesting thing: Though initially turned off by the idea of paying for service, she mentioned the words "remote access" and "do it for you" which by this point, and with all the Fire issues i'd been having and the fact that I was too hesitant to mess with my router settings, I decided it was worth it. The cost was $19.99 and I'm covered for whatever help I need through November. (this was early last month) She didn't take my cc#, she transfers me to auto system which then sends me back to her. I know alot of people won't want someone remote accessing their computer, but for me, ( I never put financial info or anything like that online) the thought of having someone do it correctly for less than what the family would spend on a night of KFC was worth it. She also said she would optimize my settings so I'd have the best performance. I just gave her permission on my pc, stayed on the line with her while she did everything and pretty much just sat back and watched what she did as she did it. When she was done, she had me go to both tablets and make sure they were ok- they finally were. Then we went on to the ae2500 on the other pc, and she just had me do 1 or 2 simple things and voila, it was working, and the signal was, and still is excellent. The whole thing took about 20-25 minutes. I have not had a single connection problem with any wireless device; the ae2500 has connected every time, and I feel good knowing that I can, and will , call if even the tiniest issue should arise. So, even though it is working perfectly for me, in fairness to the fact that I had issues with it, and the fact that I had to pay-albeit a small amount, I think-, to get it working, I think removing the star is warranted. If I didn't call for support, or want to pay for it I may well still be without the use of the adapter. I suppose though that I could have gotten her help without paying, only if in the warranty period, and done it myself via her over the phone instruction. So what if you have trouble and its outside 90 days? I guess you would then have to either figure it out yourself, or pay for service. You may not have any trouble at all,but this was my experience, and although I am very happy because I finally got my Kindle connecting, and I was happy to have someone do it for me, others may not want to have to do that. So, I leave it up to you to decide for yourself. This was my experience- up, down and back up again. Good luck

I recently replacd my Linksys WRT54GS to Linksys E4200. after my home wireless network was working properly, I start switching my G network interface to N interface. I bought two adapter from Amazon, linksys Ae2500 and Asus USB-N53 adapter, both adapters are dual band and 300 MBPS. Both drivers are fairly easy and straight forward to install. I installed both adapter drivers on all my three notebooks (they run XP, Vista Home Premium, and Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium), I found the I can only get 150 MBPS connection speed from USB-N53 (maybe ASUS adapter to Linksys router issue? I don't know), but I ALWAYS get 300 MBPS from AE2500 on all my notebooks. I manually switched connection between 5 GHz and 2.4Ghz, I all got 300 MBPS connection from AE2500 adapter I did experience some connection problems at beginning because I connected the adapter through 4 ports USB hub, after I changed to notebook USB port directly, problems were gone. I highly recommend this adapter.

Slapped this thing in an older model Compaq laptop. Didn't wanna work at first so I tested it out on a more modern Dell desktop and it worked seamlessly. After getting it to work on the desktop, I slapped it back in the laptop and it worked like it should have to begin with. Here are a few pointers with this adapter. If you don't have an optical drive, the drivers are on the web. If you don't have a dual band router this is overkill. If it drops out on you(hasn't on me yet), don't pull it out or restart the system, reinstall in device manager. This thing is great, it's such a step up from the verizon 3G adapter we were using. Get it.

In the beginning this wireless network adapter was going through two walls and floor and was doing a terrible job. It wasn't getting next to no internet connection it would lose signal every 30 minutes, require me to actually keep a folder on my desktop install file just so I could reinstall it. Then it would require the signal for a while. I was so close to sending it back. Sure, what can you expect when going 40-60 feet and through all that. Still, I was expecting something. Then I found the wonder that is the network extension cord. I bought a 25-foot one and ran it around the corner past all the instructions and much closer to the router. To my amazement, now it hasn't lost signal once and gets every bit as much internet speed as plugging it in downstairs. So far, this thing is starting to really impress. Really this is more of a story about how wonderful USB extension cables are, that's good if you can get this adapter within range and free of too many obstructions is really impressive. (Update) 4 weeks later, read above. Despite getting around aforementioned obstacles it still cuts itself off randomly at least 1-2 times a day. I don't get it, the connection is great when it works. You would think a quality product like this would be supported but I cannot find driver support for windows 10. Every day it's either stare at the Wi-Fi icon on the desktop until it inevitably disconnects, pull it out and plug it back in and hope that works, or have a folder with the setup files on your desktop so you can reinstall it. Any time I troubleshoot the wireless connection it says "!driver or hardware related problem" so it has to be the old drivers. I just know I'm down $30 and in almost the same place as before. I'm not trying to pile on this thing; when it works it works well, it just doesn't work consistently. I hope for the rest of you it works without a hitch. Just know, if you're thinking about buying this, there's is a small ever-persistent chance that you'll have driver or connection related problems that, for the life of me, I can't find a fix to. I'll update if anything changes.

It works fine, very little drop-outs (pic 2). But no, it's not worth $45. Imagery deceptively looks like it's USB 3.x, but it's not (pic 1). Photos in the description are careful to avoid seeing far enough inside the plug to see if it has the five extra USB 3 pins. Oh and get this, it comes with a CD and it says on it's sleeve "run this CD before connecting." I swear I heard someone out the window yell "impeach Bush" when I read that. Well, whatever, why not. Popped it in, and ran the Setup.exe file and "An administrator has blocked you from running this app. For more information, contact the administrator." That's a new one. I figured maybe it's coz it's in the root of an optical disk and there's an "autorun.inf" that references it. NOPE! I copied all the contents to a folder on my storage and got the same thing (pic 3). Still not sure if it's my Anti-virus, my VPN, or just Windows 10 being all "dude, ... come on." So I plugged it into another USB port, and sure enough Windows found the driver, downloaded it, installed it, and it works just fine (which was what I was going to do in the first place). One small note, this thing generates a bit of heat. Not flash-drive-in-a-USB-3-slot heat, but much hotter than I expected.

This is a great little adapter and also works great for the price. I've been using this on my desktop which I normally have wired, but after moving to a new apartment the set up of my office wasn't conducive to having my router near my computer desk. Being somewhat of a latencyophile I was apprehensive to get this adapter but I'm glad I did. I can easily stream 1080p content from my computer to my XBOX/PS3 without any hiccups. The only problem I have had and it has only happened once... If I accidentally bumped the adapter all my usb devices would stop working and I would have to hold down the power button on my pc to reset it. I'm not specifically blaming the wireless adapter; I'm sure that my computer plays an equal part in the screw up. Just thought it was a quirky thing and thought I would add it. Other thoughts: The router I use is the dual band Linksys E3000 to take full advantage of the dual-band technology. It's like they were made for each other ^_^.

The Cisco AE2500 is a great adapter that features: 1. Awesome speed/throughput of 300 Mbps 2. Slim size which fits USB ports even in the nooks and crannies of a computer 3. Doesn't heat up like other adapters However, this is a product which works only and specifically on Windows. There is no official support for this adapter for Linux and Mac. However, Linux users may have some success with ndiswrapper. If you are a Windows user, especially into gaming, streaming and downloading, then this adapter is right for you. If you use Linux or own a Mac, stay away from this and buy something else.

Lighting fast dual band wifi receiver. Way faster than any stock OEM wifi card in a laptop or PC

Works far better than the TP-Link TL-WN823N 300Mbp and Wifi Adapter AC 600Mbps Wireless that I had originally bought. Holds a strong signal, fast speed, and doesnt need to be reinstalled every time i reboot unlike the other 2 products mentioned.

The speed is very good but i think has distance limitation

Works well