Ebay Usb Wifi Adapter

[L0m]

Hey everyone, I have my eye on this wifi adapter and am considering picking it up, I thought before I do I should check in here first. So here I am, is there anything I should be weary about/should know?

Thanks all

[TheSLSAMG]

It's based on the Realtek RTL8188, so the big thing to consider is the fact that the listing's title is a lie. It is not USB 3.0, it does not support 802.11ac and it is not dual band.

[L0m]

2 minutes ago, TheSLSAMG said:

It's based of the Realtek RTL8188, so the big thing to consider is the fact that the listing is a lie. It is not USB 3.0, it does not support 802.11ac and it is not dual band.

Thanks, I think I'll reconsider, although I realised it was usb 2.0 I didn't realise it was 2.4 only

[Wohaaa]

it looks like one of those cheap Chinese versions of a real product. If I wanted that I'd instead go to a normal computer shop and ask if they had it. 9 times out of ten they do, and they also have warranty for it and it's branded instead of some cheap chinese version.

[L0m]

Just now, IamJavik said:

it looks like one of those cheap Chinese versions of a real product. If I wanted that I'd instead go to a normal computer shop and ask if they had it. 9 times out of ten they do, and they also have warranty for it and it's branded instead of some cheap chinese version.

Yeah, I was just looking if I could save a few bucks

[SupaKomputa]

The antenna probably doesn't do anything like some cheap wifi adapter, you pull the antenna and it still work. It's just for show.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I've fallen for cheap eBay WiFi adapters before, its not worth it.

I actually have two adapters, identical chipsets, one TP-Link branded, one no-name brand.

The no-name brand doesn't get close to the same performance either due to poor antennas, poor amplifiers or other implementation issues.

So, you can't even rely on the chipset to tell if an adapter is good or not.  A known-brand product will generally perform better, and if it doesn't you can return it.