Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The AirLink101 adapter is probably the smallest wireless-N capable USB adapter you will find. It's small size is ideal for laptop and desktop computers alike, as it doesn't stick out and risk being broken. First off, the driver that comes with the USB adapter SUCKS. The two adapters I purchased were both used on Windows 7 x64 desktops. While Windows 7 easily detected the device and installed drivers for it, the stock drivers made for a very difficult time getting a reliable connection to the network. The drivers found on the included CD were no better. Turns out you need to download the RealTek drivers for the 802.11b/g/n Single Chip RTL8188CUS chipset from RealTek's website, as this AirLink adapter uses the RealTek chipset. Once I installed that driver on both desktop computers, my signal strength was much higher and did not drop a connection. Surfing the net was every bit as fast as my wireless-G connections (as expected), and intranet transfers were very quick. I imagine that many reviewers who gave bad reviews for this adapter did not attempt to update the drivers for it. To really give this adapter a fair shake, do yourself a favor and use the RealTek drivers to avoid headaches or unneeded returns. I'm using this adapter with an Asus RT-N16 router--one computer is about 40 feet away (through two rooms), and the other computer is 2 floors upstairs on the other side of the house, neither are showing signal issues. So far this is 5-star wireless-N adapter... my only knock is that I just wish the included drivers were a little better for easier setup.