Home > Consumer Reviews > Medialink - Wireless G USB Adapter - 802.11g - 54Mbps - Windows 2000 / XP / Vista 32-Bit / Vista 64-Bit Compatible

This was actually much better than I originally expected. The install was extremely easy. I plugged it in and it worked. I don't even remember if I used the CD that came with it or not. But either way it just worked (I have Windows 7). It has as good of a connection as any of my other wireless computers including my laptop. It comes with a handy usb extension cable which was great for me so I can put it above my desk instead of under it. Overall, it is a good product but I've had it for about a month now. No problems at all so far so its great.

Works great for me at modest price point, now I can get my kids off my PC as they are networked, easy set-up (had to have XP look for wireless network vs. s/w provided) but install was quick and easy, range and data rates are surprisingly good. Sweet !

I purchased this from Amazon after going through the reviews and I have to say it does work and it works well "IF" you are close to your router, like one room away or have a laptop to move closer to get better signal. As for setting up the usb adapter, it was quite easy and smooth. No problems with that working with Windows XP. If your computer is a couple rooms away or one floor up/down from the wireless router, I would suggest you skip this item. Basically the distance from the wireless router can not be too far, otherwise your reception will be pretty slow and weak, which defeats the point! If you have to be that close to the router, you might as well just get a long cable line!

My wireless router is in the office downstairs and my desktop was one story up and couple rooms away, less than 50 feet away, the reception comes and goes and was weak throughout - I was always getting less than 24mbps (getting 24mbps was rarely but it did get that from time to time) and with signal strength about 1 bar on average. I ended up getting a different wifi adapter with an antenna for the same computer in the same room, and it has much better reception (signal strength around with 4 bars majority of the time and with 54mbps on average). Save your money and buy a wifi adapter with an antenna, unless you will be only one room away from the wifi router.

Reason I gave it 2 stars - Reception was weak and must be close. However due to price and easy usb setup, I gave it an extra star. Good for someone that will be close by, like one room away or for older laptop that does not have wifi connection.

Here's my story:

My cheap $500 Compaq Presario laptop's built in wireless broke and now I had to venture into finding a wireless adapter. I stalled and stalled for a couple weeks because I was researching through amazon, and the Medialink wireless adaptor seem to have the best reviews.

Nothing else seem to pop out in terms of price and dependability. For the price of about $30 (after amazon prime and it's awesome free 2-day shipping), I was able to plug in the usb wireless adapter into my laptop and install the software. The installation was a breeze with my windows vista. There were no problems! I must say the body of the usb itself is a little chunky, but that's not really a problem.

Overall, I would definitely buy this usb wireless adapter because it rarely fails on you. Do not risk buying a low-end cheap adapter! You need to pay more so you don't ever have to worry about your internet dying on you again.

Buy with confidence! (Linksys and Belkin adapters seem too overpriced and not dependable)

P.S. Amazon surfers: continue to contribute awesome reviews! Without you guys I wouldn't be able to find the best products out there. Thanks again Amazon community!

I bought one of these for my daughters desktop computer she just got for her bedroom. My son already had one, in a Lynksys brand, for his computer and I had been happy with his for a long time. When we installed this in my daughters computer, I noticed right away her computer (which is exactly identical to my sons computer) was accessing the Internet much faster. So much faster I figured it was time to upgrade his 3 year old wireless adapter.

Instead of doing the smart thing and getting another Media Link adapter, I purchased a Linksys wireless adapter for his computer. He plays on his computer a lot more and I thought I was getting a better adapter by buying a Linksys. Other then an oddly lengthy installation (not a problems I normally have with Linksys) everything was working perfectly...until a week later.

A week after we bought the Linksys one, it totally stopped working. Not just not getting a signal, it fried out. No LED light on it any more and the computer didn't recognise it in any way. It was dead, and only a week old. So I promptly checked my Amazon purchase history and found I had bought this Medialink one for my daughters computer and ordered a second one for my sons computer. It has worked like a dream since it was installed and the occasional dropped signals we had with the old Linksys wireless adapter have not happened once with this new Media Link adapter. In over a months use on two computers, nether Medialink wireless adapter has dropped the Internet signal even one time!