Customer Reviews

Cisco AM10 Valet Connector USB Wireless Adapter

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My goal was to connect my new desktop (running Windows 7) to my existing wireless network.

What I liked:

1. It worked - not to set the bar too low, but this was the second adapter I tried. So I was elated that this actually worked.

2. Ease of setup - no extra discs, just plug it into a USB port and the necessary drivers (and the actual Win7 drivers, which it seems most adapters on the market do not have pre-packaged) are right in the adapter itself. Though this was not perfect - see below.

3. The design is attractive and convenient with a built-in stand.

4. Speed seems good - no issues so far.

What I did not like - the setup software that comes with the device wants to be the controller for your network. After downloading the drivers it did not want the password for my network, but rather the Hexidecimal password. After shutting that part of the installer down I just used the wireless network function within Windows itself to locate and join my existing network. A minor issue at best.

My needs are simple, so I cannot say if this will be good for more complex situations/ needs, but it works and I'm happy.

It works just fine and the price here was the same as Woot.com the day I bought it.

This guy does a neat trick I've been expecting some device to do for years, but this is the first one I've seen:

It's a multi-function USB device.

When you plug it in, it appears to your computer twice: once as a wifi adapter and also as a USB mass storage device ("thumbdrive") WITH DRIVERS ON IT.

Surely there aren't drivers for every single OS ever made and ever to be made, but I'm sure the popular ones are covered. The WinXP ones were there for me. Not sure what else is.

So, in addition to being wifi adapter, it's also a USB mass storage device.

You could use it as a thumb drive. It doesn't hold a ton though. Seems like there's about 1-2 GB free.

So, no need for a disk with the drivers and no need to get drivers from the Internet (which can be hard it you're replacing another broken network adapter which is surely a popular reason for buying this).

I love this thing! I have the Cisco-Valet Plus Wireless Router which made setting up a home network and connecting all my wireless devises a breeze. I had a HP Media Center pc that was so slow I was forced to upgrade. I moved it to the guest/study room and was planning to use it for my kids but I could not get the pc to connect to my network. A quick call to Cisco Valet Plus customer service (I cannot say enough great things about their service) determined that the HP Media pc did not have built-in wireless. They advised me that I needed a wi-fi adapter to access my network, and more importantly to my kids - the internet with all its Cartoon Network games. Several options were provided that would work for my outdated Windows Service Package 2. I asked about this Cisco Valet connector since I was already impressed with the ease of the Valet Plus but was told that this product only worked with Windows Service Package 3.

I dragged my old pc back to the modem to upgrade so I could purchase this instead of another product that would work with the older Serivce Package 2. After receiving this Connector, I am glad I went through the extra effort. It was a breeze to set up. All I had to do was follow the 3 step process listed on screen and presto, I was connected to my network and had access to the internet. After installing Nanny software to monitor usage by my kids, my old pc is viable once again. Yeah!

I really love the great customer service provided by Cisco, they patiently listened to my fumbling attempts to describe my initial problem and walked me through the steps necessary to get the right product for my needs, even if it resulted in purchasing a competitor's brand. Impressive. I also really love how easy it was to install this Valet connector without having to read instructions.

I highly recommend this to those who enjoy a quick and painless way to connect any devise that does not have built-in wireless to your Valet network, as long as it has an usb port. This purchase was worth every penny for providing hassle free installation and great customer service.

We picked this up from another site on sale, in the hope that it would improve our wireless reception on a desktop computer in our house. We have one of the ultra-low profile, barely-sticks-out-of-the-USB-port USB wireless adapters plugged in to it now and we lose the signal once every few days. We were hoping the larger, re-locatable adapter from Cisco would improve matters but it was actually worse. We lost the wireless signal every few minutes, instead of every few days. For an adapter several times larger than our current solution and remotely locatable with the USB-extension cord, we were disappointed.

I don't know much about computers, all I know is I have a laptop that is a couple years old, and I couldn't get internet access while traveling. This device is very easy to use, just plug it in and most places you can get internet access. Starbucks gives you half an hour of access when you buy a cup of coffee. Airplanes sometimes have wi-fi access and you can get some work done on the plane. I am pleased with my purchase

it works, and the extension cord is nice, but the adapter gets hot after a while. I got this to replace my tp link adapter because the item description where i bought it said it was 300 mbps which was twice that of the tp link adapter, so i thought it meant it was faster and better. but really they're about the same, except when the cisco adapter got really hot i had no connection and had to take it off the extension cable and put it back on. i get 2/3 bars with the cisco vs 3/4 bars with my tp link adapter (without a usb extension). the bad thing about the included usb extension is that it's shaped so that it'll only fit the cisco adapter. i wish it didnt have the walls so i could use it for my other usb devices, especially because i only have two usb ports in the front of my tower. anyway, i don't recommend this to anyone at retail price. i got it for about $6 +$5 shipping brand new from woot, but it's not really worth it, considering how hot it gets relatively quickly and doesn't pick up signal as well as other wireless adapters i've used. it looks pretty though

Worked as expected. I have used Liksys and Cisco products other than the Valet, and I can say wholeheartedly that the Valet is by far the easiest to setup/use. Signal is strong and no problems so far. Thumbs Up!!

The adapter plain in simple is a piece of crap. You see the nice packaging and nice sleek design and say eh.. I'll give it a shot. What you will find out is that the adapter once installed drops signal and loses connection constantly not only that it has worse signal then it should. Now some might say well you need to place it closer to your router. I had my Xbox wireless adapter, my laptop which is one year old, and my sisters laptop that is like 8 years old, all sit in the same spot (at different times of course) for testing purposes and they all get better signal then this POS adapter. If I placed it closer to my router I might as well just run Ethernet wire to the god damn desktop. If you are looking for a stable connection by all means do not get this adapter I would trust this product with a grain of salt. Keep your money and spend it on something that works. I am just glad I bought this product on woot for $6.

I bought 3 of these on Woot a while back because they were so cheap. One as a gift and the other just because I have an N router but no N devices. I can't speak for the range of the things because I live in an apartment, but what I can say is that for my purposes, I'm getting a great connection! 144mbps isn't the fastest N available but it's a lot faster than 54mbps. I was a little leery of putting my main PC on a wireless connection because I've had mixed results in the past, but since I haven't been gaming much on line recently, I thought that it couldn't hurt and it would free up the cat-5 that I ran for it.

Anyway, my favorite thing about this device is that the drivers are built in! I've been clamoring for this since the mid 90s when memory got (relatively) cheaper. If my computer could program a device through the joystick port, then surely it could find a small driver stored on the device, right? This Valet is the first thing I've owned that had something like this and it is SUPERB! I was digging through the box looking for a driver disc and thought that they'd expected me to go online to get drivers and was immediately peeved. Oh sure, I could get online on a different machine, but what if I couldn't? I said to myself. I plugged it in and the installation software started up! To me, that alone is worth the price. This is a great adapter to keep around for emergencies or for troubleshooting because you'll never need to find software for it. Maybe it won't work after an OS upgrade or two, I don't know, but as is, I'm digging it.

Signal has been steady so far, and according to speedtest.net, the difference between it and a wired connection is basically zero (a non-significant difference in ping of 12ms wired vs 13ms).

Simple setup. Found every WAP in the neighborhood.

I got mine from Woot for 5 bucks.

Documentation is excellent, too.