Nubbin 802.11 N USB Adapter

by Mvix

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• ASIN: B0028YX24C
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 6, 2009

Product Description

802.11b/g/n mini-size USB adapter. "Mvix Nubbin (MS-811N) is an IEEE802.11b/g/n mini-size USB adapter that can connect notebook handheld or desktop PC equipped with USB2.0 interface to a wireless-N network. It brings the freedom of staying connected to the network at blazing-fast Wireless-N speeds while maintaining access to the Internet e-mail networked applications and print services. The "nubbin" is a perfect panion for your notebook -providing access to the internet-enabled world anytime -anywhere."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So small, and so convenient., May 19, 2009

By 

B. Lacefield "secros" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nubbin 802.11 N USB Adapter (Electronics)

What a great piece of equipment. I thought my options were annoyingly limited when trying to replace the airport. I settled for a Belkin wireless G module that was this huge flat mess of an adapter. I thought for sure that I would break it off, and it was annoyingly big. Then I found this little beauty.

1. It works great on Macs, just get the drivers from the Mvix product page (Click on the Mac logo, as stated in another review).
2. It's so small that I don't think I'm going to have to take it out of my machine, and I don't have any boot/sleep issues so far with it.
3. The price is right! [...] bucks for wireless N?!

The connection seems solid, although I wish the software was integrated, it still works fine. I am writing this review with it right now.

I would highly recommend this product for any device you need a wireless usb adapter for. Well done, Mvix!

EDIT:
Wow after reading the first review, mine was very much influence by it's prose. Anyway, I have a few things to say about this product after using it for the past few weeks or so.

This is not a "robust" card. I say that because there are some adapters that will get on unreliable networks and somehow manage to stay on them. This is for the most part reliable (used with Linksys B-only and G-only routers as well as the Airport Extreme and the D-Link DGL-4500 satisfactorily), but when the connection starts to get weak this adapter doesn't hang in there very well.

The interface (software) to use the adapter is not as slick as Apple's built in Airport interface. I would much prefer to use the built in software, but limited inherent support does not allow that right now. That said, once you get the profiles setup, the only real nuisance is that you have an extra icon bouncing around in your object bar.

Sometimes I can't get an IP address even when it says that I'm connected. So if you don't have permission to get on a wireless network but you try to get on it anyway, it will say that you're connected, and it will show the same stats through the 3rd party software. When you look at your Network Preference Pane, though, the IP address is a self-assigned one. Occasionally it has happened to me that I will be on a legit network, I'll have a legit IP address for 10, 15, 30 minutes sometimes, and then a mystical force will decide that I should be disconnected. When my internet stops working, I start poking around and notice that I have a self-assigned IP, but I don't see in the interface where I Release/Renew. When I do it through the Network Preference Pane it rarely works. I have to unplug and plug back in the adapter or restart the machine and proceed.

I connected this to an iMac acting as an access point and it worked flawlessly. Kind of a weird combo, but just in case someone wanted to use this for an ad-hoc client. I will say, though, that I could not use network services through a Linksys router between the two machines. That is why I connected them ad-hoc. That might have something to do with an interference issue, as I am in an apartment complex. I didn't troubleshoot it further, because the ad-hoc solution worked so well and was so easy to setup.

Final verdict:

Still very happy that I have this adapter. On networks that I know I'm allowed on that are setup properly with the right credentials I have little to no problems. I would still recommend getting this adapter, as the B, G, and N speeds are more than acceptable for the price you pay. The profile is great. I have absolutely no regrets about getting this little Nubbin.

ANOTHER EDIT:

If you're annoyed with this... oh well. I want you to be well informed. Something handy that I figured out recently is that after I get an IP address (successfully connect to a wireless network), I can close the 3rd party software, and I stay connected. This means one less thing in my object bar! Also, my computer doesn't want to sleep with the software open, so I have to make sure it's "Quit" out of, or my computer will not go all the way to sleep and my battery will be toast in a couple hours of pseudo-sleep.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works With Ubuntu Linux, June 28, 2009

By 

Juan A. Silva (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nubbin 802.11 N USB Adapter (Electronics)

A detailed review of the Nubbin's many superb features (and small handful of shortfalls) is not necessary as previous reviewers did an excellent job of covering all that material.

I will say, however, that in addition to being impressed with the product's size and cost, I was also incredibly happy with its Linux support. I plugged it into an IBM Thinkpad with Ubuntu 8.04, and separately on an Acer Aspire One with ubuntu 9.04, and in both cases the Nubbin was auto-detected by the local Network Manager. Within seconds, all the local wifi spots came streaming in, and while admittedly I don't do much wireless surfing, I did not see anything wrong with the connection performance.

To use the old cliché: "It just worked!"

I can't guarantee similar plug-and-play functionality with other Linux distributions, but the RaLink drivers can be downloaded and installed with relative ease. The investment in time would certainly be well worth it, as this little gem's ultra-portability simply can't be beat!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent alternative to fixing Airport, May 13, 2009

By 

Wesley A. Swenson "asherbanipal" (Garden Grove, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nubbin 802.11 N USB Adapter (Electronics)

The Mvix Nubbin is an excellent and inexpensive adapter connecting to b, g or n networks. It works well with MacBooks running Leopard. One of our MacBooks popped a Humpty Dumpty on us and had a great fall, thus knocking out Airport. Since that is not covered by warranty, it would cost somewhere to the tune of $250 to fix. This little beauty cost less than $40 and is a great alternative.

Positives:
1. Works with Mac
2. Small (and some say cute)
3. Wicked fast. A quick test on the same network against Airport shows that the Nubbin beats every time.
4. Profiles can be set up so it will automatically connect to your favorite Wifi.

Negatives:
1. Small (might get lost or broken off from the laptop)
2. Mac set up is not the easiest, but it can be done. You have to install the driver from their support page by clicking on the Mac icon, not by searching. The utility looks daunting, but can be configured if you have a bit of TCP/IP knowledge.
3. There is a longer lag time when you wake the computer from sleep.

Highly recommended!