TRENDnet 54Mbps Wireless G USB Adapter TEW-424UB

by TRENDnet

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches ; 0.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000636JD8
• Item model number: TEW-424UB
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (131 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 3, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer TEW-424UB 802.11g Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter brings together the convenience of USB 2.0 and the high speed of 802.11g, allowing you to easily connect to 802.11g networks at speeds of up to 54Mbps. The USB 2.0 interface facilitates a hassle-free Plug-and-Play installation, and 128-bit WEP Encryption provides robust network security. The TEW-424UB is a feature-rich yet convenient way to go wireless.

Additional Features

• Wi-Fi Compliant with IEEE 802.11g and 802.11b Wireless Standards
• Uses 2.4 GHz Frequency Band, which Complies with Worldwide Requirements
• Supports Ad-Hoc (Peer-to-Peer) Mode or Infrastructure (AP-Client) Mode
• Compliant with Universal Serial Bus Rev 2.0, 1.1, 1.0 Specifications
• Dynamic Data Rate Scaling at 54, 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9 and 6Mbps for 802.11g
• Dynamic Data Rate Scaling at 11, 5.5, 2 and 1Mbps for 802.11b
• Maximum Reliability, Throughput and Connectivity with Automatic Data Rate Switching
• Compatible with Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista
• Supports 64/128-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2 and WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK
• Support WMM™ QoS (Wi-Fi Multimedia Quality of Service)
• Integrated Printed Antenna for the Multi-Path Environment
• Low Interference and High Susceptibility Guarantee Reliable Performance
• Low Power Consumption and Easy Configurations
• Range of 35~100 meters indoor, 100~300 meters outdoor (depends on the environment)
• Simple User Setup & Diagnostics Utilities
• 3-year limited warranty

How It Works

Product Description

TRENDnets TEW-424UB 802.11g Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter brings together the convenience of USB 2.0 and the high speed of 802.11g, allowing you to easily connect to 802.11g networks at speeds of up to 54Mbps. The USB 2.0 interface facilitates a hassle-free Plug-and-Play installation, and 128-bit WEP Encryption provides robust network security. Offering seamless AP-to-AP roaming, auto-installation for Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP, and auto-negotiation, the TEW-424UB is a feature-rich yet convenient way to go wireless.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Happy with performance for the cost, June 1, 2005

By 

ostawookiee "ostawookiee" (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: TRENDnet 54Mbps Wireless G USB Adapter TEW-424UB (Personal Computers)

I run a secured wireless network in my home (Linksys Super-G). I bought this adapter for use with an older laptop, which had USB 1.0 ports. On the same network my new laptop's onboard wireless gets 5 bars, this adapter with the old laptop picks up 4. I haven't had any connection dropping problems though. This past weekend I started a 27.3GB set of file transfers when I left for the day, it finally finished 12 hours later. That seems relatively slow, but I never notice much speed lag when I'm surfing the net. I've been impressed with how it's worked considering the laptop is almost a relic; and it nice to be able to get a guest's machine online by letting them borrow the adapter in the house.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars inexpensive but with WPA issues, July 19, 2005

By 

Dave92270 (CA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TRENDnet 54Mbps Wireless G USB Adapter TEW-424UB (Personal Computers)

I bought TEW-424UB (b1 version) few weeks ago; I'm using it under Win2k, with WRT54G router and security features enabled (SSID broadcast off, WPA-PSK on).

The device seems to have reasonable speed when connected, however every once a while the connection gets mysteriously lost or reset, and the adapter connects to (unsecured) neighbor's router instead of mine (despite having much better signal from my router). To reconnect back to my router requires reinstallation of the driver and control utility/application, because the "WPA-PSK" encryption is permanently lost from the selection menu, so there is no way to connect to WPA network again. The device can see my router, however won't let me input WPA key, as if it wouldn't support WPA at all.... The reinstallation of the driver and utility restores the WPA-PSK option; until the next lost connection...this gets old very fast.

I wouldn't recommend this adapter if you want to run WPA secured network; it probably works dependably otherwise.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars unreliable and low throughput, August 10, 2005

By 

J. Yee (Bay Area, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: TRENDnet 54Mbps Wireless G USB Adapter TEW-424UB (Personal Computers)

I used this for several months before finally giving up and replaced it with a DLINK G122. I installed the TEW-424UB on a brand new XP PC with the AP located 15 ft away. I rarely saw good signal strength and the data rate rarely peaked. All this was acceptable since my broadband connection only supported ~1Mbps anyway. What really annoyed me was the fact that the connection would die 2 or 3 times a day, requiring reseting the driver or sometimes physically resetting the dongle. After I replaced it with the DLINK G122, I saw excellent signal strenght and 54Mbps data rate from the same exact location.

Given the low price and the fact that the TEW-424UB is not even WiFi certified, what I experienced probably should not have been a surprise. My recommendation is to stay far and away from this product.