I am beside myself with pleasant surprise, after I have tried a myriad of USB power antennas and wirelss and AC-mediated range extenders of all makes and models which I could never get either configured or to effect any improvement once installed and configured. I ordered this unit as the "last straw" approach merely as a desperate supplement to another Amazon order to bring the total to "free shipping" qualification! I shall describe the setup and function in considerable detail because wireless can be tricky, and I don't want you to get on the wrong track and become discouraged with a fine product.

TECHNICAL:

The device attaches to a USB port and Windows 7 will find a driver for it immediately. The kit comes with a mini CD which your optical drive may or may not accommodate. If not, you can burn the files onto a regular CD for loading the specific drivers and installation utility. However, a far better option is to go directly to Ralink's website and download the latest driver, since it is about 9 months more proximate to the current date than the one included on at least my miniCD. I had done the aforementioned transfer from the 3" disc, but when I started to launch it, I realized that it was outdated, and made the installation from the downloaded file which you can of course save to your hard drive for later use. The address for the download is included on the instruction sheet. It is the first download in the list under USB 2870 Win 7 32/64. If you didn't know that, you wouldn't know which file to pick.

The installation is very quick, but afterwards, if you have an encrypted wireless network(which I hope you all have), you will have to set up the parameters so that the antenna can join your security- protected wireless network. This is done through your just loaded RaLink's configuration utility which will autolaunch at the end of the initial installation, or, if you are doing it on a delayed basis, you access in the Start/Programs menu. The instruction pamphlet very clearly tells you stepwise what to do to, more or less, to guide you through the configuration. The available networks will be picked up and displayed. You pick which you want and click Connect at the bottom right of the Window. This will bring up a dialogue box which requires you to enter the type of security you have (WPA, WPA 2, WEP, etc.), and the encoding algorithm (AES, TKIP, etc.). You also have to enter the name of your network(under the initially confusing "Tunnel name", in the window, and then your network password. You MUST have that information ready to enter or you will NOT be able to configure your antenna. If you don't know what you have, go to your router's configuration ultility, which is usually accessed through your browser, enter your security passcode to get on the site, then drill down to the section involving Wireless and Security(different manufacturers have different schemes). The above needed information is all stored there to refresh your memory, or to imprint on it, if you never paid any attention to it when you maybe automatically configured your router. You go from one step to the next by pressing the "next" or right-facing arrow. After the final "next", the antenna will then link up immediately and give you a connection. Reading this word by word, it sounds complicated, but it is not, and the process is intuitive. The buttons have little balloons to help you as well.

If you don't thereafter see increased signal strength, you may need to temporarily disable the onboard LAN adapter. You do this in the Device Manager in the Network Adapter section. (Hit the Windows logo key and the Pause break key and in the window which comes up, on the far left margin, choose DEVICE Manager) You'll see your integrated NIC and the Ralink Entry when you expand the Network adapter subsection. Right click on your computer's endogenous entry and select DISABLE. After you do this, your computer will default to your new antenna, and the signal strength will rise immediately. Interestingly, if you then re-enable your native adapter, there will be NO recurrent problem. There is no inherent conflict in the hardware thereafter, even when you reboot. They work perfectly well side by side. This little glitch may not apply to everybody, but since I experienced this during the initial setup, I wanted to pass this on so that you don't get discouraged. Just let the two work side by side.

One thing to note is that since the antenna derives its power from the laptop, just as does the inboard WiFi antenna, you will notice an increased rate of battery depletion when this unit is connected, over and above from the stock antenna, but it is in NO way troublesome unless you are using it for protracted periods of time, in which case, I would recommend you attach your AC adapter.

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FUNCTIONAL

So much for the technical factors.......so how does it work? After consummate frustration with previous trials, as aforementioned, I'd say it is a minor miracle! Usually, but not always, increased up/down speeds correlate with increased signal strength, and in this case, they ARE directly related. I have a two story house with a Linksys WRT 54G on the top floor. Right next to the router, as a control, my Asus Zenbook, without the auxiliary antenna showed a 5 bar signal and a 22/4 Mb/s up/down transmission which is the same as my direct wired connection. At the foot of the stairs, now onto the first floor: 3 bars and 4/2 speed, but about 20 feet more distantly into the kitchen through another wall, the signal dropped to 1-2 bars and 1.5/2 transmission speed. In this relatively dead zone, sometimes the laptop would actually disconnect altogether. Workable, yes, but suboptimal and frustrating. Now, with the powered antenna hooked into the USB slot, signal strength everywhere on the first floor was 5 bars, and the transmission speed was 16/4! If I put a USB extension cord of about 10 feet between the laptop and the antenna, of course the 5 bar maximum didn't change, but the transmission speed was 22/4, exactly as if it were hard wired with CAT5 connection to the router!!!!! It was just as effective as if I had moved the whole assembly closer to the router. The length of cable caused no transmission speed loss. I was just BLOWN AWAY!

I've rebooted the computer several times, attached and disconnected the antenna, disabled and renabled the power antenna, same with the integrated adapter, in the Device manager, disconnected and reconnected the antenna electronically on the computer, and everything behaved exactly as expected, with the same excellent results, so the configuration seems absolutely stable with both LAN devices enabled. That is important if you don't plan to take your power antenna with you which is generally unnecessary in most Wi-FI hotspots. But if you want the spiffiest downloading, you can pack this eminently portable antenna and its cable into your laptop carrying case. It's about 11 inches long with the antennae attached and extended to lie in flat configuration(you'd have them somewhat elevated like rabbit ears for best function), and if that doesn't fit in your bag, you can easily unscrew the antennae(2 of them) from the small chassis, so it should stow easily. There is a flickering blue light on the chassis to show that it is powered and working. You can also see the menus of the respective pickups of the native and auxilliary adapters in the WiFi folder accessible from your system tray on the taskbar. For example, as I write this review, that readout shows, on the same list, both adapters, one with one bar, and one with 5!

As all of this sells for less than $20, this clearly shows you actually can get MORE than what you pay for, and that, very occasionally, the aphorism that something that seems too good to be true does not apply!!! Yes, rare indeed.

This little unit has turned a useful but previously dead or very sluggish spot for laptop use in my home with respect to online access, into a crisp, unadulterated, efficient reception point. The only small price you pay for that is that you have to attach a piece of hardware to your computer rather than have the signal amplified by a repeater, but I have found attempts with the latter universally disappointing or abject failures. If you have several dead points in your house or designated work area, and you don't want to pick up your antenna and move it each time, for the negligible cost of this unit, buy an antenna for each location that you can just plug into your laptop. Of course, you will have to go through the simple configuration process for each unit which does not have to be repeated once the installation and configuration is initially made. I' d say that is way overkill, but is an option, if circumstances apply in any individual situation.

In the interest of disclosure for such a rave review, I have absolutely no connection with the company that makes this device, and had never even heard of it before I almost stumbled on it when browsing through Amazon. NO conflict of interest.

BOTTOM LINE: If you have the need to boost your reception at a desired usage site, either because you have NO connection or suboptimal performance from a weak connection, look no further. This will do the job unless you have 3 feet of Krell steel between the laptop's location and your router! You WILL NOT be disappointed, provided you follow the easy directions to configure the antenna with a secured network. This review applies to Win 7; I have no experience with its function on MAC and can not endorse or criticize it on that platform.
Good luck and happy surfing! I hope this helps you with your decision making.

After going through 3 other adapters for almost twice the price I gave this lower priced adapter a shot... IT OUT PERFORMS THE REST hands down.. Save your money and purchase this product.. I am so happy.. We are on the road and have to use hotel motel internet 300+ days a year and if you are in our position you know they offer high speed internet at most but you can never hook up because of all the interference due to walls, location to routers,etc. This adapter blows through all of this and we always hook up at max speed/quality offered... WOW what a difference...

I've been using, repairing, and building computers for nearly 30 years. A while back I went looking for a wireless because of a computer I'm assembling. I read many of the reviews you see here and of course had to wonder if I should add this to my cart. Well I'm on the side of WOW! and I'm glad I did.

I connected this in place of an Intel Centrino and it's not even good competition. I tried it on my Asus with an Atheros card and a Dell with a Dell card and the same results. All are running Win 7 although two are new machines I don't choose to use 8 on. But hardware works the same when using different operating systems, they just install differently and 8 or 8.1 should be the same, so do this. Just open your wireless connections up, plug it in and wait 30 seconds for the driver to install, you'll see network 2 appear and then choose your new connection, then disconnect from your previous connection. That's it!

I had purchased a $50 extender to try and improve my download speed but this works much better without the extender, I have no use for it anymore. My second closest neighbor is 400 yards from me and I'm picking up 19 new networks! They must be ¼ mile away at least!

Needless to say I'm thrilled and recommend this. I can only assume the negative reviews came from those who have problems connecting computer equipment or received that occasional lemon. But I also see they are trying too hard, Windows has all you need and so don't install any software. For Windows just do what I did and 50 seconds after plugging it in you'll be looking for your network among the 3 times as many as you had before and if that's not enough, get a USB extender cable and raise it up higher. For those unfortunates who say they see no improvement, I want to scream. YOU NEED TO DISCONNECT FROM YOUR OTHER CONNECTION!!! If only they could hear how loud I typed that. This happened to me twice before I correctly configured the old card to be secondary on the computer network, otherwise at times it would choose to use the old card and network.

I'm writing this because I was so unsure if this was what I wanted after reading the reviews. If you've read this, now you know and you know how to install it in Windows and you'll know I'll send this to Amazon through 5 walls, 50 feet from my router at wired speed, no sweat. I'm just here to help.

*Update* Connecting this to the sixth computer, I had a different experience. It was shown in connections but when I entered the passcode it said it was wrong. So I searched for and found the wireless driver at Mediatek.com-menu-downloads-USB wireless and all is well.

It's funny, every single wifi signal i pick up is 3 bars or more, most are 4 and 5, yet the internet is as slow as a 1 bar signal. I thought it was odd that a signal that would say 4 bars with this thing would have slower internet connection than my built in network card which would show the signal at 2 bars. I also did a test and put one of the 6dBi antennas from the Etekcity dogle and put it on my router, which has a 5 dBi antenna, and in doing that, i would get 1 bar on my built-in network card where it usually reads 3 bars with the original 5 dBi antenna. Do not buy. I think its rigged to show more bars than it really has, so they can sell an inferior product and say its superior. Returned.