I found prices lately at newegg and amazon comparable most of the time. Reviews were spot on and my purchase was based solely on consumer feedback. I had a 150 Mbps Edimax wireless N adapter with a 3 antenna base that, after a windows update, was giving me 144 Mbps. Not too shabby for an adapter that was half the price of this one. It was giving me 130 Mbps before with an older driver. With all the hype, I figured I'd give the TP-Link 4800 a try. I couldn't believe TP-Link, in their infinite wisdom, decided drivers from 2011 would suffice. Even with Windows 8 already out? The adapter is PCIE (Edimax was PCI) and both were positioned in the same location and a complete removal of old drivers was performed prior to "updating" to the 2011 drivers TP-Link and its fans raved about. I tried every wireless networking trick in the book (location, location)and, at first,never squeezed anything more than 130 Mbps out of the TP-Link. I even called support and their response? if it works, don't fix it. Sure, a lot of variables are in play when it comes to performance from a wireless adapter but, jeez, a higher price tag, smaller antennae with no extended cable and base and 2011 drivers? I expected to get my money's worth and better support. I refused to give up. This is not my first foray with TP-Link wireless adapters. TP-Link boasted 450 Mbps but I'm sure that would be achieved only with the more expensive routers like the ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router. I've been happy with my 2 D-Link Dual-band Dir-655 routers where one is set up as an AP repeater. I may have to save up for one of the Asus routers and give the TP-Link another go. Using the TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band TPLink N900 the 130 Mbps signal was indeed stable and I could see more wireless connections in my neighborhood than the Edimax but who cares? Most of the time your success will only be based on channels 1, 6 and 11. For the price I paid for the TP-Link I, at first, gave it 3 out of 5 stars since, for the price, it was just average. I have to add this as well. I even bought 2 sets of TRENDnet Duo 7dBi Indoor Omni Directional Antenna with Mounting Base TEW-AI77OB (Black) to possibly improve the signal. No cigar.
Then, it happened! I tried a free little app called Wifi Analyzer and installed it on my Android. It was only then that I analyzed the problem and discovered, through graphical data, what channel to pick on my principal router. It worked so well, I re-wrote this review. To take the guesswork out of picking the best channel for your router/routers give the Wifi Analyzer a chance. It worked for me. I only wish someone at TP-Link could have suggested it. Sure, I spent some time trying numerous remedies and fixes but tenacity will win every time or at least explain why it can't. I now get a consistent 300 Mbps from the card using Channel 1 which is what Wifi Analyzer suggested. With the older D-Link Dir-655 router, I think that's all you can expect since channels 12-14 aren't available. More channels and faster speeds would probably be achieved with the newer more expensive Asus router I mentioned. I hope someone finds this review informative. Cheers!
| Wireless Type | 802.11n, 802.11b, 802.11g |
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