I own a computer that utilizes Windows Vista (64 bit) and was not having success installing wireless adapters from two reputable companies. At this point I was ready to cut open walls and run the ethernet cable to my computer. I mentioned the problem to my computer geek cousin and he told me to purchase a medialink wireless adapter as it supports Windows Vista 32 and 64. So I googled the wireless adapter and found that Amazon carried it. So I went to Amazon.com and there it was in the medialink adapter's product information, compatible with Vista 32 and 64. At $29.99 ( $10.00 cheaper then the previous two adapters), I thought it was worth the risk. I recieved it two days later and proceeded to install the medialink wireless G USB adapter and again no success. At this point I'm ready to punch a hole in the wall out of frustration. I finally decided to contact Mediabridge to convey my dissatisfaction. The phone was picked up after one ring and a customer service person rerouted me to technical support. Technical support picked up after one ring and I'm thinking to myself, this is amazing, no machine telling me to push buttons. After running several test on my computer with technical support, I still was not wireless. The tech support person, who was professional and knowledgable, recommended trying their wireless-N USB adapter. He said Mediabridge will ship it out right away at no cost. I received the wireless-N adapter the following day (again,amazing). I install it and within five minutes I was wireless. The installation was a snap. I'm on the internet several hours a day and I haven't had any problems at all. I forget sometimes that I'm wireless. At the price Mediabridge is charging for their wireless adapters, this is a steal. Kudos to Mediabridge for backing their products and lowering my blood pressure. I recommend this product to anyone who wants a quality wireless adapter at a great price.
Lo and behold, I plugged it in and it was recognized within seconds. In under a minute, the box was connected to my network and I was streaming YouTube video to my upstairs bedroom. I was absolutely amazed.
This dongle is not yet listed on WD TV Live's supported device list, and I've found no previous posts or reviews confirming this compatibility. Hope this helps those looking at this for the same reason that I was.
Buy Medialink- 150Mbps Wireless N USB Adapter Now
I recently added Mac OS X to my Windows Dell Mini 9. I had replaced the WiFi card in the Mini with an Intel 5300 which is great, but there's no Mac OS support. So I was on the lookout for an inexpensive USB adapter that supported OS X and Windows if it was wireless N also, that would be a bonus. A couple of weeks ago when I started this search, I came up empty, but this time I found the Medialink adapter, which claimed to support Windows, OS X and Linux. I decided to give it a try.When I received it I was upset to see that the packaging claimed support for Windows only, and the Medialink web site has only Windows drivers. But the instruction leaflet says that OS X and Linux drivers are on the CD and sure enough, they are.
Medialink claims that this is one of the smallest Wireless N USB adapters and I believe them it's half the size of an Actiontec adapter I recently reviewed.
I first tried it under Windows 7. The driver installed nicely and the adapter worked, though I found the configuration utility confusing and could not figure out how to use WiFi Protected Setup (WPS). I did manage to create a profile typing the WPA2 key by hand and that worked. The signal strength was somewhat lower than the Intel card (with its three antennae in the netbook lid), which was understandable. Speed was excellent, though. Note that this is a 2.4GHz only adapter 5GHz is not supported.
I then tried OS X. The CD contains drivers for several earlier versions of OS X, but not 10.6 (Snow Leopard). I tried the 10.5 driver and the installation appeared to hang after a while. However, when I rebooted and inserted the adapter, everything seemed to work. This time I managed to figure out how to use WPS and it connected with my router without problems. Unlike with an AirPort or some Apple-supported device, there's no indication in the menu bar that there's a connection, but the "Ralink Wireless USB" utility that launches when the adapter is connected confirmed it was there.
Medialink also includes a rather large desktop base with a hefty USB cable attached, should you want to use it. I tried it and it did work.
Pros: Support of Windows, OS X and Linux (I suppose I didn't try Linux), compact size, good performance
Cons: Confusing configuration utility
Edit: December 29, 2010
I noticed that the Amazon description no longer mentions Linux and Mac support, so I called Medialink to ask what's up. I was told that they found the market for the adapter on Linux/Mac OS smaller than they thought and they didn't have expertise in those operating systems, so they no longer advertise Mac and Linux support. However, drivers for those ARE still on the CD and if they get any newer driers from Ralink (the chipset vendor), they'll pass them on (on the web site, I assume.) I still recommend this adapter for Mac OS users, but be prepared to be "on your own" if you're using Mac OS or Linux. (And sorry, I can't provide support either!)
Read Best Reviews of Medialink- 150Mbps Wireless N USB Adapter Here
After reading all of the reviews, I expected miracles out of this little device.After snapping my NetGear USB Wireless-N adapter yesterday, I immediately ran to Amazon to get a replacement for my desktop. This one was well-reviewed and reasonably priced, so I Prime overnighted it.
It got here right away (as usual) in a cool box, with a USB thumb-drive sized wireless device and a docking-station type extension so that you could put the antenna where it made the most sense (probably on your desk, not behind your computer in a USB port). I hooked it up to my Windows 7 box and it was immediately detected and installed. One click onto my network (Linksys dual-band router) and I was online. I was almost disappointed that I didn't get to call their legendary tech support. Once I got online, I went straight to SpeedTest.Net to check my throughput. I was getting 18+MBps, which is about 4x what I was getting with the NetGear. I was so impressed I wrote my first Amazon review. This is the way it SHOULD go.
Miracles delivered.
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I bought this product for a Windows XP box about 1 month ago. Installation was very easy.Initially all I was getting was only getting 65 Mbps despite a strong signal. I contacted support and the first reply wasn't too helpful but then another support agent send me this:
Some 802.11n routers give you the option to adjust the bandwidth of the 2.4Ghz channel
you are broadcasting. Make sure your width is set to 40MHz or "Auto". If it is set to 20MHz it will limit your speed to 65Mbps.
If you are only connecting to your router using 802.11n devices, be sure to set your router to "N only" so you are not compromising your speed for 802.11b or 802.11g devices.
Turns out my Dlink Dir-655 was set to the 20MHz. After switching "Transmission Rate" to "Auto 20/40 MHz" I can consistently get link speeds of 135 Mbps and often 150 Mbps.
My router is about 35 feet away going through 1 wall.
Apparently the medialink website will be updated with a better support page. This information was not easily available in early August.
Other notes... Not sure what happened but my wireless adapter was not working.
Typing 'ipconfig' on my computer printed nothing. After re-installing the drivers the system was back to normal. I am not sure what cuased the drivers to get messed up...
I found out the usb adapter doesn't turn on until you logon to the system directly. A minor annoyance if I want to remote desktop to that box after powering it on. I don't think a PCI adapter will have this issue.
Overall, a great product for the price.
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