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Ronald H.

Ronald H.

Joined on 12/31/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

It works!

Zonet ZEW2546 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates
Zonet ZEW2546 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates

Pros: Very small. Easy connect without extra software. Did I mention IT WORKS?!

Cons: Not a one. Wish I had bought this first instead of the piece of junk Rosewill RNX N100

Overall Review: Immediately connected at 300Mbps and stays there. Strong signal level. I love that it doesn't want to install its own software to control the connection. It just works great.

12/25/2009
Most Critical Review

Follow up review

Zonet ZEW2546 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates
Zonet ZEW2546 Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates

Pros: Strong reception. I see networks that were never available with my old belkin usb adapter. Always (almost...see cons) shows 300Mbps connection. Very inexpensive.

Cons: Worked good for a couple of months, then began dropping off my dual mode network. Would just lose connectivity at random times when loading pages. Continually got worse to where now I use one of my laptops. My G lap and N lap both connect flawlessly, but the Zonet will not keep a connection long enough to load an average page. Reconnects then drops back off. Sometimes without even using it I hear my computer fans speed up which I have found to indicate that it is attempting to reconnect. It has even given my BSOD twice when reseating adapter. The only time my XP desktop has done that. Dead/dying after only 3.5 months of use.

Overall Review: As my title says, I am following up since I had high praise for this device for a couple of months. I figured those looking would like to know how it lasts, which is well below reasonable expectations, regardless of price.

Update

Rosewill RNX-N100 IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB2.0 Wireless-N 2.0 Dongle (1T2R) Up to 300Mbps download and 150 Mbps upload Data Rates/ WPA/WPA2 (AES, 64,128-WEP with shared-key authentication) Cisco CCS V1.0, V2.0 and V3.0 compliant/ Vista/Win7/ MAC
Rosewill RNX-N100 IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB2.0 Wireless-N 2.0 Dongle (1T2R) Up to 300Mbps download and 150 Mbps upload Data Rates/ WPA/WPA2 (AES, 64,128-WEP with shared-key authentication) Cisco CCS V1.0, V2.0 and V3.0 compliant/ Vista/Win7/ MAC

Pros: Cheap N adapter

Cons: Doesn't work.

Overall Review: Ok, after two more days of beating my head against the wall to get this thing to work, I gave up. It initially connects at 135Mbps. As soon as there is any traffic it drops to 13.5M and routinely fails to load web pages. Eventually got to the point where it only shows 13.5M with a -50dBm (Excellent) signal level. OBTW, no encryption turned on. I was going to try a file transfer speed test, but what's the point? The thing doesn't work. Plugged in my cheapie trendnet G and steady 54Mbps that actually WORKS! I played the odds, hoping to come out ahead on the adage of 'you get what you pay for'. I will be buying something else (better)...you probably should, too.

DRIVERS!

Rosewill RNX-N100 IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB2.0 Wireless-N 2.0 Dongle (1T2R) Up to 300Mbps download and 150 Mbps upload Data Rates/ WPA/WPA2 (AES, 64,128-WEP with shared-key authentication) Cisco CCS V1.0, V2.0 and V3.0 compliant/ Vista/Win7/ MAC
Rosewill RNX-N100 IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB2.0 Wireless-N 2.0 Dongle (1T2R) Up to 300Mbps download and 150 Mbps upload Data Rates/ WPA/WPA2 (AES, 64,128-WEP with shared-key authentication) Cisco CCS V1.0, V2.0 and V3.0 compliant/ Vista/Win7/ MAC

Pros: Fantastic price for an N adapter. Got for $15 during sale. Shows connected at 135-150Mbps with much stronger signal than my previous G adapter (-50dBm vice -60 or lower on Trendnet G)

Cons: See the title. The included drivers quite plainly SUCK. V1.1.0 on my disk. Would show good signal and connected at 135+ but would only load pages sporadically. Updated to V1.5.1 and now works. Good loads and traffic flow.

Overall Review: This is a good adapter but you MUST download the newest driver file from Rosewill. I tried using WZC and still was poor (putting it nicely). I didn't look real hard but couldn't find the driver alone, without the Rosewill utility program. It works ok and has pretty screens but I don't need another program running in my tray all the time. Still drops to 13.5Mbps randomly for no reason so I marked it down to a 3. Probably should have said 2 or 1 based on how angry it has made me the past few days trying to get it to run consistently.

You can do better

BELKIN F5D7050 Wireless G Network Adapter IEEE 802.11g USB 2.0 Up to 54Mbps Wireless Data Rates
BELKIN F5D7050 Wireless G Network Adapter IEEE 802.11g USB 2.0 Up to 54Mbps Wireless Data Rates

Pros: Small, easy to connect, cable lets you use it directly in port or extended.

Cons: Drivers are as flaky as any device I have ever installed. Trying to find the right driver to work with a particular version of OS is maddening. How about XP SP2, I have two computers running it. I bought two of these adapters and one will work on both but the other will only work on one. It will work with my old ME laptop. The one that it installed on with only 5 or 6 tries drops the connection at completely random times. When you are accessing network, or other times when you are away you will come back and it is just off the network.

Overall Review: What appears to be a good deal surely wasnt for me. Tried to build network with all one manufacturers components but this thing is too much of a pain.