Question 1

Is the USB 2.0 interface backwards compatible with the older USB 1.0 ports?

Accepted Answer

USB 1.0 vs USB 2.0 Speed
USB 2.0 and USB 1.0 differ in the data transfer rate they are capable of. The maximum speed that USB 1.0 devices can achieve is 12Mbps while 2.0 devices can theoretically achieve up to 40 times of that at 480Mbps. Note that since there are other factors that affect the total throughput, the true speed or the real world speed of both specifications is lower than the specified theoretical maximum.

The initial version of USB did not support high speed data transmission since it was intended for slower devices. Examples of initial USB are – keyboard, mouse, game controllers etc. These devices transmitted only a small amount of data to function. But gradually, the popularity of easy plugging devices and the USB port increased and more devices like digital cameras and camcorders began to switch to USB cable for transferring data by connecting to computer. But slow speed still remained a hindrance and a trouble.

edit Low speed and high speed USB devices and Compatibility

The very first standard of USB 1.0 provided only 1.5Mbps of speed. 12Mbps is an upgrade to it. USB 1.0 can either be a low speed device which runs at 1.5mbps or a full speed device at 12Mbps. During initialization, a connecting device is identified as low speed device or full speed device. USB 2.0, which is an upgraded version, adds the high speed connection to the previous two standards and results in 480Mbps theoretical throughput.

USB 2.0 must have backwards compatibility with 1.0 which means that even if you have a 2.0 USB port, you can still stick your USB 1.0 keyboard on it and it would work perfectly.

The 1.0 version can only recognize low speed and full speed devices. A 2.0 device identifies itself as a full speed device at first then negotiates with the controller via a series of chirps. Once it is identified as a high speed device by the controller, the connection is reset and high speed signalling is used.

Question 2

When rv travelling I often look to find WiFi hotspots. Hotel lots, dennys etc. parking lots.  If am getting a mid level to poor (but steady) signal on my notebook, will using this device boost the signal to watch streaming movies?
Do I need to install software?

Accepted Answer

this device would improve your connection speeds if your current card doesn't support N capability other then that the high gain antenna will increase your operating range, also most current WiFi connections will be n/g connections connecting u with the highest speed permitted by your hardware. assuming your not bottle necked by your machines resources it will improve your streaming/downloading capabilities. I don't recall if there was software to install but windows will recognize most USB network devices.take care in your choice

Question 3

will it work with windows 8?

Accepted Answer

Yes it works with windows 8, I am using it right now. The only issue was that I needed to change a setting where windows would power it off when it went to sleep and it would not come back when I woke my PC up. It was a simple, easy fix.

Question 4

Does this work for Mac ?

Accepted Answer

Before you buy go to rosewills website and make sure that model has Mac drivers as for Windows it was as easy add plug and play.

Question 5

Will this work on my PC and allow me to drop my cable internet provider?

Accepted Answer

No your internet provider is still needed. This will let you cut the wire between your PC and the modem/router you use for internet access. Provided the modem or router you are using supports WIFI.

Question 6

will it work with windows7?

Accepted Answer

The product has worked fine on Win7 Pro & Win7 Ultimate. I can't comment on other versions of Windows.

Question 7

Does this work with windows 8.1? (I know this was already asked but I wanted updated info.)

Accepted Answer

I have only used it with win7,  I uninstalled win 8 from my pc ( what a piece of Soot)

Question 8

The manufacturer's drivers crashed my brand new installation of Windows 8.1.  Are there updated drivers somewhere?  I can't find Rosewill drivers for download from any official-looking site.

Accepted Answer

This has been answered in the reviews.

Works fine on Windows 8.0/8.1 if the most recently available drivers are used. There are several negative reviews complaining about the drivers for Windows 8.0/8.1. I did some research and found 10.0.0.25 drivers are available for the Atheros AR9721 (the wireless chip this adapter uses) from TP-LINK for their WN721N and WN722N adapters. (Note that you'll have to install these drivers manually, the TP-LINK setup seems to be locked to their adapter.) The Rosewill drivers are the older 10.0.0.20 version. Netgear offers 10.0.023 drivers for their WNA1100. You can install these with their standalone setup if you don't want to do it manually.

Question 9

Will it work with windows 8.1?

Accepted Answer

Rosewill website says it will work with Windows 8 and has downloadable drivers for it so I would assume that it will work with any version of Windows 8, including update to Windows 8.1.
 (It appears that this is a "beta" driver.)

Question 10

I am 65 feet and one house level from my source. Will this do the trick?

Accepted Answer

My wireless router is in the basement, and my computer is on the second floor. I think it can reach 65 feet. My system is located at 50 ft from the source and the signal is good

Questions & Answers