TP-Link Archer T2U AC600 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter

Pros: Dual band (5 + 2.4GHz) Small form factor (sticks out from laptop an inch)

Cons: No Mac/Linux drivers Edges of the enclosure are sharp

Overall Review: Apologies in advance for not doing a thorough review as I did not install the wireless "utility" software from TP-Link. Personally, I never install any "utility" software associated with a wireless adapater as the Microsoft Windows built-in 'utility' works and basically does the same thing; all you need to do is install the driver. 1) Plugged the device into a USB port on my laptop (ASUS ROG) and Windows (Windows 8.1) began installing the device however there is no native driver support for this so I HAD to install the drivers from TP-Link via included mini CD with the hardware or straight from TP-Link website; the latter being what I did. 2) Once the driver installed I clicked on the wireless tray icon on my Windows Taskbar and selected one of my AP connections. Once connected the LED activity light built into the TP-Link wireless adapater became very active blinking on-and-off. TESTING RESULTS Testing was done with a Buffalo AC1750 Gigabit Wireless router. The router is located in a room in the basement (server room). Speed test was done using "speedtest.net" at the closest connection node. "D" stands for download and "U" stands for upload. Speed values are represented in "Mbps". Diningroom (directly 1 floor above room with the router) AC band D | U 37.73 | 4.08 G band D | U 30.46 | 3.86 Kitchen (up 1 floor from router, 1 room away) AC band D | U 36.86 | 3.96 G band D | U 29.12 | 3.90 Bathroom (up 1 floor from router, 2 rooms away) AC band D | U 12.39 | 4.03 G band D | U 15.54 | 3.86 Bedroom (on second floor and is located adjacent [away] from diningroom/router) AC band D | U 11.47 | 4.02 G band D | U 12.35 | 3.93 The speed 'strength', for lack of a better term, in the farthest room away from the router (the bedroom) is ~13 Mbps on "AC" and 52 Mbps on "G". These are pretty good for a wireless mini adapter. Had no issues while using this device for two weeks and highly recommend if you are looking for a USB wireless adapter and need a small form factor with reliable speeds.

Pros: Neat little usb wifi adapter. The indicator light is surpringly not bright and is plug and play but if you install the software it gives you other things like -WPS which comes in handy if you have weird passwords for your wifi -Status screen which tells you all sorts of things about your network including your ip address! -Advanced options such as powersaving modes and profiles -SoftAP tab allows you to turn yourself into a hotspot! Wireless signal is pretty good for a usb drive, and with speeds of up to 433mb/s on the 5ghz band and easy setup it's a pretty awesome little device.

Cons: None, it's a neat plug and play device that does what it says and nothing more.

Overall Review: On the new windows 10 i plugged it in and the drivers automatically loaded, though i installed the software later which wasn't at all a hassle it took a mere minute for internet connectivity and the speeds and signal was great. Overall would reccomend to anyone who could use a cheap but effective wifi solution.

Pros: Compact size. After dealing with install speed was good enough to stream windows TV files where the "n" wireless adapter in my laptop would not. No TPS button. Operated as expected after install

Cons: The quick start guide was inaccurate, there is no USB cable extender included ( gee EVERY review mentions this..so we ALL read the quick start), even though it is indicated in the quick start guide. Support for a half dozen languages is great, but TP-Link software developers still need English help, translations are rough. Having spent 20 years in QA, I can chuckle at this, but for folks spending hard earned cash who don't have a whole lot of experience can find this sort of issue frustrating

Overall Review: Why is no TPS button a pro you ask?. With security being a bigger issue these days I predict that TPS will simply go away as people become more password savy. Folks that depend on it get in trouble when they accidentally push the button to start a tps connection As I've mentioned with several other of my TP product reviews the software is barely there-and it still continues with the various English problems caused by not having a native English speaker on the QA team. Acting as the innocent enduser, I had some initial difficulty installing the adapter. The software is not digitally signed, so an out of the box win7 system will throw a UAC warning for software from an unknown manufacturer. This is still unacceptable, even at this price point. We're not talking about a school project, this is commercial software development, and I have expectations of having signed software. It's excellent that the Archer is reported a plug and play on Windows 8, and overall I was very pleased with the product price point/performance. The activity LED isn't painfully bright and this adapter fit in a very tight USB port on my dell D620 where other products in this calls required an extension cable. In some situations an extension cable can be very helpful and to be blunt, the landed cost of a 12 inch USB extension cable has to be under $1 in quantity. My guess on this was that the product would not pass FCC tests using an extension cable, so they opted to remove it and instead of reprinting the quick start guide, they just left folks guessing what happened. Great way to generate support calls. I wonder what that cost them in returns and telephone time. The QA manager took a chance that the collateral damage would be less expensive then reprinting the quick start. So in my message to TP....get some native English speaking people on your QA team, improve the overall functionality of software and enroll in the Microsoft WHQL program so your software will have a manufacture name associated to it when the UAC dialog appears. In the crowded market of wireless adapters the Archer is a good value at the price point. There are a large number of adapters on market that are less expensive and some even have external antennas and cradles, so it's really a matter of brand loyalty

Pros: First impressions (before powering up and setting up): - This adapter supports all of your major IEEE 802.11 standards; IEEE 802.11 a/n/ac 5GHz and IEEE 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, so it’s definitely compatible with almost all routers (as long as the router isn’t ancient). - It’s small enough to be handy, but on the same token, small enough to lose easily as well. - Supports 802.11AC… so even if you don’t have an AC router YET… this adapter is future-proof. Use: - It goes. It just goes. Was web surfing and what-not right after installation. Definitely one of the easier wifi adapter installs. - Was able to stream videos in HD from both YouTube and Netflix without an issue.

Cons: Powering up and setting up: -Figured we’d give this a shot on my Window 7 x64 laptop… First, let’s see if it’s plug-and-play: And that’s a big no. Windows can tell it’s a wifi adapter, but doesn’t have the proper drivers. - Would have liked to have seen some sort of USB extender included… but not a deal breaker. Other: - Weird-note: the quick installation guide states “Insert the adapter into a USB port on your computer, either directly or via the USB cable provided.” SaY wHaT!!! But there wasn’t ANY USB cable(s) provided… boo. Again, not a huge deal, but it would have been nice if a USB cable had been provided, since even the quick install guide references one! - 2nd weird-note: In a lot of the ad material for this wireless adapter mentions “One-Button Setup with WPS button”. Even the notes for this product on Newegg say “Easy encryption w/ WPS button”. On first glance, this adapter does not have a WPS button. Upon further inspection, this was found on the TP-LINK website: “One Button Connection: Instantly setup WiFi connections simply by pressing the "WPS" button with Utility”. So there technically IS a WPS button, it’s a soft-button located in the included wireless utility on the resource CD. I think the way this feature is represented should be altered / updated to say the the WPS feature is accessible through the included utility on the resource CD.

Overall Review: Packaging and Un-boxing: - Wireless adapter comes in standard cardboard packaging. Included items: AC600 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter Archer T2U, Quick Installation Guide, and a Resource CD. First impressions (before powering up and setting up): - This adapter supports all of your major IEEE 802.11 standards; IEEE 802.11 a/n/ac 5GHz and IEEE 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, so it’s definitely compatible with almost all routers (as long as the router isn’t ancient). - Specifications state that it’s compatible with Windows 8/7/XP 32/64 bit… no word on Mac, but that’s a whole other ball of wax…. Powering up and setting up: -Figured we’d give this a shot on my Window 7 x64 laptop… First, let’s see if it’s plug-and-play: And that’s a big no. Windows can tell it’s a wifi adapter, but doesn’t have the proper drivers. Next, let’s go to Device Manager and point the Device Installer to look at the included Resource CD. A few moments later, and Robert is your mother’s brother… wifi adapter installed. That was easy and painless. Tell Windows to join my wifi network and we’re off and running! -Note: I tend to shy away from using company’s wifi utilities and prefer that Windows handle all network in’s, out’s and what-have-ya’s. Sometimes using the utilities included with certain adapters can make network management a mess. Good to know this adapter functions without having to use it’s own specific utility to manage connections. Wrap-Up: -The only “nit-picks”: no USB extender cable included, WPS “button” is actually a soft button, and adapter isn’t plug-and-play on Windows 7 x64. -For around $30, you get a compact AC dual band wireless adapter that works without any hiccups. Great for a backup wireless adapter (just-in-case) or to supplement an older adapter.

Pros: + Compact size ~= medium-sized thumb drive + Supports both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands (150/433 Mbps) + Supports both AC and N protocols + Easy install via Windows update or OEM-supplied driver

Cons: - In my experience 5GHz AC connections sometimes tend to be balky: sensitive to distance and to physical and electronic interference, and occasionally intermittent. That is true of this adapter too; but, because it is typical of the AC protocol, I didn't deduct an egg. - The usb2 interface, with a theoretical maximum speed of 480 Mbps, is just adequate for the 433 Mbps AC wireless speed. In practice, neither the wireless signal nor the usb connection is likely to deliver much more than half that speed. On the plus side, if you are using a usb2 port (as I am), then there is no point in paying for a faster adapter than this one. - Not a big deal, but the Quick Install Guide says "Insert the adapter into a USB port, either directly or via the USB cable provided." No USB cable is actually provided, nor would I expect one to be. This is a compact adapter, that is not likely to interfere with any adjacent ports.

Overall Review: Installation was easy, and I did not use the resource CD. I temporarily connected my computer with a wired connection (through a Sonos speaker -- a handy feature), so that I could obtain a driver from Windows update. This worked without a problem; the installed driver 5.1.7.0, dated 9/6/13, worked fine. I then went to TP-Link's web site, which provided a more recent driver 5.1.9.0, dated 11/21/13, which also worked fine. I've been converting my wireless computing network to 5 GHz only, in order to allow my Sonos speaker system to have 2.4 GHz to itself. I tested this adapter against an adapter from another manufacturer rated AC-1200 (300+867), mounted in the same usb2 port, connecting to an AC1750 access point in a less than ideal location. I am most interested in accessing the internet via my fios connection (75/75 Mbps) and, through the AC1200 adapter, Speakeasy gave me upload/download speeds of 24/7. Unfortunately, the reliability of this connection was not anywhere close to 24/7. I had to unplug and replug the adapter every day or two to re-establish a connection. Under the same conditions, this TP-Link AC-600 adapter gives me speeds that are somewhat lower (15/6 with the Windows update driver and 19/7 with the TP-Link website driver), but I attribute this mainly to the more compact size and smaller internal antenna. I am not sure what makes AC connections so balky. My intermittent problems might be in my WAP or in my house, or whatever. But here's what I'm thinking: If a connection problem can be fixed in three seconds by unpluggin and re-plugging an adapter, then shouldn't it be possible to fix it even faster in software? In the adapter driver, or the WAP firmware, or both? Work on it, guys.

Pros: Small and sleek. Good distance and decent speeds. Reliable connection even for transferring larger files via FTP. Overall looks are good even with the activity light (not over bright).

Cons: No native Win7 drivers, nor Linux or MAC. This was a disappointment.

Overall Review: I ended up having to test this on my laptop instead of making it work with the Linux server I wanted to use it for. Overall I think the built in adapter works as good, but that is an AC as well. Once I get it working with Redhat it'll be in use constantly. I cannot vouch for the software. I only do minimal driver installs.

Pros: Reliable. For sometime now my laptop has been acting up in public places connecting to the internet, my work specially. My laptop came with a horrible Broadcom adapter which never ever gave me full speed on my home/work speed connection, I always got either half the speed or 3/4 but changed for a Centrino and then I was getting the full 55Mb/s speed. Recently the connection no matter where I was it was getting drop suddenly or becoming slow to the point that if I was streaming a video on netflix I was getting the SD signal and not the HD, it was frustrating, considering that this was a Centrino wirelessadapter. I decided to use the Archer wireless apater and now it's a full week of use in public and this adapter has not failed, it's been a clear and full signal no matter where I use it. I know it's not a driver issue with my Centrino, because I install and reinstall but the "Dual Band" in the Archer and being that's an AC it does help with the signal issues I had, maybe because nowadays wherever you go EVERYBODY is hogging the public WiFi. This is definitely one adapter that will give you that signal strength you need in a public place and pretty much anywhere. I'm using it everyday now and so far I have not had issues with it. Even my smart phone gets drop at these other places where the Archer just cruises by.

Cons: Nothing.

Pros: - It's Wi-Fi on a stick! - Range is pretty good, about the same as the built in Wi-Fi on my laptop - Works for streaming HD video and online games - Dual band is nice for being able to use 2.4GHz to push through walls

Cons: - Mini CD for drivers. It's 2014, put them on the device. - Download speeds not as good as the built in Wi-Fi on my laptop - Price - Other companies make essentially the same product for cheaper.

Overall Review: This TP-Link product actually was able to find, connect to, and stay on my network, something other products from them had trouble doing. It is slower than the built in Wi-Fi on my laptop, but other USB adapters I have tried are also slower. There's really no reason not to choose this if you need a USB wi-fi connection other than you may be able to find the same thing for less money from another company.