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Switzerland, Bern
1 Level
713 Review
64 Karma

Review on ASUS USB-N13 Wireless-N USB Adapter with Up to 300Mbps Wireless Data Rates - IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 by Juan Anderson

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Reliable and fast connections for G and N bands

I bought this wireless adapter to connect to a Western Digital TV Live Plus media streamer. It immediately connected with a signal strength of 96% (as evidenced by the built-in WD signal strength indicator). My wireless router is in a room and two walls about 12-14 feet away, so I was expecting a strong signal, but not quite 96%. I can stream 8GB 1080p .MKV BlueRay rips from my DNS-321 NAS with no hiccups, which I couldn't do with the old Linksys adapter I used before. I still have one of those adapters that I use on an old laptop that doesn't work. I don't have N-band and with it I get very fast transfers and 0 dropped connections. In my opinion, Asus has released some really great wireless hardware, including their routers that support DDT WRT and some Tomato USB firmware - allowing you to take full advantage of your hardware and get unmatched reliability and transfer speeds. and additional features that many competitors do not have. I've been really impressed with all of my Asus networking gear, so much so that I've replaced my Lynksis WRT110 router with an ASUS RT-N16 W. Another thing worth noting is that this adapter comes with a short hard USB extension that works like an antenna and allows you to point the adapter in a specific direction. This is especially handy for applications like mine where I'm connecting it to a device in a media cabinet and want the adapter to get the clearest possible signal. Conclusions: This is a great adapter for both G and N bands. 5GHz is not supported, but 5GHz is overpriced except for a few specific applications. Some additional networking thoughts and reviews: Many people write reviews of consumer networking devices and give products low ratings when they don't know anything about how to properly network (wired or wireless) and blame the hardware for their failures. The bottom line is that while consumer networks have gotten a lot simpler over the years, 95% of the problems people have are due to their network being misconfigured. I know this because all of my friends and family turn to me when it comes to getting networks up and running, and the number of problems I find are almost always due to one of two things: user error or cables of poor quality (coax to modem for those with wired or bad LAN cables). Before downgrading products because they "do not work", make sure your network is set up properly and that you have good cables - I can't tell you how many times the problem was in the cable or where the simple hardware restart lay. (Shutting down and restarting in the correct order: modem -> router -> power cycle accessories) fixes the problem. Spend some time troubleshooting before writing a review!

Pros
  • Electronics
Cons
  • Ugly packaging

Comments (3)

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May 28, 2023
Instant setup on Ubuntu 12.04
March 09, 2023
Does not work on my Mac running Mavericks 10.9.3
December 18, 2022
N300-USB - Works Well on Windows 7