Edimax Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac Mini AC600 Dual-Band (2.4Ghz / 5Ghz) Adapter For PC USB Adapter Dongle, Win11 Plug-n-Play, Mac OS, Linux, EW-7811UTC

This adapter is cheap, easy and fast. As with most computer products I ignored the included CD and simply downloaded the driver from the Edimax website. Installation was quick and easy on my Windows 7 system. I connected easily to my Asus RT-AC66U wireless router which is located about 20 feet away, thru 1 wall, in the next room. I am connecting only on the 5GHz band and the EW-7811UTC only supports 1 spatial stream so I am limited to 433Mbps maximum, which is fine for my needs. Unless you are routinely moving multi-gigabyte files around on your LAN, I don't really see a need for more capacity than this. I have used this wireless adapter for downloading files, streaming videos (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), online MMO gaming, and voice over IP (VOIP). Everything worked flawlessly. You could spend more and get a higher capacity wireless adapter, but really, this is likely all you need.UPDATE 12-15-2015: I have used the AC600 adapter for 10 months in my windows 7 computer and it has worked perfectly. I decided I wanted to upgrade the wireless in my other computer, a windows 10 media PC, from the built-in 2.4GHz wireless g to 5GHz wireless AC. I went to the Edimax website to find out if I needed to download a driver. The website said that the support is already baked in to Windows 10 so no driver was required. I turned off the pc, plugged in the adapter , and rebooted the pc. I then turned off the built in wireless g adapter and switched to the Edimax AC600 adapter in Windows 10 network settings. The adapter is working fine.. I am posting this update because so many people seem to have trouble with this adapter recently and are making sweeping statements about this device's capabilities. My experience has been that this usb AC600 adapter has worked easily and reliably with both my window 7 and windows 10 machines. I will be buying a second one as an upgrade to my media pc.

Linux Installation: Depending on the age and specifications of your computer, you may be looking for a wireless adapter that is faster than what the factory gave you. I have a Lenovo G-series laptop that is not that old, but it came equipped with an internal wifi adapter that operates on the 802.11N protocol and gives me a wireless connection speed of 72 Mb/s. For $14.40 (as of 6-16-18) with Prime delivery you can buy the following adapter and boost your speed to 434 Mb/s with very little hassle.Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 Dual-Band USB Adapter Available at Amazon with Prime for $14.40IMPORTANT NOTE: I have specified the Edimax EW-7811UTC AC600 Dual-Band USB Adapter in this post because I have several of them running and because they run reliably by simply installing the rtl8812au-dkms software. I have tried higher speed adapters claiming 600, 800, 1200, and 1300 Mb/s from Edimax and other manufacturers and have had nothing but problems. Sometimes they run unreliably. Frequently "nano" sized adapters overheat and die. So, this 600AC adapter delivering a reliable 434 Mb/s in a compact package is my compromise, and I am completely satisfied with it. This has been my experience, and your mileage may vary!This adapter will not work "out of the box" because the Linux kernel doesn't support the chipset. Why? I have no idea. But it is easy to get it up and running.The best method is to open the Synaptic package manager and type "rtl88" in the search field. The search will show you rtl8812au-dkms and allow you to install it in the normal manner. If you use the Synaptic or other software installer that came with your distribution, you will be assured that the version of rtl8812au-dkms is compatible.When you install rtl8812au-dkms, it will incorporate the rtl8812au chipset driver into your kernel and also run depmod and everything else to get you up and running. Depending on the speed of your system, it may take a minute or two to complete. It seems like forever, but that's normal.When it is completed, insert or re-insert your USB adapted, and it should start working immediately and also work the every time you reboot your system.NOTE: You don't want both the internal wifi adapter and the external USB adapter working at the same time. They interact in unpredictable ways and can cause problems loading web pages. Find your way to "Edit Connections..." and change the settings of the adapters under the General tab. Activate the box marked "Automatically connect..." for the external USB adapter, and deactivate the "automatic" box for the internal adapter.That's it, and you've gone from 72 Mb/s up to 434 Mb/s for under $15.

So I've had this for a few months now. At first I didn't really think it was any better than the built in wifi in my iMac (mid 2011 27" running OS X Sierra 10.12.4). It seemed to drop the signal or at least not have a weak connection with my wifi. It may have been a bit deceptive compared with the iMac's wi-fi strength meter since I can't remember it ever been less than "full bars" so I think it's more of an on or off indicator. I also bought a wi-fi extender. It was located in a different part of the house and using the adapter never seemed to work with it that well.I recently moved the extender to be closer to the computer but still be close to the wifi router. It appears I found the right mid-point for it. And I've been using the Adapter since I moved the extender. I have had some issues with connection that basically resolved itself. So it may have been the home network.Speeds are good, so I have no complaints there. It works with the current OS (as of this writing) and an older Mac. So if you're wi-fi is failing or might be failing (this is why I bought it, but now I just think I had sketchy wifi in the house), this will work for you.Giving it 4 stars as I still think part of the issue was it's range may be less than the wifi in the iMac. But once I got it connected it seems to work fine.