Top Best 7 Wireless Adapters For Gaming in December 2021

Archer T4U V2 AC1300 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter

*My Test Setup

Desktop PC

Windows 10 Pro

USB 3.0 Port

*Wired & Wireless Performance

I tested the Archer T4U V2 plugged into a USB 3.0 port on my desktop computer. I ran several speed tests with the adapter plugged in the USB 3.0 port by itself, and while using the included USB 3.0 extension cable. The extension cable had no effect at all on performance. Speed tests were the same with or without.

My Internet Plan: Download 75 Mbps / Upload 10 Mbps

2.4 GHz Speed Test: Download 78.51 Mbps / Upload 12.12 Mbps

5 GHz Speed Test: Download 90.37 Mbps / Upload 12.16 Mbps.

As you can see, those are great results. However, I have experienced an occasional brief loss of connection while streaming HD content, but for the most part, it has performed decently.

Note: When you first plug in the adapter, Windows will install its own generic driver. Before I installed the latest driver from TP-Link’s website, I was getting terrible results on the 5 GHz band. After installing the latest driver from TP-Link, the adapter performs much better. So for the absolute best performance, you MUST install the latest driver from TP-Link’s website.

*My Thoughts

The adapter offers decent performance, especially after the driver update. I do have concerns about it’s build quality, though. It’s made of plastic and doesn't feel very durable in hand. As long as you aren't frequently plugging it in and unplugging it, it should be fine. It would have been nice if TP-Link would have made it out of metal, or at least a harder plastic. I have USB thumb drives that feel better made than this. Also, it's too bulky to use in a USB port by itself when neighboring USB port(s) are occupied. Thankfully TP-Link includes an extension cable to remedy this. And some may find the bright, flashing green LED to be a distraction, especially in a dark room. Other than those few concerns, it’s inexpensive and performs decently.

I currently have Xfinity Internet Services and I was originally only receiving 10mbps worth of speeds. With this adapter though, I am getting 100mbps+ speeds. It has a really easy setup, which is plug-in, install driver, and go.

Easy installation with very little time needed. My Mac is located one floor above where the router is located (opposite ends of the house) but I see full bars on Wifi status. I see no difference in browsing speed between my mac using this device and other wirelessly connected devices (tablet, laptops, and phones). It is a bit bigger than what I expected especially when the antenna portion is in open position (L-shape), but no more than normal USB flash drive of about 2 inches long. I recommend this unit.

I use this at my job to gain Internet access for a PC that runs a National Instruments PXI system. This adapter has proven an excellent buy. We use it in the USB 3.0 ports on the PC, and it has done wonderfully. We get Internet access with very little lag. My only issue is the size of this thing. Well, considering its capabilities and performance, this is not really something to complain about, but you may have to do peripheral and cable management to work around it. Still, it performs excellently. The setup was easy, although there is a disk involved, which may be an issue for people without a CD drive. You can download the drivers online, however. All in all, I recommend this product.

Purchased this for a client who brought her desktop home, but didn't have easy access to wired ethernet. She reported that this was easy to setup, and allowed her to move her desktop to a more convenient location.

this item was quick and easy to install and it works great

Just like the rest of TP-Link's products, it works great. Using it on a file server tucked away in a corner. No complaints on file transfer speeds or reliability... it just works.

I needed 5g and this device really worked out great for my family. It was easy to install and my computer has a great 5g signal.

I bought this little guy for my sony 1000xm4 (bluetooth headset). Tested on Linux and Windows, on both working perfectly!

Easy to insert into my laptop and setup. Works wonderfully with my bluetooth devices! The price was reasonable!

I'm giving it a good rating for generic use. Minus one because it doesn't pair with Xbox One Bluetooth controllers which is why I bought it. Not complaining too much because it was not expensive but now I wish I didn't waste my certificate on it.

I bought this adapter to be able to game on my PC with my PS5 controller wirelessly, and it works great!! Something that I will point out is that although the PS5 controller does connect wirelessly, I did lose the 3.5mm headphone/mic functionality through the controller. However, this is not a limitation of the adapter itself, but rather w/ PC support for the PS5 controller, and I'm sure it will be addressed with time.

I bought this Asus Bluetooth USB adapter after a bad experience with the purchase of an Insigna Bluetooth adapter from BestBuy that did not have Windows 10 support. I purchased DriverEasy, thinking it might find the right driver, but they failed to find a working driver. I returned the Insigna adapter, and wrote a review saying beware of this product. BestBuy staff admitted they were having a lot of returns for it too.

The Asus adapter worked perfectly, allowing me to use my Bluetooth headphones with my Windows 10 computer. One of the pictures shows the adapter installed on the front slots of my computer. The other shows the box info I used to register my product with Asus.

First time building a pc and didn't realize the little aspects some might take for granted like Bluetooth and wifi lol. This little guy saved me tremendously on playing my games wireless. Switching to pc isn't easy. Definitely worth a buy!

have tried several cheap ones but kept having troubles so bit the bullet and paid up. well worth it. fast connection, NONE of the issues i had with others like audio lagging the sped up video, microphone not connecting, not working in usb3 port, failure to reconnect. Great. I have slight negative comments about the driver download instruction/process: 1) the website url in my instructions was incorrect, kept showing up as under maintenance-i finally just went to asus on my own and found it right away; and 2) the latest driver package at asus had a more recent date than the driver already installed, but the driver in the package was the same one-spent too much wasted time for nothing (windows 10). Still, highly recommended.

Great bluetooth adapter with a low profile. The adapter is working really well with my Logitech bluetooth keyboard and mouse. The only issue I have with it is that I need to wait for a second or two before attempting to type on the keyboard. It seems there's a split second delay from when the keyboard connects and for the keyboard to be ready to accept input.

Works great! Got this for an older desktop that needed to be set up a few rooms away from the router. No complaints.

For $40 Great Deal. Also has full bars in next room.

After using this USB network adapter for a week, I have been satisfied with its performance. I wouldn't say it's anything out of the ordinary, but it's compact size makes it appealing to me. I have a 300 MBps internet service and this is able to provide an average 250 MBps consistently. The Netgear Nighthawk that this replaced was giving me around 320 MBps on average. Overall recommended product.

Great product. Completely cured our problem of "losing" the Internet signal. This company has been around for a while and now we know why. They advertise accurately. They make high-quality merchandise. Affordable price points make this add-on piece of equipment well worth it. In fact, it literally pays for itself.

I purchased this for my parents as an alternative to running Ethernet cables everywhere in their new place. They're not particularly tevh-savvy and they have an older desktop PC that lacks a wireless network adapter. This USB adapter was perfect and I had them up and running in just a few minutes. I did have to install drivers from the disk that's included, as the PC was not connected to the internet to begin with.

I was really surprised how well this thing worked. I live in a large, 2 story home and I am using this upstairs on the complete opposite side of the router (and behind a desk) and it is super smooth with no drops and it’s also fast. I was skeptical because I was using it for gaming and I can’t say enough about how well this device performs. I highly recommend it.

I bought this device to replace an internal wi-fi card that suddenly failed after many years of use in an old laptop. The laptop is running Windows 10 upgraded from a Windows 7 install several years ago. It was necessary to use the included CD to install a driver for the device in order to get it to work. I have only had the device for a few hours as I write this, but it appears to work as well as the old internal wi-fi card that it replaced. Hope it remains that way. Some technical details: Plug the device into a USB port. Load the CD. Go to Control Panel Device Manager and Scan for Hardware Changes. When you see the device under Network Adapters, choose Update Driver. Point Windows to browse the CD for a driver. Once it's installed the device should work immediately.

Works perfectly, great bandwidth, but its too wide. The picture is deceptive. Mine is about 3" long and 1" wide. It's so wide that it blocks the adjacent USB slot on my laptop. With only 4 slots total I don't like being limited to 3 useful slots.

This purchase worked for me. I didn't want to replace internal NIC and this provides me with the dual band I wanted. WiFi internet speed averages at 250mbps with multiple devices in a 1k square footage area.

Good product far range was able to get WiFi in the garage for the Tv

Great upgrade for our gaming computers original internal WiFi!!! No more in game lag or slow download!

My laptop modem was not working and I connected the nighthawk and it work perfectly. I’m very happy with this product.

I recently just built a gaming PC. Trying to be on a budget I got a motherboard without WIFI. But, let me be the first to tell you it's not all about having straight ethernet connection. I'm not close enough to set up with direct connection. But having this little handy Nighthawk is ABSOLUTELY GREAT!!! Not to mention it also has a magnet on the stand which is awesome.

The setup is SUPER EASY. You really can't mess it up. Hook it up, download the software, find your connection and you're on the web in seconds. Ease of use is a terrific five stars. My download and upload speeds are GREAT! I never lag with games such as Warzone, Overwatch, and Siege. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to find something easy and great!! 5 out of 5 stars!

I based my purchase on the positive reviews I read about this product.

It's been great having this for my 2nd desktop n other electronics that we have in the house

Don't buy, this is the most unreliable wifi adapter I have ever seen. Most of the time it works OK, and then after 15 or 30 minutes all of sudden it would disconnect or lose a lot of packets for a few seconds, or a minute, or until restarted. Usually in the middle of an online game, which ruins it completely.

Attached is a representative screenshot from StarTrinity CST, covering about 45 minutes.

Of course, initially it was fine, only now after the return period has ended it's working erratically.

Plus it has a nonsensical and useless app that comes with it, and even if you don't want that app only the driver you have to download everything.

Horrible product, I won't buy from NETGEAR ever again.

I thought my laptop had been rendered useless when I could no longer connect to the internet due to a broken hinge that connects the screen to the computer. I never knew there was such a thing as a removable wifi antenna. Voila! I'm up and running, and greatly pleased. The antenna design is a little large and I have inadvertently moved it around a bit. That would be my only complaint. The size and shape make the positioning of it precarious. It comes with a USB dock for desktop use, but I usually hold my laptop in my lap so it's difficult to use the dock in that situation. The overall performance of the antenna is great!

Fits my needs, I was using a PC that doesn't have wireless capability and my long ethernet cable latch broke off so I figured I should get a wireless connection to my gateway this one looked like it would fit my need.

This product is great at doing what I need (look at my 5G Wifi signal) . However, it was a pain to set up. I had no idea what I was doing. I'm not that tech saavy. Once installed I have ad no issues other than it sticking out too far and bending the USB. I wish it was shorter, much shorter and didn't stick out that far.

This product has greatly increased my capability to connect my wi-fi products from a further distance. Well worth the money.

Bought this as an upgrade to keep in step with the AC technology of my new router, it's an upgrade alright, I have more power, signal and reception than I can believe, or have ever had, and I don't even run a 3.0 yet, don't hesitate, it's well worth the price.

I took advice from the Best Buy sales person and he was spot on. The item worked for me first time. Sometimes my computer gets hung up but I don't think that's the adapter. I probably need to get his advice on a new computer! Will do in the near future. I would buy this adapter again.

My service of internet is 5G but sonetimes my NetGear get off

;(

I have been using two of these wireless adapters for about 3 years. Over these 3 years they have kept up well. Anytime I came across Wireless internet problems it always ended up being a problem with the Mother board or a system bug of some sort.

**** I highly recommend these Adapters ****

USER TIPS:

Make sure you are not crowding the adapter.

Ensure you are connected to a USB port that is at least 3.0.

Using Windows 10? Ensure you completely update your Chipsets.

Very Good Wifi!

I Could change out my wifi card because of HP Using their HP Screws.

Very Good Both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz 2x2 MU-MIMO. Great With ASUS RT-AC88U.

This was something I purchased for my son. He loved the product, it was exactly what he needed and Best Buy had it at a good price. I can also count on Best Buy to exchange any product with receipt.

My laptop’s built in WiFi controller was only 2.4GHz and was disconnecting frequently. This dual band solved that problem and have not seen it disconnected once since I installed it.

My computer no longer connected to the Internet. Best Buy guys looked it over and came up with this relatively inexpensive solution.

I have been very happy with my Asus gaming laptop for the three years or so that I've owned it. I'm not a gamer, but it has served me well for the many graphics applications I use regularly.

The one shortcoming the Asus has is that it is limited to 2.4GhZ wireless. I did not know how much of a limitation this was until I upgraded my office internet service to 150 mb. I was disapplointed to find htat my throughput was just 40 mb The tech who installed the service told me I should look into an adapter to up the wifi speed. I bought the Asus unit because I've been so happy with this computer. It was more expensive than others I have seen, but I wanted to be sure it would work properly.

Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I ran speedtest and pegged the needle at about 160 mb. It's like having a brand new laptop. Totally happy with this very small unit--the dongle just protrudes about 1/4" from the case of the computer. Works perfectly.

This item is working very good i am happy to buy this item also the store’s sales lady help me to find out that item.

I had to get a wifi adapter since I would be moving to college and wouldn’t be able to just plug an Ethernet cable to my pc. Saw this one had decent reviews and purchased it. Long story short, it’s spotty, and after only a few weeks of use it sporadically disconnects from my wifi and then will refuse to connect until a few hours later. Quite unpleasant that I’ve had work that I’ve had to complete on a remote terminal squandered because of this. It just happened again which is why I’m writing this to begin with. Out of sheer frustration that I actually spent money on something that stopped working after 2 weeks of use.

The ASUS - Dual-Band AC1200 USB Network Adapter works like a charm. I get around 200mbs while on a device that has wifi integrated in gets around 250mbs. It’s ease of use is perfect for when I’m on the go too because it’s small form factor I can keep it in my backpack and plug it in to any devices that may be broken. Although I’m getting around 50mbs slower than the integrated wifi chip installed on devices it doesn’t impact my performance too heavily. In games I’ll usually get around 15 ping which is around the same with other devices if not more. But because of the limitation with the speed and how it might impact other people more than me I had to give it 4 stars. But I recommend this to anyone who has a very slow internet connection on one specific device or when one of there devices only supports Ethernet.

I was switching to Fios from XFinity. I have my own WiFi router in an upstairs bedroom. I wanted it to remain that way. However the Fios line was coming into the house to a small utility room. Plus. I didn’t want to use a Fios WiFi router. Note: You do not need to purchase or rent a Fios router. I got 2 of these Moca adapters. Just have Verizon setup the Fios ONT (box) to output Ethernet. My flow is: ONT>Ethernet into #1Moca>coax out of #1moca>[existing coax in walls run 25 ft to bedroom]>coax into #2Moca>ethernet out of #2>ethernet into LAN jack of my existing router. Bingo. No setup involved. Mocas setup the communication automatically.

Fios speeds are great.

Note - My modem had MoCA so I only needed 1. I bought 2 and can use them both or put somewhere else. If your cable modem doesn't have MoCA you would need both. We are using it for my sons gaming machine and he says the delay is better than ever and we did not have to run any new cables or wires.

Good Moca adapter to add to your router that does not have Moca. Works great. No issues so far

so far so good.... did figure out that this device is a one way communication ...not Bi-directional on a xfinity DVR to secondary box

Really impressive, work great, bought a new house and was wired with coaxial all over the house, but with LAND only in the living and game room, put one on all rooms needed and a switch to connect devices via LAND and works great, not putting that much traffic/overloading the WIFI signal.

Don’t bother with WiFi extenders. They never work or always cut off. This takes your signal from your cox line and converts it an internet connection. Zero issue had so far.

I was skeptical about purchasing this item but have been more than pleased with how easy it was to set up and how reliable the connection has been! In order to have this working, you'll need 2 of these to create the moca network unless this is something your router already supports. Either way, I am getting full speed over the 30 year old coax lines already installed in my house and through a splitter in the basement. This saved me a lot of time and effort compared to installing cat6 throughout the house. I'd still take true ethernet wiring over this but this adpater is a GREAT solution for those hard to reach places of your home. I highly recommend and plan to buy more in the future!!!

Wish description would clarify on which products it's compatible with