CowboyDann wrote:Things might have changed in the last year, but I was looking for a wireless setup for my xbox 360. The only thing that works is the Xbox 360 adapter.

Instead of paying 100 dollars for their device I set up my netbook using a guide similar to this one: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Your-Laptop-As-an-Xbox-Wireless-Adapter

Hey. Thanks a lot for posting this. I've been in my new place on a college campus for a month and a half, and after the xbox adapter failed to connect to the school wireless I'd given up on Live. Up and working again now; just had to plug into the laptop and bridge the connections. Thanks again.

I don't really need this. But I might in the future. But I don't need it now. But I will probably need it, and think of the savings, but is it in the budget, will things change, and if so how, and ..etc, etc...AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Piplicious wrote:Will this connect to my xbox 360?

No it won't. You must have an xbox wireless adapter....

roadhunter wrote:You're doing something wrong, like following the instructions. Next time, try just plugging one in.

Believe me, I followed the instructions. If anyone pays intention to the instructions, it's me. I've had several routers, set up routers (multiple models) for others, have books on networking, called tech support, etc. It's the least favorite thing for me to do on computers. It's the least likely thing in over a decade of owning computers that "works" as easily as the instructions say.

hemi7251 wrote:Anyone know if this would work for a DISH receiver?

So that you can save recorded shows on your pc?

parabolic wrote:My desktop is in a location where running wire isn't possible and it doesn't have a wireless card. So yes, people do use these

I think the questions is more of a "why" would you use it. Yes, sadly people do use USB wireless dongles.

I've never had a good experience with these for a multitude of reasons, they half-work for a while and then you'll become so frustrated you wont want to use the internet anymore. I now just use the USB cord as an extender like people are joking about.

I guess if you really don't use the internet much then this is for you, but I don't see why you wouldn't just buy a wireless NIC.

I own one of these, and would be very hesitant to buy another, even for $7. On the plus side, it does work, and it solved my problem of needing internet in my homr office until I can run ethernet. On the downside, it's very slow, and prone to just stop working for no reason until you unplug it and replug it. It seems to be extremely sensitive to signal quality - it will often show a barely usable signal and be running at very low speeds when my wife's Macbook sitting right next to it has perfect reception and is running fine.

For the price I guess you get what you pay for, but I expected better of Cisco.

Why?

USB wireless adapters are NOT expenssive, and you can get ones which are tiny nubs instead of planks extending out a couple inches (maybe the tradeoff is range; I dunno).

For instance, THIS is only $10 with no s&h:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166052

How is today's woot any better, at all?

Mac26Mac wrote:Will this device work without the software?

I have a Sprint Airave (a cell phone "booster" because I get terrible service in my building).

My apartment building (large) provides free wireless internet (only, no plugs). The Airave (basically one giant router) needs a hardwire plug connection.

Could I somehow plug the Valet into the Airave and have the Airrave connect to the interwebz?

the sprint air waive must be plugged in directly to a router through Ethernet.so no that wont work sorry

Ok, so I got one; however, I got to wondering exactly how to set it up and get it running... Does anyone know if this comes with diectionsd? I have a wireless router, (due to having Tivo), and cannot connect my computer to it... Will this help with my iPhone? Please help a female blond who is trying to adapt to this new age of technology...
;o)

Mac26Mac wrote:Will this device work without the software?

I have a Sprint Airave (a cell phone "booster" because I get terrible service in my building).

My apartment building (large) provides free wireless internet (only, no plugs). The Airave (basically one giant router) needs a hardwire plug connection.

Could I somehow plug the Valet into the Airave and have the Airrave connect to the interwebz?

No, you can not use this device. You can however use this device. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122373

I have installed a few and found that model to be reliable at a decent price point. You configure it on a laptop first. Once you get it connected, you plug it into the airave (which I also have, it works very well. MAKE SURE to setup security on the airave so people aren't using it)

Now, the reliability of your building wireless may be a different story. Good luck to you.

I'm no expert on the Cisco Valet, but I am a HW engineer with some experience with Wi-Fi radios. Having said that:

I'd be really surprised if the Cisco Valet was NOT using the Ralink RT3370 or RT5370 chipset. These are the only two Wi-Fi chipsets of which I'm aware that have a direct USB interface. They both support Cisco CCX 5.0, which I bet is important to Cisco. Most Wi-Fi radio chipsets use an SPI (SD Card) interface. Ralink has a USB interface, making the Ralink chipsets extremely popular for use in USB devices like this one.

Since the description doesn't specifically mention MIMO (which the RT5370 supports and the RT3370 does not support), I bet this device is using the RT3370 chipset. This is an educated GUESS. Don't take it to the bank.

If my guess is correct, Windows and Linux drivers can be downloaded from the Ralink website at: http://www.ralinktech.com/en/04_support/support.php?sn=500

Linux support for wireless wasn't very good until the 2.6.35 kernel. In particular, the 2.6.31 kernel is riddled with wireless issues. This is experience talking... I wouldn't even try using this device on drivers older than 2.6.35.

Good luck and happy Wooting!!

Does anyone know the max bandwidth on this, 150mbps, 300mbps, etc.? Also what are the frequency ranges are they the general 2.4-2.4835ghz?

My 2 old computers are now becoming media servers on my network. in for 2

anyone know if this will work with a DirecTV box? thanks!

I've got the Linksys version of this (a black one) and it works great. I needed another for an extra desktop I have. $13.02 after taxes shipped to Washington State.

Would this be a good candidate for a cantenna?

The usb format, and provided extension cord seems to be ideal, but I can't seem to determine if an external antenna wire can be attached after disassembling the device.

Anyone know if these are 300mbps both ways? Some adapters are 300/150.

Does anyone know how long the cable is?

The network card in my laptop went out awhile back and it's integrated into the motherboard so will I be able to use this and connect to my wireless network again?

eurolights wrote:If you plug this into your laptop you would have to disable the card and use this instead. It's possible that this item may have better range or simply just work better than the card you have now...unfortunately it could also be the same or worse. You would almost have to try it out and see.

Is your router & current card Wireless B/G , N, 150, or 300 mbps?

Eurolights and others,
I have a somewhat related situation. I have a laptop with built-in Broadcom b/g wireless. I normally use the laptop direct-wired w/o router, but have used wireless when traveling. I may have to cancel my broadband service. Do you think this would be more likely to let me access free/nearby/public wireless networks with reasonable performance? Thank you.

I have one, using it on my Dell Laptop, what a difference in speed. I have two N-routers, not dual band, and it reports 300 mbps. When I do file transfers the reported speed often jumps down to 150 mbps or so, or less, but still faster than the 54G that is built into the Dell Precision M70 I'm using.

It will NOT work on a MacBook Pro, I've tried.

It requires installing the built-in software on the Memory section of this device, so it's basically a WiFi N plus installation software for Windows.

If you have windows, on a laptop, and don't have Wireless-N, this is a great deal. I paid about 4 times this much just a few months ago.

Is this backward compatible with a non "n" router? I have the Verizon router and a computer in the garage that can't quite get a reliable signal. No room for a wireless nic in that comp either (custom build) so this would be perfect if it works with a B/G router (yeah, I need to update I guess)

I recently bought one of these for an old HP desktop for almost $70. Is this price too good to be true?

dzlux wrote:Would this be a good candidate for a cantenna?

The usb format, and provided extension cord seems to be ideal, but I can't seem to determine if an external antenna wire can be attached after disassembling the device.

It has no external antennae connections available. You'd have to crack it open.

On the other hand, you might be able to just stick the whole unit inside the can as the antenna...

tilton wrote:Is this backward compatible with a non "n" router? I have the Verizon router and a computer in the garage that can't quite get a reliable signal. No room for a wireless nic in that comp either (custom build) so this would be perfect if it works with a B/G router (yeah, I need to update I guess)

It is B/G compatible, but if you're having a coverage issue you would actually be better off upgrading to N, as that gives you generally greater range.

CowboyDann wrote:Things might have changed in the last year, but I was looking for a wireless setup for my xbox 360. The only thing that works is the Xbox 360 adapter.

Instead of paying 100 dollars for their device I set up my netbook using a guide similar to this one: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Your-Laptop-As-an-Xbox-Wireless-Adapter

This made me chuckle. Last I looked, a laptop costs more than $100.00.

Utlkalot15 wrote:"Simply insert your Valet Connector into the USB Port of your desktop or laptop PC for an Internet connection in minutes"

Minutes?! Hope that means installation of drivers, not to connect to a network.

Now, that's pretty funny.

jtowle wrote:I have one, using it on my Dell Laptop, what a difference in speed. I have two N-routers, not dual band, and it reports 300 mbps. When I do file transfers the reported speed often jumps down to 150 mbps or so, or less, but still faster than the 54G that is built into the Dell Precision M70 I'm using.

Is the other machine on wireless?

Basically with wireless you have several things working against you.

1) It's a half-duplex shared medium. So, it's 300 megabit total pool for all connected devices. Not 300 mb/s per device.
2) Signal congestion/interference from other devices in that frequency range will cause issues.

And on and on and on.

joryman wrote:I'm no expert on the Cisco Valet, but I am a HW engineer with some experience with Wi-Fi radios. Having said that:

I'd be really surprised if the Cisco Valet was NOT using the Ralink RT3370 or RT5370 chipset. These are the only two Wi-Fi chipsets of which I'm aware that have a direct USB interface. They both support Cisco CCX 5.0, which I bet is important to Cisco. Most Wi-Fi radio chipsets use an SPI (SD Card) interface. Ralink has a USB interface, making the Ralink chipsets extremely popular for use in USB devices like this one.

Since the description doesn't specifically mention MIMO (which the RT5370 supports and the RT3370 does not support), I bet this device is using the RT3370 chipset. This is an educated GUESS. Don't take it to the bank.

If my guess is correct, Windows and Linux drivers can be downloaded from the Ralink website at: http://www.ralinktech.com/en/04_support/support.php?sn=500

Linux support for wireless wasn't very good until the 2.6.35 kernel. In particular, the 2.6.31 kernel is riddled with wireless issues. This is experience talking... I wouldn't even try using this device on drivers older than 2.6.35.

Good luck and happy Wooting!!

Just filed this away for future reference.

zekeg wrote:I've got the Linksys version of this (a black one) and it works great. I needed another for an extra desktop I have. $13.02 after taxes shipped to Washington State.

Had you bought three of these little guys, your first one would still have cost you $13.02, but the other two would only cost $6.99 each. Now, where would you be able to buy one of these suckers for $6.99 and NO tax in my state of Illinois?

Think, people, think.

I'd like to move my desktop out of the kitchen, since I mainly use the laptop now. This appears to be just what I need! Hopefully I can figure it out!

jenhraz wrote:I recently bought one of these for an old HP desktop for almost $70. Is this price too good to be true?

Before I tell you, I have a spanking brand new TRS-80. It retailed for $1600, but I'm willing to let you have it for only $600. It'll look nice alongside your old HP desktop, prob pre-Fiorina days?

nobies wrote:Does anyone know how long the cable is?

this website says 57 inches

http://www.deals2buy.com/deals/181quoiy-cisco-valet-am10-300mbps-80211n-wireless-usb-adapte

There are reports of issues with 64 bit windows systems...

I would love to use this to connect my DirectTV DVR's to the internet. Without an internet connection they cannot provide on demand programming, nor can I program them to record a show from my smart phone. I just doubt that this is the answer... Can anyone shed some light on this?

...Will this work with DirectTV DVRs?

mikejenkins wrote:I've been using this D-Link wireless bridge with my 360 since 2005

http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DWL-810-Ethernet-Wireless-802-11b/dp/B000088NO6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318252780&sr=8-1

You really should upgrade. It only supports 802.11B and the only encryption it uses is WEP? WEP is so insecure it can hardly be called encryption.

You're just asking for your wifi network to get compromised.

My first WOOT purchase! WOOT

As someone who just logs on everyday, this is just way to convoluted to even figure out what the heck this device is. While i appreciate the "cute" what the heck is this thing? I lost interest after the first paragraph of "cute" can we just have the straight skinny at some point? Really?

speedshark wrote:Does anybody really actually need this???

think of it this way, it's a usb extension cable with a 90 degree desktop adapter on the end.