Discount TP-Link TL-WN851N Wireless N PCI Adapter – Review
- Connectivity technology: Wireless
- Host interface: PCI
- Interface: Ethernet
- Internal: Y
- Ethernet LAN (RJ-45) ports quantity: 0
2T2R, 2.4GHz, 802.11n/g/b
List Price: £14.00
2T2R, 2.4GHz, 802.11n/g/b
List Price: £14.00
Excellent even with windows 7, xp or fedora,
I picked up one of these a few months back after my long serving tp-link USB adapter died.
First of i installed this on windows XP and it went well although i did use the drivers on the disc once only to connect to internet so i could download the latest ones from TP-link and i had no problems. I then installed windows 7 a few months later and it went 100% better showing me the available networks i could connected to during installation just before i had even loaded into windows 7 for the first time so that was good. I even loaded Fedora linux for a dual boot and it worked straight away even without installing fedora so i can safely say this is the most compatible product i’ve had yet.
As for speed i borrowed a tp-link N router from a friend to do some proper speed tests as i only have a tp-link G router at the moment and it worked super fast. Even using a G router i was impressed because although i was capped by the speed of the router i managed to get a better signal and a more constant signal as well as a higher speed than i had with my wireless G USB adapter.
All in all i’d say this a great product considering how cheap it is and since it works out the box with windows 7 and fedora without any installation as well as with XP using the disc you can’t get a product that is as compatible as this. Will be buying another for my father which will be replacing his much more expensive and worse performing d-link card.
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|Works straight out of the box in Windows 7 64-bit,
I don’t quite know why others have had any problems with this network card. I’ve purchased two now, one for me and one for my brother. They both work flawlessly – both on Windows 7 64-bit.
In fact, they installed using standard Microsoft drivers. Didn’t even need to use the CD that came with it.
Those people who claim that their data speeds are not what they thought they would be: either your router is capping the speed (if your router is only 54Mbps, then no matter how good the wireless card is, this will bottleneck everything), or there are interference problems. Certainly, irrespective of data speeds, this card has proven to give good range for reception.
I can’t fault it.
[EDIT]
I’ve since discovered that the drivers for the card seem to struggle badly with certain routers. I recently changed routers and even though I was only a few feet from the router, my signal strength reduced from 5 bars down to 3, and I couldn’t get any 802.11n speeds out of it. I’ve no idea why. I’ve since replaced this card with
Edimax EW-7612PIN 300Mbps Wireless PCI-E Adapter
and this works _perfectly_.
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|Not a strong enough signal for me,
Despite the hefty-looking aerials at the back of this, the signal strength just wasn’t sufficient for me. Admittedly, my router wifi is weak, and the PC I fitted the card to is awkwardly positioned. But even with lots of aerial tweaking I ended up with drop outs, unless I pulled the PC out of the dark corner it’s in. I’m getting better results with a USB stick pointing from the front of the PC. So, if it’s a signal boost you want, this may not be for you. If you want something less fiddly than USB and always on, go for it.
Edit: I gave this to a colleague who has found the signal strength and speeds excellent. It’s going to depend on positioning I guess!
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