Edimax EW-7128Gn 150Mbps Wireless 11n PCI Adapter with Extra Long Cable of External Detachable Dipole Antenna

Well, there's not much to say about this product, but here goes.The Good: This product is cheap. It is super simple to install. It worked with Windows 7 without having to install any drivers. The software that comes with it is decent and is quite functional. Reception is acceptable, though pretty average compared to a standard USB dongle.The Bad: I expected a stronger reception than what I was getting with my regular USB dongle, so it wasn't much of an upgrade, but I am on wireless G, so maybe the results would be better on wireless N. The good news is that I can always upgrade the antenna pretty cheaply.Other Thoughts: I really went with this PCIE card because my htpc wasn't reliably resuming my wireless connection from my usb wifi dongle. This solved my problem.Overall: This is a good wireless solution if you are on a budget or plan to install a powerful antenna for long-range wireless reception. It is easy to install, and has maintained a good connection. The 2db gain antenna is all that is holding this back, though it should suffice for most uses. I get a -66 dB signal at 50 feet from my wireless G router and there are 2 walls in the signal path. I consider this average performance for a very low price, while providing the hardware necessary for a low cost antenna upgrade. A good buy.

It's hard to know for sure what my COX Internet plan is capable of delivering, but what I do know is the difference between my Acer laptop, which has the best WiFi adapter of all my current adapters, a couple of Belkin USB adapters I bought from Best Buy (the  Belkin N300 Wireless USB Adapter (Latest Generation) ) and the  Belkin N600 DB Wireless Dual-Band USB Adapter ), and this Edimax EW-7128Gn PCI card.On my Vista desktop, which has a N600 DB, I connect anywhere from 7 MBPS to 72 MBPS, with a steady rate of 58 MBPS. The N300 offered roughly the same speeds, and I would not advise the N600 DB as a real upgrade. There seems to be a moderate drop out rate on the Vista, and I recorded the same speeds on my XP but had a higher drop out rate due to, I imagine, the location of that desktop. The XP has desk walls all around it save for the back and front.The router is a floor down, and it's obviously not an ideal gaming situation, but I am trying to figure out if I can get more stability. My Windows 7 laptop (Acer Nplify 802.11 b/g/n wireless adapter) can get up to 144 MBPS (all devices are being tested from the same room). Even so, only the Belkin N300/600 DBs claim excellent strength to the network, while the laptop is usually about half way there. This Edimax, which I installed on my XP, gets low to moderate connections, but it's very steady so far at 52-58.5 MBPS and no apparent drop outs. The 2dBi antenna is out in the hall, and I expected better than a "low" connection as a result, but if it's a stable low then maybe it doesn't matter.The Edimax installation CD was great, and did everything I needed to connect. At first there was a 1 MBPS connection, then the Edimax program loaded up and everything was at that 58.5 MBPS mark. The CD does result in a new system tray program, which might annoy some people, but you can always disable it later.Generally speaking, I have gotten up to--according to Steam--7 MBPS actual download speed (files) out of my Belkin N600 DB on my Vista. Normally, files download at a 1-2 MBPS rate. This Edimax just clocked 1.4 MBPS while upgrading Firefox, so everything seems to be about par. So far, my suggestion would be to get this Edimax over a Belkin USB from Best Buy. I'll give it some time, though, and give the review an update after some more testing. Ideally I would want something with the assumed stability of the Edimax but with double the WiFi range. No stars off, for now, due to that stability.

This is the exact same product as the Rosewill RNX-N150PCX, and the EDIMAX EW-7711In. It "works" best if you use the native Windows drivers (RALINK RT3060 I think)...It is NOT a good card for high speed internet access / multimedia / etc.. It show's connecting at a high speed, then when you are actually uploading or downloading files, it slows down to a crawl.I've tried the EDIMAX drivers, Rosewill Drivers, and the RALINK drivers. If you actually use the software that comes with the card to manage it in Windows, and you happen to later change the wireless password, you may be in for some issues. I found that I had to uninstall the software, and use the windows driver alone, to get it to stay connected. (It's a bug in the SW).I have added an external antenna to give it a better signal, but the transmit and receive speed STAYS slow.I tried my ASUS Wireless USB adapter (USB-N53) to see if there was a difference, and it worked better on a short USB cord than the PCI card with a large antenna on a longer wire.I'll figure out another solution later as the USB has to go back where it was. The card is worth the $14-$15 that Amazon is charging, but not much more.

4 month update at the end of this review. Old review: Installation was simple. There is a low profile back adapter plate included if you need one. The cord to the antenna is plenty long. I found that wrapping the extra long cord tightly around the antennae is not a good idea because it blocks transmission. So far, everything is working fine between the Netgear WNR1000 Wifi router downstairs in the basement and this WinXP SP3 computer on the main floor right above. The transmission is going through a wood floor and a finished ceiling in the basement. According to the included software program the quality of the transmission will sometimes fluctuate between 87% and 100%. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. Update: 4 months had past and the connection quality did deteriorated to the point where it was frustratingly painful to be online. I have uninstall and reinstalled the unit but the quality did not change. I haven't checked yet but I'm hoping that there is some kind of warranty. I'll report back when I find out. New update: No warranty information was found at the Edimax website, but I did find that there was newer driver available. I uninstalled the old software which removes the old driver. Downloaded and installed the newest driver without the software option and everything seems to be working fine now.