It can work at 150 Mbps on common networks and at 433 Mbps on high-end ones

Oct 24, 2013 08:16 GMT  ·  By

The Wireless AC network standard may not be all that widespread, meaning that many motherboards and laptops don't support it by default, so TRENDnet decided to offer an alternative to integrated technology.

Which is to say that it has introduced a USB adapter that can tap into Wi-Fi networks. This way, people who want faster wireless data transfers on their PC don't need to buy a whole new motherboard or notebook for it.

The new product is called AC600 Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter and is intended to work with high-end Wireless AC routers.

The Wireless AC band is also known as the 5 GHz band and allows for significantly better throughput over the air than Wireless N (2.4 GHz).

On the Wireless N network, the data transfer can happen at 150 Mbps, which is better than the “regular” wired LAN really (100 Mbps).

The Wireless AC allows for 433 Mbps, which is an entirely different piece of pie altogether.

TRENDnet actually posted a video on YouTube, in which it details all the assets of the new product, including the utility that stores multiple network settings and prioritizes network connections.

There's even a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) that connects the adapter to Wi-Fi network immediately, with no further user input required. We've embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure.

Now, keep in mind that the adapter won't let you make full use of the entire bandwidth of high-end dual-band routers. After all, those things have up to 1,750 Mbps throughput.

That's okay and expected though, because routers like that are meant to sustain multiple links at once. If anything, 433 Mbs + 150 Mbps might make other jealous if you need to share the network with family members of colleagues. TRENDnet's TEW-804UB has a price of $39.99, which can mean €29 to 39.99 depending on whether or not the exchange rate is taken into account by the company's European retail channel.