TP-LINK TL-WDN4200 N900 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter, 2.4GHz 450Mbps/5Ghz 450Mbps, One-Button Setup, Support Windows XP/Vista/7/8

The TP-Link TL-WDN4200 is a high-end dual band 802.11n USB Wireless Adapter that supports up to 450Mbps using 3x3 MIMO. The hardware, design, and performance of the WDN4200 is rather good, but TP-Link's support for 64-bit Windows 8/8.1/10 is utterly abysmal. 5GHz networking DOES NOT work using the Windows in-box driver, and TP-Link’s 64-bit Windows 8 driver fails to install because it’s not digitally signed. According to TP-Link support, the ridiculous solution is to disable Windows's Driver Signature Verification so that your system will accept and install unauthenticated and unverified drivers from any source. As of this writing (September 2015), TP-Link’s support site still features this decrepit driver (dated July 2013, no less). Essentially, TP-Link has abandoned this product more than two years ago, even though it’s still current and actively shipping, and they are of no help in pointing customers to real solutions. The TP-Link TL-WDN4200 can be made to work beautifully under 64-bit Windows 8/8.1/10, but you need to take matters into your own hands.The TP-Link TL-WDN4200 is powered by a MediaTek RT3573 USB WiFi chip and the generic MediaTek driver (5.1.21.0, dated 2/2/2015), available for download from MediaTek’s website, enables full functionality of this adapter. The MediaTek driver enables support for 5GHz networks under 64-bit Windows 8/8.1/10 and is digitally signed. This particular chip is referred to as USB RT357X; Download Link:http://mediatek.com/en/downloads1/downloads/usb/Overall, the TP-Link TL-WDN4200 is a good USB wireless adapter that’s let down by poor support. I bought this adapter to use with a desktop computer without WiFi, and with a dual band 802.11n 2x2 MIMO wireless router, I can achieve consistent 243-300Mbps link speeds on the 5GHz band. 2.4GHz link speed fluctuates between 72-144Mbps.Hardware: 5 Stars ; Love it!TP-Link Support: 1 Star ; Hate It!Overall: 3 Stars ; It’s Okay…Notes:1) After you install the MediaTek driver, you can run Windows Update to get the latest driver (5.1.22.1, dated 9/7/2015). I’m not sure why, but with only the Windows in-box driver (5.1.16.0, dated 6/6/2014), Windows Update did not suggest the newer driver.2) When I bought this adapter back in June 2014, I contacted TP-Link support and they eventually sent me a replacement to see if that would help. Since it was a driver issue, the replacement was no better, so I was ultimately forced to buy another wireless adapter to get on 5GHz networks. I kept this wireless adapter on a shelf for 8 months before I found a potential use for it, and I'm glad I kept it around because at least now, there is a real solution to this driver nightmare!3) I took a peek at the official TP-Link drivers, and besides replacing various product and vendor strings with TP-Link, there doesn’t seem to be anything special. I find it mind-boggling that in light of working, signed drivers from the chipset manufacturer, TP-Link continues to prefer providing a sub-standard driver just because it maintains their branding.4) I never tried TP-Link’s SoftAP software, which lets your machine create a wireless access point if you also have wired internet. I suspect that by using the MediaTek and Inbox drivers, the TP-Link application might not work, but you can it manually or use something like Connectify.5) Attached images; (1) TP-Link's driver is NOT signed! (2) Latest Driver using Update Driver through Device Manager

Like many Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit users, this dual-band adapter failed to see the 5 GHz band of my router out of the box. Great 2.4 GHz speeds (195 Mbps), but disappointing not to have get the expected 5 GHz speedball. The problem is with the PlugNPlay-installed driver from Microsoft (dated 5/15/2013, v.5.1.2.0). The adapter can see and connect to the 2.4 GHz band just fine. After a friendly but ultimately unhelpful interaction with TP-Link support, I checked the adapter's chipset (Ralink RT3573) and tracked down a later driver (dated 6/27/2014, v.5.1.17.0) from MediaTek (http://www.mediatek.com/en/downloads/). The download installs the driver into Windows. Then you access the Update Driver... button for the TL-WDN4200, pick Browse my computer for driver software, Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer, then pick the MediaTek driver. Afterwards, the 5 GHz band should show up. I now joyfully get 405-450 Mbps, as advertised. I dropped my rating one star for the trouble this product caused me.

I bought this for my desktop computer which I have placed in a room without an ethernet connection. It's a nice little unit and I like how it came with a USB extention cable so you can place it in an optimal position.What prevents this from being a great product is the software. First, my PC doesn't have a CD drive, so I had to search online for the driver software. After some struggle I was able to find it. Installation was a challenge, however. After multiple attempts and many restarts I finally got it working. The interface feels very dated and is not very intuitive. It took me a while to get it to save my wifi password and log on automatically.In the end, after some effort and frustration, I have a good reliable connection that works automatically on startup. Signal strength is not as good as my laptop but speeds are almost as good. Now that the software is set up it runs in the background and I don't notice it, so that is good.So if you are pretty good with computers and / or are accustomed to dealing with dodgy Chinese software, and if you can get this unit at a good price it might work out OK for you. Otherwise you might want to try finding something more user friendly.

I was a little skeptical about this product but it works pretty good! I decided to move my desktop computer into a room in our house that doesn't have internet access so I needed a way to get internet to my computer until we could figure out how to run an ethernet cord into the bedroom for a more permanent fix. This was perfect! It was super easy to install (I have Windows 8 on an HP desktop) and so far the speed has been pretty good. It isn't as fast as it would be if the computer was hardwired to the internet but the difference in speed was only noticeable for the first day or so and then I got used to it. I do use the extender so I can place the adapter a little higher than it would be plugged straight into the back of my computer tower and sometimes it needs unplugged and plugged back in. But other than that, I am very happy with this product.

Pros: Great connection when nearby (i have it on a system one floor below the router, and directly under it), but when I move it further away on the lower floor, say 20 ft., the signal drops quickly to 2 bars and throughput does, too. When it has full bars and is nearby it works great.Cons: The software picks up both 2.4G and 5G on the router (airport extreme), but it ALWAYS chooses 2.4G even if both signals are the same strength when it auto-connects after boot up. I have to manually disconnect, sometimes more than once, and re-connect to the 5G, with password, to finally get it in 5G mode. Would love it if it would do this by default but I have found no way to force it in the software.

Der Stick ist heute bei mir angekommen.Im Anhang habe ich ein paar Speedtests angehängt, die dieser Stick in Verbindung mit meinem N750 Router, ebenfalls von TP-Link macht.Die Installation war denkbar einfach. Da ich kein CD-Laufwerk habe, habe ich von der TP-Link Seite den aktuellsten Treiber heruntergeladen. Dieser ist aber noch 2013. Der Treiber hat bei mir aber direkt installiert und der Stick wurde erkannt. Die Installation musste über den Geräte Manager erfolgen. Es ist keine .EXE Datei dabei.Nach dem 5. Speedtest hat sich der Stick anscheinend aufgehängt. Es ging kein Internet mehr, obwohl unter Windows unten rechts die Balken angezeigt wurden. Ich konnte auch wechseln zwischen dem 2,4 GHz und 5 GHz Band. Das Internet ging trotzdem nicht. Auch lokale Zugriffe auf den Router gingen nicht mehr.Nachdem ich den Stick dann abgesteckt und 3 Sekunden weg gelassen hatte funktionierte er wieder.Aufgrund dieses Aussetzers, welcher auch schon öfters in den Kommentaren erwähnt wurde gebe ich 4 von 5 Sternen.Vielleicht liegt es ja auch an dem bereits in die Tage gekommenen Treiber...Update vom 30.04.2015Immer wieder diese Hänger. Vor allem dann, wenn viele Daten über den Stick zum NAS, oder auch über das internet transferiert werden.Gefühlt alle 1-2 Tage 1 Mal. Das nervt. Ich habe mittlerweile auch den neueren Treiber von Realtek ausprobiert. Damit ist es nicht viel besser.Wenn die Hänger auftreten sind die Empfangsbalken unter Windows weiterhin vorhanden, nur die Geschwindigkeit bricht völlig ein. Dann ist entweder gar nichts mehr möglich oder gefühlt höchstens 5kb/s, was lächerlich ist.Ich habe den Stick heute zurück geschickt und einen neuen bestellt. Dafür gibts einen Stern abzug also 3 von 5 möglichen.Wenn der neue Stick besser ist, werde ich das entsprechend hier vermerken und die Bewertung anpassen.

Après avoir installé le pilote (ou driver) sur Windows 8, ce produit fonctionne correctement.La réception du signal wifi est correcte.1 an plus tard: Je voudrais maintenant utiliser le réseau Wifi dans la bande des 5GHz, mais cet adaptateur WDN4200 (le mien en tout cas) par défaut ne fonctionne pas dans les 5GHz sur Windows 10 (pas de souci avec Windows 7).Par défaut, la bande des 5 GHz n'est pas visible avec ce dongle Wifi.Après avoir essayé d'installer le driver fourni par TP-Link (TP-Link ne fournit pas de driver pour Windows 10, pour Windows 8 au mieux, message Windows "le pilote est déjà à jour"), après avoir vérifié les paramètres du driver, puis après avoir contacté le SAV TP-Link, qui n'a pas trouvé de solution, j'ai fini par trouver une manière de faire fonctionner le 5 GHz :Sur son réseau Wifi 2,4GHz, saisir un mauvais mot de passe (8 caractères au minimum), attendre 2-3min la vérification faite par Windows, et lorsque le message "mot de passe eronné" apparait, réafficher les réseaux Wifi. Et là, miracle, les réseaux 5 GHz apparaissent, et on peut s'y connecter !

Really good connection. I needed a dual band adapter with the new Superhub/Router/Modem whatever which had two connections, one 2G and one 5G. This connects to both really well and I have it attached to the side of the monitor, out in the open instead of plugged into the desktop under the table. It comes with a nice extension cable which is really useful, allows you to have it out in the open and not obstructed by too many things.The connection is pretty damn decent, we pay for really good internet and speed is different to connection. The connection bar/signal thing is usually 2 or 3/5 but internet always works beautifully.It's a little bit chunky and likes to heat up, but overall really useful and got delivered asap.

Connects at a faster speed than my Netgear N600 to my Asus RT-N66U router. Speed tests confirm this. It can connect at 450mbps, but it's usually more like 325mbps. Works very well though. It was plug and play with Windows 10, but I installed the drivers from the TP Link site, but not the software. I didn't really notice any difference afterwards to be honest! It's pretty massive. You definitely will need to use the included USB extension cable - this is best anyway to get the best signal. I just wish there was an N900 option with external antenna. That would be even faster!

Pour ma part j'ai été fortement déçu de cette clé wifi pourtant recommandé dans les commentaires. Déjà commençons par la livraison qui a été vraiment très longue, plus d'une semaine bloqué à Vitrolles avec Colis Privé, alors que j'espérais une livraison assez rapide comme annoncé (3-4 jours maximum).Une fois reçu, j'étais assez content sur le coup, mais quelle déception après à peine 10 minutes d'utilisation, des déconnexions intempestives, des débits annoncés vraiment horrible et pour finir une portée très courte.Et aujourd'hui encore pire : la clé s'arrêtait de fonctionner tout simplement. Retour à l'envoyeur, je demande un remboursement après.. 2 jours d'utilisation, il faut le faire pour le prix. Vraiment déçu sachant que j'ai besoin d'une connexion