Paying more doesn’t necessarily mean better performance the pricier adapters didn’t win all of our tests.

Good price: This factor is very important-you shouldn’t have to pay more than $35-$65 for a USB adapter.

Good range: A good Wi-Fi adapter should be able to maintain a strong connection and reasonably quick file transfer speeds even when it’s several rooms away from your router.Our test measures in megabytes per second (MB/s), and 12 MB/s translates into 96 Mbps, which is about as fast as the average broadband Internet connection, so we looked for that threshold on our tests. We tested each adapter to see how it could do in a real home. For example, an AC1200 adapter is rated to provide 300 Mbps (megabits per second) on the 2.4 GHz band and 867 Mbps on the 5 GHz bands, but no adapter can achieve that. We started by looking at each adapter’s AC rating: while those numbers are generally pretty misleading, they do tell you each adapter’s maximum theoretical throughput. You need throughput to download updates and stream videos at the quality you’re paying for. Good throughput: Think of the tasks you do the most where you’re waiting and watching a spinning pinwheel.You can also use Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) to connect if your router supports it.

Use the adapter software or Windows configuration tool to connect to a WiFi network.The adapter provides the best performance in a USB 3.0 port but is also compatible with a USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 port. Insert your WiFi adapter into an open USB port on your computer.How do I install the NETGEAR WiFi USB adapter software on Apple macOS?.How do I install the NETGEAR WiFi USB adapter software or standalone driver on Microsoft Windows?.

Install the NETGEAR adapter software or a standalone driver for your computer.įor more information, see the following articles:.For more information, see Does Microsoft Windows automatically install NETGEAR network adapters? Because NETGEAR does not have access to and cannot provide support for built-in Windows drivers, we recommend that you install the official NETGEAR drivers for your WiFi USB adapter. If your computer uses Microsoft Windows 7 or newer, Windows might automatically install drivers for your adapter when you plug it in. If your computer does not have a drive that reads CDs, download the software for your WiFi adapter from the NETGEAR Download Center. The easiest way to set up your NETGEAR WiFi USB adapter is with the NETGEAR Resource CD included with your adapter.

Netgear usb wifi adapter for mac