26.12.2019
82
I have an old Dell Latitude C400 laptop that is nearing 9 years old but still functional. The internal wireless receiver in the laptop failed, which led me to a search for a compact USB wifi adapter. I tried one I had laying around my house, but every time the device was plugged in and the drivers activated, it crashed the computer immediately.
Drivers For Airlink101 Wireless Usb Adapter Driver
So, after reading a few reviews and not wanting to burn $30 on something that might have more brand recognition but might also crash my computer (unsure at this point if the adapter or the computer was the problem), I read enough reviews that I opted to try this unit. Unfortunately, my Laptop doesn't have a CDROM. So, upon receiving the adapter, I downloaded the drivers off of the website via an Ethernet cable hooked to the laptop.
Airlink101 Wireless Pci Adapter Driver
I'm running windows XP professional, which the adapter says on the packaging is clearly compatible. However, upon trying to install the software, the installation program said 'This software is not compatible with this version of windows' to which the installation program shuts down. Well, the only drivers left on the website are for the Mac and I'm pretty sure those won't work! So, I crossed my fingers and simply plugged the device in.
Windows went looking for some device drivers and after 20 minutes (remember, it's an old, slow laptop) of searching found some Realtek drivers that it thought would work. I installed them, restarted the computer, and was dumbfounded when the wireless adapter started magically working! So, I'm giving the product as a whole (merely because it is entirely functional without the supplied drivers and is an inexpensive package) 4 out of 5 stars. The 2-hours of hassle (again, a slow computer) trying to troubleshoot the installation and trying a workaround would rate the 'ease of installation' at 2 stars, with 1 star meaning I wasn't successful at all and had to return it. Overall though, I'm delighted to again have mobility and some restored use to a 9-year old laptop.
It is perfect for browsing the web, which is all I really needed it for. Buying this adapter was much cheaper than buying a netbook and a much better solution than throwing the laptop out. I bought this adapter for an old computer that used to be connected via Ethernet which I moved to another room that did not have a network outlet. I made my purchase based off of other consumer reviews - most of which have held this product in high regard.
Unfortunately, I did not experience the same remarkable performance with the AWLL6075.Initially, I thought it to be the best thing since sliced bread. Then, I started having problems which seem to be attributed to the device overheating. After being connected at N speeds of up to 150Mbps (I could never get it to work at 300Mbps w/ router running Tomato), the connection speed significantly drops after 30 minutes (or as the device heats up) and continues to drop until it is almost rendered useless. When the connection speed drops, I noticed that the device is so hot that you could probably melt butter on it like a piece of toast that just popped out of the toaster. If my computer is coming from a cold boot for the first time in the day, the device works fine at 150Mbps. That doesn't last very long, especially if I try to stream videos over the network or download files off the Internet.
Usually, checking status after 30 mins of high network traffic will show the speed to have dropped to as low as 30Mbps. At first, I thought this was my ISP throttling me, but I tested downloads on 3 other machines (one connected via Ethernet and 2 wireless over the same network) and did not have the same issue.Due to this issue, the AWLL6075 is pretty much useless if you intend to utilize it for the following purposes:1. Downloading large files2. Streaming audio/video3. Any kind of network gaming4. Using to connect to LANI would not recommend this product unless you only plan to be online for 30 mins at a time.
For my purposes, it is completely unreliable. Until the replacement comes in (different brand, but, also USB type with external antenna), I've actually plugged this thing into a USB extension so I could place it within the airflow of the PSU fan just to prevent it from heating up too much.If only it could maintain a decent connection speed without toasting itself to death, this would have been the best thing for my old machine since sliced bread.
Sadly, I am left with a piece of burned toast instead; the crumbs of which taste like the bitter remnants of dial-up days. (PLEASE SEE THE EDIT AT THE BOTTOM)For those of you using Windows or Mac OS X, I have no idea how this thing works. I am writing this for those who may be interested in using it on Linux.I got this because the price couldn't be beat for the feature set. While USB Wi-Fi adapters tend to be much cheaper than their PCMCIA counterparts, this one has an especially good feature set for the price I paid.
And it is not nearly so massive as the others I have seen.I ordered this based on reviews of a different version of the AirLink101. The numbers following ('AWLL6075') are important in determining compatibility. Turns out the model AWLL3026 works out of the box with modern Linux distributions. However, no driver has been written to support the AWLL6075.I tried using the supplied drivers with ndis wrapper. I could talk to the device, and it reported finding hotspots, but it never connected. Perhaps others may have more luck with this approach, but I wanted to let other Linux users who were considering this option that this is not yet a simple plug-n-play solution as I had anticipated due to my inadequate research.I will write again if support gets added to update my experience.EDIT (2012-04-08):I have confirmed that this adapter works out of the box with recent versions of Ubuntu (11.04+). I cannot speak to it's support and performance on other distributions of platforms, but it seems pretty solid on Ubuntu.
It breathed life into an old laptop that I gave to a friend, and is a welcome alternative to a PCMCIA card (previously the only option for that machine). I have updated the rating accordingly.
My old Linksys PCI based wifi N card needed to be replaced, it has a wire with an external antenna and it was getting in the way.So I saw this Airlink for 9.99 on sale with free shipping so I decided to give it a try, if the product wasn't any good I wouldn't me out much money. To my surprise it works great, better than my Linksys in fact.In Windows 7, I just needed to plug it into the USB port and the drivers auto-loaded for me. I bought two of these AWLL6075 adapters for my Acer Notebook and Netbook computers (both computers Windows 7 64-bit). The adapters have worked perfectly - much better than the internal WiFi cards.
One of the two adapters finally failed last night after two and a half years of heavy use. I cannot complain since it lasted well past the one-year warranty. The other one is still going strong.I have two other different models of AirLink101 WiFi adapters and an AirLink101 USB hub; they also work great.JimUpdate January 27, 2015I installed an AWLL6077 to replace the AWLL6075. The AWLL6077 uses the same utility and it worked fine. I was about to discard the AWLL6075 and I plugged it in to try it one more time and it worked again.
Any of these AirLink101 WiFi adapters work fine. (I have the AWLL6075, AWLL6077, and AWLL6086.Jim. I sometimes use my ASUS netbook to play online music while I work. The wireless kept dropping out. It's very distracting when music skips and starts. I bought this a couple of months ago for $15 on special just to have. A week ago, I decided to try it to correct my netbook wireless issues.
No more drop outs or skips in my music. Internet is super fast when browsing now.The installation CD hung up on me. I downloaded the set-up from the airlink website. I then did a manual setup, picked my network, put in the security password, and it was running. Easy, simple.This is the download for it online. Remove the dots and the forwardslashes.airlink101 dot com forwardslash download forwardslash awll6075 dot phpIf the link info does not make it through, just Google Airlink 101 AWLL6075 driver and also Google for a special/deeaal. Their support told me that they will NOT support non-computer devices (such as WD TV Live Hub) without payment.
They charge 70USD/semi-annum for non-computer device support.If you believe that you may have need of installation support for devices, other than on PC or MAC computers, I strongly recommend finding another adapter. Since troubleshooting on non-computer devices is often more complicated and difficult, additional support is often required. They won't provide it to you without an investment that puts the total cost of ownership well over their competition.This company has forgotten that any product is a product-service package. Support is a basic minimum expectation within a reasonable timeframe of original purchase. The product is one of many very similar options and price points. It's unfortunate that they chose as their primary differentiator, the lack of quality support.
I had recently invested in a wireless N router. I was not happy that i would not be able to enjoy the N speed on my 6 years old Inspiron 1501 laptop. At last, I see this Airlink 101 on sale for 9.99 inclusive of tax and shipping.I thought I'd give it a try. This is a great gadget! Installation takes no more than 5 minutes.in fact it is almost plug/play.and I see that where i use to be 100mbps on wired connection, now I am getting 150 mbps.with Airlink 101. This has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the download time on vides/avi files.
I am very happy with this product! Cnet downloads.