I'm always a little skeptical of claims made by inexpensive wireless devices but the TP-Link really did exceed my expectations. Here's the whole story

We recently upgraded to FiOS Quantum internet service but the wireless router supplied by Verizon didn't come close to supporting the transfer speeds the new connection was capable of. I added a TrendNet dual-N access point, TEW-637AP (highly recommended, BTW, and also purchased from Amazon TRENDnet 300 Mbps Wireless Easy-N-Upgrader (TEW-637AP)), and doubled the wireless speed.

However, signal strength was so low that speed often dropped by 50% or more and the 58Mbps maximum wasn't close to the best. Now it appeared that the wireless USB adapter, a single antenna TrendNet TEW-644UB, may have been part of the problem. I was intrigued by the dual antennas on the TL-WN822N, thought it could be a better match for the dual antenna wireless access point and, given the low price, was certainly worth a try.

The adapter arrived quickly and installed easily. (Be sure to follow the instructions to cancel Windows offer to search for or install the driver and run the TP-Link driver and setup utility **after** plugging in the adapter.) The adapter activated as soon as the software installation completed and opened the configuration utility. After selecting the TrendNet access point and entering the WPA security code, the TL-WN822N connected immediately.

The first thing I noticed was the signal strength - Windows 7 wireless network connection status now shows signal quality of 80%. Even more impressive was the speed, now at a steady 130Mbps, a 225% increase.

Don't hesitate if you're looking for higher wireless speeds but keep in mind that you will also need a dual antenna, dual-N (300Mbps) wireless access point to make the most of the TP-Link TL-WN822N. This was undoubtedly the best $20.00 I've ever spent on a computer.