Since its introduction there has been something of an internal battle with wireless. On the one hand it is very convenient; you just connect to an access point and you have freedom as long as you are inside the network rand. On the other the speed is not always that great and, if the signal is too weak, you can end up dropping packets, files and losing data. Over the years there have been great improvements in wireless speed, but no matter what it has never been able to match the speed of a wired connection. At least it could not until 802.11ac wireless arrived on the scene. This new specification offers a theoretical limit of 1.3Gbps over a 5GHz wireless connection. We have already taken a look at a router and USB 2.0 adapter, now we are going to look at what happens when you put USB 3.0 into the mix with the TRENDNet TEW-805UB adapter.
Value –Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item. TRENDNet’s TEW-805UB will set you back $46.99 from most online resellers. This is a good price point for an 802.11ac adapter. It is in line with other 802.11ac adapters although there are not that many on the market yet. As more do hit the streets we expect this price to drop even more.
Conclusion –The TRENDNet TEW-805UB is a good adapter with a good price. It has more than enough headroom to keep data flowing (provided you have a system that can keep up). It is a little bulky and can block other ports if yours are set too close together, but with the performance it brings that can almost be overlooked. We wish that TENDNet would make their adapters a little smaller or include an extension adapter for them to keep ports clear. If you are looking to make the plunge into an 802.11ac network then you would not go wrong if you picked up one of these in addition to whatever 802.11ac router you grab. With a $47 price point it will not add too much to your bill and will make sure you get the performance you should.
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