It could very well work faster than your actual PC

Sep 30, 2014 11:26 GMT  ·  By

There are some really strong Wi-Fi routers out there, some of them going all the way to 2,334 Mbps (ASUS dual-band device), but most of the bandwidth usually gets split between a whole bunch of electronics. TP-Link decided to make it easier for a single device to use all, or most, of the available signal from a router.

An important thing to note from the onset is that most dual-band routers don't actually get that close to 2 Gbps, let alone go beyond that mark.

Yet, even so, most PCs, smartphones, media players and other consumer electronics with Wi-Fi support don't have what it takes to use all the available bandwidth at once.

This limits greatly the speed at which you can, say, transfer a large video file for example, or a 3D model or game level.

TP-Link decided to do something about that, so it created the Archer T4U - AC1200 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter.

The TP-Link Archer T4U - AC1200

The dual-band wireless Wi-Fi adapter supports 802.11ac, the latest and fastest Wi-Fi standard in the world. It can also access both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands at the same time.

On the former, it can transfer data at up to 300 Mbps. On the latter, it can achieve 867 Mbps. Thus, the cumulative performance is of 1.2 Gbps.

That's more than cable-based Ethernet usually allows (Gigabit Ethernet), so you can see why the product stands out the way it does. And it has such an ordinary, unassuming look too. Like a random flash drive.

Then again, it does have a sculpted edge on one side, with a green LED activity indicator. Most USB-connected devices come with yellow or blue LEDs.

Speaking of which, the Archer T4U plugs into a USB 3.0 connector, whose 5 Gbps bandwidth will easily cope with 1.2 Gbps transfers. Finally, the wireless dual-band adapter supports WPA/WPA2 encryption and even has a built-in WPS button.

How to set it up

There's not much to say. The adapter is configured through the bundled wireless utility in a few steps and can use an one-meter USB 3.0 extension cable in case you need better positioning for it. Other than that, you don't need anything else besides a Windows PC (Windows XP/7/8).

Availability

Sales of the TP-Link Archer T4U - AC1200 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter should begin soon, if they haven't already, for CAD $46.99 / $42.09 / €33.38.