Small WLAN USB adapter

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ernstoud

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Apr 10, 2010, 3:39:07 PM4/10/10
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In my quest for finding a suitable (i.e. small) WLAN USB adapter for
the BB I ended up with:

http://www.xtreamer.net/xtreamer/specs/wireless.aspx

this is normally available as an option for the xtreamer network audio
streamer from various online shops. I got it for around EUR 25,- (GBP
20,-)

It is that small that on an 2xUSB BB the USB slot next to it remains
accessible.

Chipset is RTL8191SU which is 150 Mb/s TX and 300 Mb/s RX, 802.11 bgn.

(Note that on various websites, even of the manufacturer, it states
that it is Ralink RT3070 based, it isn't.)

The RTL819xSU driver comes with a recent kernel in the staging
directory so it is kind of experimental but compiled (Slackware
2.6.32) and works fine.

Smaller WLAN USB devices are available on eBay (post mark size) but my
experience with these were not good; the USB connector of these
devices is actually an extension of its internal small PCB and on both
my BB and my notebook it did not make good contact. Which is to be
expected since traces on a PCB do not make good pressure contacts.

An alternative would be:

http://www.sitecom.com/Wireless-USB-Adapter-300N/WL-356/p/775

Same chipset, other colour but probably from the same manufacturer
(the OUI of the device decodes into Edimax as the OEM).

Anyway; I tried a couple of zd1211b devices, an RT3070 device, an
PRISM54 device and a RTL8187 device but this latest investment (ahum)
is here to stay.

On a sidenote; I am amazed that these recent wlan devices are single
chip thingies. The USB interface, the PHY, the MAC, the RF circuits
etc. all in one very small chip. On school I learned that digital and
analog circuits could never be merged on one die... but then again;
that is some 30 years ago :-)

Nelson Neves

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Apr 10, 2010, 6:02:09 PM4/10/10
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Thanks ernstoud for this info, I've been tempted for an Xtreamer Mediaplayer with the WIFI adaptor included, never actually saw the utility for the wifi adaptor until now!

Regards,
Nelson.


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