Review: TP-LINK Archer T4U AC1200 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter

• December 31, 2014
• James Skemp
• review

Quite the big boy

On a Windows 8.1 machine, the TP-LINK Archer T4U AC1200 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter does what it says. Speed tests and usage suggest that it's on par with a wired connection, and I had no issues playing online with it.

However, there are two things about this that knocked a star off my rating.

First, this thing is big. I'm not sure why it has to be so large, in thickness or length. However, if a smaller size would have meant that it would have felt flimsy (it feels solid) then I suppose it's better to be how it is, especially for portable purposes. The included USB cable means you don't need to have this sticking straight out of your computer, but it's still larger than it seems it would need to be (based upon similar products).

The second issue I have is that the install disk is required for Windows support. I can't remember the last time I had to actually use an install disk for drivers for a USB device. It would be great if these could eventually be discoverable by Windows in the future.

On the bright side, while the instructions tell you to install the drivers and management software, only the drivers are required, which should be more than sufficient to connect to a wireless access point.

Ultimately the TP-LINK Archer T4U AC1200 Wireless Dual Band USB Adapter gets a 4 of 5 stars from me, with the single missing star due mostly to the size of the product.

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