adapters

Pefect for adding an older Windows 98 PC without a 10/100 port to a network with virtually no effort.

It worked instantly out of the box, but the hinged door is very cheap and fragile. If you look at the picture real closely, you see that you plug the cord into a flimsy hinged trap-door. When the door breaks or pops the hinges, the cord drops out. I had to replace it with a stronger direct plug-in type.

I have one of the older USB 1.0 adapters in my computer junk drawer (a collection of adapters, plugs, gender changers, card readers & cables....sounds a bit like a circus side show but it never fails me!) and have found it useful on several occasions, but this 2.0 model is in daily service on a network server. Basically, you can plug your ethernet cable into the adapter and then insert the plug end into any USB receptacle (2.0 or 1.1) on your machine (such as on a laptop or a TIVO, etc.). Its purpose is to make buying and installing an ethernet card unnecessary. It has connection & data transfer LEDs to tell you you've contacted the network, though these are not really necessary. No set up is required either, just plug and go on Windows XP.
As far as I can see, the connection is quite as stable as any hard wired to an internal ethernet card, and as it's a true 2.0-compliant adapter, transfer speeds are awesome. In daily use on our network it has performed flawlessly.