The USB-AC56 Dual-Band Wireless-AC1300 USB 3.0 Wi-Fi Adapter from ASUS features enhanced wireless 802.11ac network compatibility allowing you to take advantage of network speed up to 867 Mbps. Aside from enhanced network compatibility you can also connect to both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies making it possible to allocate more data intensive tasks to the less congested 5 GHz frequency.
The USB-AC56 Wi-Fi Adapter comes equipped with two internal 2 dBi antennas and one external dipole antenna to connect at long distances. In addition to 802.11ac network compatibility, you can connect to networks supporting IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi standards. The connection can be kept secure as this adapter supports 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, and WPS encryption standards.
Leopoldo Greenholt (verified owner) –
Although a 5-star rating, rating is for ease of installation and device reception (initial). We haven’t used this WiFi for a sufficient amount of time to rate its reliability so, again, this is for installation and reception only. This was installed on a Windows desktop, networked to an Airport Extreme. Steps briefly included removal from packaging, installing drivers from CD (approx. 3-4 minutes), installing USB-AC56 to rear USB port of Lenovo desktop, accessing network/internet. Total process from opening the package, through installing drivers to signing into Airport Extreme took a total of 7-10 minutes. Contrary to some other negative reviews on this device, claiming poor reception, we have this sitting approx. 10 feet from the Airport Extreme (AE). However, between the Asus WiFi and the AE we have several electronic obstructions consisting of three 30+ inch displays, two large speakers, a couple of lamps with metal stands, an 8-bay, tall SSD enclosure and more, plus, this is plugged into the Lenovo desktop in the rear bottom port, with NO antenna. At the time of this review, two weeks after installation, performance has been excellent but, once more, this review is speaking only to 1) the fast, effortless installation, and, 2) reception. Regardless, even if we were to experience only several months of problem-free service from this Asus USB-AC56 before any possible reliability issues, or failure, at least we will have paid only $45 for this device. Less than a year of service from Chinese manufactured electronic products without problems seems to be the standard for planned obsolescence (expected failure, a disposable society mentality!).
Brittany McClure (verified owner) –
Works better than expected.
Serenity Heller (verified owner) –
Another fine ASUS product.. Works well.
Hardy Walker (verified owner) –
I use this device to replace my old wifi pci adaptor bought from Amazon (300Mbps 802.11n PC Desktop wireless N Wifi PCI Adapter). The old one has inconsistent connection and downloading speed, with spike lags and disconnection occasionally, which bothers me since I play online games. The new one works out of box. I use Windows 10 the driver was installed automatically (didn’t use the included CD). Everything has been working perfectly after one week’s usage.
Clarissa Spinka (verified owner) –
A bit expensive but satisfy with the speed.
Gia Senger (verified owner) –
Product became very finicky. Constant loss of connection. Tried all I could find out about how to fix. No dice. Even with a new motherboard. Bandwidth with a Netgear Nighthawk 7000 was excellent.
Mckenzie Schiller (verified owner) –
This product works okay. I’m four floors up from the router and it still delivers a wifi signal. However, the signal is weak. But I’m sure if I was a little closer to the source I’d have excellent wifi. I recommend this product to anyone who needs to pull wifi from a nearby source.
Guiseppe Bode (verified owner) –
The good: plug and play compatibility with Synology NAS. Both synology DSM and windows had issues seeing all 5GHz channels. For some the driver update works. For others you may need to change your 5GHz channel. Good signal strength even without included antenna.