TP-Link USB WiFi Adapter for PC(TL-WN725N), N150 Wireless Network Adapter for Desktop - Nano Size WiFi Dongle for Windows 11/10/7/8/8.1/XP/ Mac OS 10.9-10.15 Linux Kernel 2.6.18-4.4.3, 2.4GHz Only

The TP-Link USB WiFi Adapter (TL-WN725N) is an absolute lifesaver for older laptops without built-in WiFi capability. This tiny yet powerful network adapter has truly transformed my older laptop into a modern and fully connected device, and I can't praise it enough. First and foremost, the ease of installation is a standout feature. It's a simple plug-and-play solution; just plug it into a USB port, install the necessary drivers (which are readily available on the TP-Link website), and you're ready to connect to WiFi networks. It's a hassle-free setup process that even those with limited technical expertise can handle. The compact design of this WiFi adapter is perfect for laptops, especially older ones with limited USB ports. It doesn't protrude from the USB port, so you can leave it plugged in without worrying about it getting in the way or being accidentally knocked off. The N150 wireless technology may not be the fastest, but it provides a reliable and stable connection for everyday internet use. Whether I'm browsing the web, streaming videos, or checking emails, this adapter performs admirably. It's a great solution for basic internet needs. Moreover, the TP-Link brand is known for its quality and reliability, and this WiFi adapter lives up to that reputation. I have peace of mind knowing that my connection is in good hands. The TP-Link USB WiFi Adapter (TL-WN725N) is a fantastic and cost-effective solution for older laptops lacking WiFi capabilities. Its easy installation, compact design, and reliable performance make it an invaluable accessory for those looking to breathe new life into their older laptops. Whether you're a student, professional, or simply someone who wants to stay connected, this WiFi adapter has got you covered. Highly recommended!

I am running a Fedora 44 Linux machine and this worked with 0 extra steps. They also have drivers for almost any OS. Super nice that it just worked on a Linux machine.

Works like a champ out of the box. I bought this to add WiFi to my portable (R36) retro game console. It was a no-brainer to config. I just plugged it in and chose my WiFi network. It's been working perfectly. I love it.

Works good enough.

Needed wifi for basic tasks, this gets it done cheap. The wifi did work without using the included driver disc but did seem to work faster when I installed the drivers off the disk, just in case someone's wondering.

I got this because of it's size. Most wireless adapters are so huge and I've never understood it, personally, as I assumed it was possible to make smaller antennae these days for WiFi. In any case, I needed an external adapter because my laptops internal wifi was on the fritz (more on that later). It works like a charm so far. I will update this review if I have problems, but installation was a cinch. Just installed the software, plugged in the thingy, and boom. Amazing reception and, surprisingly enough, my average download speeds have gone up by 2mbps (I used to get about 8-9mbps depending, now I get 10-11). It has better range than my older full-size adapter too. So, no issues so far. It's worth mentioning, though, that the reason I had to purchase this was because my laptop has an Atheros modem in it. I'm sure many of you out there have run afoul of these wireless adapters. For some people, they work fine for years with no issues, but then for some people they constantly drop connection, go much slower than they should, have terrible range, or basically just become such a problem you have to stop using the internal wifi. So, if any of you are curious why, I eventually found out why: Atheros wireless cards have a glitch that, for some reason, has never been fixed whereby they attempt to turn on their own signal diversity system by piggybacking onto your computer's bluetooth antenna which it thinks is another wifi receiver Needless to say, a wifi connection cannot piggyback onto a bluetooth connection, so it crashes the modem or will cause major connectivity issues. For some people, turning on their bluetooth and leaving it on will stop this, but for most, it still doesn't stop the glitch, so the only permanent solution is to literally sever the physical connection inside your computer between the bluetooth antenna and the frame which means no more bluetooth. So if you ever wondered what was up with your Atheros modem, there it is.

I have no problems using it on my Beaglebone Black on Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise) You may have looked it up and find out that Ubuntu has no driver for the thing. What do you do!? You compile your own driver of course! These instructions assume you’ve already got Ubuntu running, in my case Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise). Just run the following commands and you’ll get that finely photoshopped green light blinking. My adapter is version 2. I cannot guarantee the instructions work on version 1. You can tell the version by looking really hard at the adapter. My username is ubuntu. Replace instances of ubuntu with your username. sudo apt-get update (makes sure you have an up to date list of packages in case you need to install something, like git) mkdir ~/beaglebone-ubuntu-scripts cd ~/beaglebone-ubuntu-scripts wget [...] (downloads gkaindl’s script which will install all the arm kernel headers you’ll need to compile your driver) chmod +x bb-get-rcn-kernel-source.sh (give yourself access to run the script) ./bb-get-rcn-kernel-source.sh (run the script) sudo reboot (for good measure) cd /usr/src sudo chown -R ubuntu /linux-3.8.13-bone30 (ensure total control of this folder) cd linux-3.8.13-bone30 sudo make oldconfig sudo make prepare (build the linux kernel!) sudo make modules_prepare (build more things) mkdir ~/RTL8188EU cd ~/RTL8188EU git clone git://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8188eu.git (clone lwfinger’s driver from github) sudo chown -R ubuntu /rtl8188eu (ensure total control of this folder) If you don’t have git, do this and try step 9 again: sudo apt-get install git cd rtl8188eu (change to directory with all the driver source code) sudo make (build the driver’s source code) If you don’t have make, do this and try step 11 again: sudo apt-get install make If you run sudo make and it now complains you don’t have gcc do this then try step 11 again: sudo apt-get install gcc sudo make install (install the driver) sudo reboot (required for next step to work) iwconfig You should see this text come up: wlan0 unassociated Nickname:”<WIFI@REALTEK>” Mode:Auto Frequency=2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated Sensitivity:0/0 Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Power Management:off Link Quality=0/100 Signal level=0 dBm Noise level=0 dBm Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0 Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0 lo no wireless extensions. eth0 no wireless extensions. cd /etc/network sudo pico interfaces Then uncomment or add in the following text: # wireless network interface auto wlan0 iface wlan0 inet dhcp wpa-ssid “Wifi Network Name” wpa-psk “wifipassword” sudo reboot The green light should now be blinking! You should be able to ping it. Check your router status to find the IP address. If you’re plugged in with an ethernet cable, keep reading. Else skip to step 33! If you have an ethernet cable, unplug it. You will now no longer be able to ping/connect to the wireless IP address of the beaglebone black. Remove the power from the beaglebone black. Hold the reset button and plug the power back in and let it boot up. You should now be able to ping/connect to the beaglebone black wirelessly. Congrats! So yeah… wow! 33 steps. But you did it. We did it…

short version: the RMA process makes you waste hours talking with an incompetent support agent so you'll give up. I bet this review gets the same cut/paste "check your drivers" reply as all the other bad reviews. If we knew when we started trying to get an RMA how many hours we'd waste, I would have just bought one from Plugable and thrown the tp-link one out. long version: The wireless card in my wife's Surface Pro 3 died, so I bought this to replace it because of the 2 year warranty. However after a year and a half, it would only work half the time. No software or driver changes were made, not a single other device in the house has issues, there's been no interference from the neighbors, and our router has always been insanely reliable; this was definitely a hardware issue with the product. She borrowed another wifi dongle so she could get online to chat with a support rep about getting a replacement, but the rep kept wanting to re-do diagnostics that were already done, and couldn't understand that if she unplugged the working borrowed dongle to put back the failing TP-Link one they'd be disconnected (a Surface Pro only has 1 USB port), nor could the rep understand it wasn't a driver issue. She was forced to disconnect and start a new chat later from her phone (obviously much harder to type on). The chat agents kept asking questions that she already had to answer in the form to start a chat, so clearly the support company can't even set up their own software correctly. The support agent was also extremely slow to respond, didn't always use clear English, and frequently transferred her. Eventually they insisted on being sent a picture of the computer, but the chat program didn't actually have an option to send pictures. After being told this, the chat agent took several minutes to respond with a picture pointing to a button that doesn't exist saying "use this to send pictures". After being informed (again) that no such button existed, agent sent the exact same picture. The most insulting part is the agent kept saying "I understand..." when clearly they didn't. Finally we got them to let us list all the troubleshooting steps that proved this product was defective, then they forced us to try various increasingly silly ways to "fix" the issue, all clearly indicating that the agent didn't actually understand networking diagnostic (I am a web programmer who's been building and maintaining my own computers for over a decade, trust me when I say these steps were absolutely unnecessary for proving that the product was defective) The support agent was regularly so slow to respond (more than 5 minutes, sometimes more than 10) that WE got a message saying we'd be disconnected if we didn't reply (while waiting for the agent to answer the last thing we said). Over an hour of slow replies later, the agent starts again asking for photos and things that we already stated we tried and we had to give up and disconnect. No matter how many times we said "we already tried that, as I told you" they just kept asking the same questions. Total time wasted so far was about 4 hours. A few hours later they finally agreed to do an RMA but they refuse to pay shipping on the defective part or let us throw it out, so we have to spend almost as much as it would cost to buy a new one just to send the broken one back. At this point we regret ever trying to get them to honor the warranty because of how much time it wasted, but also figured we might as well finish the process up so we at least get the replacement part for all our hassle. after mailing the defective one, we finally got a replacement a couple weeks later. SO far that's been in use for a little over a month, we'll see how long it lasts. Next time I'll buy from Plugable instead, as they state their support is based in Seattle and from what I've read they don't hassle customers nearly as much about replacement of a defective product. I will never buy a product from TP-Link again, unless perhaps a more skilled support agent sees this review, profusely apologizes, and sends out a more reliable model to compensate us for all the lost time. I'm guessing the reply my review will actually get is the same cut & paste "check your drivers, sometimes interference happens, our support team would love to hear from you" response as the other bad reviews.

Worked with my linux machine. No setup or packages required. Just plug in.

Very happy that this works with linux kernel out of the box, unfortunately internet speeds aren't great, but perhaps that is understandable for the small size.

Works as advertised, perfect for the Rigol DH0804 oscilloscope. Be aware, you can't just plug it into the USB and expect it to work, you need to follow the youtube videos to make it work. You need an USB hub and a keyboard (you can use your touch screen as a mouse), you need to access the settings, use the youtube videos if unsure how to do this, but if you do it right, it's done within 1-5 minutes. Works as a charm.

Perfect for an old computer that has no WiFi capabilities. Had an old computer that had no more windows support since Windows 7. Installed Linux, put this adapter into the USB A port and saved the computer from the landfill. It runs very well on the internet with this USB WiFi adapter. The adapter works on Linux, Windows and Mac. It comes with a CD driver in case you can't get one before an internet connection. It is not super fast because it is USB 2.0 but its quick enough to do anything except maybe on-line gaming. Easier than running Ethernet cables if there is no wall jack close by. you don't need to disassemble your computer to install a WIFI card, just plug and play. Good price. Would buy again.

C'est réellement plug and play: à peine insérée dans un port USB2 sur un vieil ordi sous Lubuntu, la clé est reconnue et fonctionne sans délai et sans rien installer (du moins en apparence). On voit directement les réseaux disponibles; plus qu'à se connecter !