Features

The first of the wireless adapters we take a look at from X-Micro is their new USB adapter. Like the switch, this adapter is made out of plastic and is coated in a desirable black colored paint with X-Micro printed on it. Next to the X-Micro logo is a green LED which shines solid when enabled and flickers when there is network activity.

Like the router, the package is small yet adequate. You have the USB adapter, installation CD with drivers for all versions of Windows and manual as well as Quick Start Guide for help with setup in Windows. It's this type of no fuss packaging which keeps the overall price of the product down and reasonable.

The only real down side of the USB adapter is the fact that it does not have native driver support in Windows XP. This means that you cannot simply just plug the adapter into any computer USB port without having to first insert the included CD and install the drivers (which look to be provided by Realtek). The good thing, though, is that you do not need to restart your computer to have the adapter working and the whole procedure takes under a minute.

As far as signal quality goes, the USB adapter doesn't provide a bad signal. From one room across from where the access point is located (around 10 ft through walls), we received "very good" (or four bars under Windows XP) signal strength. It's not as good though as the PCMCIA adapter which we look at next.

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