IOGEAR Universal Ethernet to Wi-Fi N Adapter - Speeds of up to 300Mbps on 2.4GHz - Push-button Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) - Supports WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP and AES encryption - GWU637

Initially when I obtained my Tivo Premier Series 4 DVR, I relied on the TiVo AGO100 WiFi to USB adapter. It was slow and became useless when streaming came onto the scene. Probably because it interfaces with a USB 2 port. I then upgraded the TiVo Internet service to utilize a Lincsys (Cisco) PLE500 power line Ethernet adapter. One adapter was connected to an Asus RT-N66 router via Ethernet and the other adapter connected to the Tivo also via Ethernet. Since I have two TiVo’s, a total of three power line adapters were needed. Eventually I noticed that the Lincsys PLE500 power line Ethernet adapters started slowing down after about three years in service. I then replaced them with spares I had on hand and with that the speed was restored. I not sure how long the PLE500’s would be available. I started to investigate WiFi to Ethernet adapters and tried a TP-Link RE105, it did not work very well, it kept interfering with the other devices on the network. It could be that it’s a range extender and there isn’t a way to disable it. It became very difficult to find a driverless WiFi to Ethernet adapter until I stumbled upon the IOGear GWU637. The setup was very easy, just plug it into the Ethernet port on the PC, follow the instructions to access your wireless network. Be sure to turn off the WiFi on the PC while configuring the GWU637. I use wireless MAC address filtering on my router for extra security and the GWU637 has the WiFi MAC address printed on the side of the device near the serial number, that’s a plus. After configuration, I then connected the device to the USB port for power and the Ethernet port on the TiVo Series 4 DVR. Next I checked the Settings > Network > View network status and Voilà it showed the Wired Ethernet adapter MAC ID. I then checked the Client List on the router it showed the GWU637 connected to the TiVo with max bars. Incidentally, the TiVo is about 75 feet from the router. That evening when I went to a streaming service, the selection process was faster and the show I selected streamed flawlessly. I tend to be very stingy giving a product 5 stars, but the IOGear GWU637 deserves it. I’m impressed!

I rarely rate products as five star. This one earned that rating. I have been struggling for about a week to find a good solution for a recent switch from Frontier FIOS to Spectrum Cable. Frontier allowed and enabled Moca, which allows networked devices to use the Cable as the network delivery medium. We use Tivo cable tuners and DVRs, which have to have access to the network to communicate with one another. One room out of five in my home that had a TV in it, did not have a network jack. I was using the Moca on cable to fill that gap. That went away when I switched over to Spectrum. I tried a couple of really nice wireless network adaptors, but both of the others that I tried created subnets for the device they were meant to service. This puts those devices on a separate network that passes internet through your main network. This did not work for the Tivo network tuners as they rely on all of their devices being in the same subnet. They apparently cannot be manually configured to find the other Tivo's using network addressing for the other boxes. So this remote box ended up isolated. I had to have something easy to use and configure that would give me an ethernet port that was on the same subnet, and act as a true bridge device. This unit did that, and was so easy to use that I wish I had tried it first. It is worth noting that this is a Tivo Mini, which relies on the network to watch everything, as when watching TV it uses the tuner built into a Tivo DVR in another machine. It has to have a high speed network to support streaming the TV shows, or to use any Internet based video service. This is also a high def TV, so its bandwidth requirements are high. Setup was very easy, just plug it into the network port of a pc, follow the instructions to hook it into your wireless network, and you are done. The range for me is about 50 feet. No issues with that at all. I plugged the configured unit into my remote Tivo, ta da, it worked! And it worked flawlessly. I do wish it had 5G wireless and not just 2.5G. That would allow for faster communication with my other Tivos. But it does support Wireless N, and that really does help a lot. My wife, who uses this Tivo tuner, really didn't notice any lowering of the network rate, and I was able to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 50mbs to 100mbs. So certainly no slacker even with 25G wireless. My home network is all GigE (1000mps), so I still want to get a network jack installed in that room. But this will bridge the gap really nicely until I can arrange to have that done.

Works fine. Typeface in instruction manual very small and hard to read

Excellent little gadget. I just ordered four more. It's stupidly easy to setup. You connect to the built in web management server via IP 192.168.1.254. So setup your computer to 192.168.1.253 / 255.255.255.0 (no need to enter gateway or DNS). Login: admin/admin, click on 'Site Survey', enter SSID, Encryption, etc, then 'Apply'. If you have troubles saving, use a different web browser (FireFox worked for me). After the unit reboots, it will connect to the WIFI. Important: this is not a router, it works as a bridge (though I don't know if it will pass packets other than IP). Now simply unplug it from the setup computer, then connect it to any computer or device with a network card and you should be able to get a dynamic IP (if you have a DHCP server) or you can manually enter your IP settings. One little snag, it seems to drop VLAN packets, therefore, it does not look like it supports VLAN tagging. If I define a VLAN on the WIFI end, then tcpdump -i <nic> produced nothing. I did not test the throughput on the device because this is for embedded systems, like alarms, etc. However, the range is very, very good. I tested around 40 feet going through a patio (two exterior walls), and one partial interior wall. I did not believe it was going to connect, but it did, albeit sluggishly. I then connected a new access point (Omada) with the same SSID right next to the unit and within a few minutes it connected to the new AP. This is good to know because some devices are stubborn when it comes to roaming.

Set up was easy enough but it barely functions, download speed was only 0.5 Mbps. Hoped the higher price point meant a better product but it's definitely not worth it.

SHORT VERSION: PROS: * Works great!! So far solid connection, no drops * Faster than the Panda usb wireless adapters (see screenshot) * This specific computer (Windows 10) didn't even recognize the Panda USB wireless adapters consistently, so had to move to something else CONS: * Searching for ethernet to wireless, this is the only product I could find, could be a CON if you're looking for choices * Setup is straightforward, but may not be easy. Easy for me since I am in IT. Non-IT, it could be easy, it could require some patience * NOT plug and play, and the manual is a bit hard to read (smaller print). You can probably make your way through it, the screenshots are too small to be helpful * Setup did not work with Chrome, had to switch to IE, so beware of that. Background: We had some Panda USB wireless adapters for our desktops, one is a Dell Optiplex 780, one is a Dell Optiplex 5040. The 780 runs Windows 7. The 780 we upgraded to Windows 10. For some reason the Panda Wireless USB adapters would just not work with Windows 10. Windows 10 would recognize it only randomly, random internet access NO GOOD!!! Tried powerline, got much slower speeds than is practical. So then found this for ethernet to wireless Setup is easy enough for me being an IT person. For non-IT it is straightforward and some people may find it easy, some people may need a bit more patience. The instruction booklet is REALLY hard to read, at least the screenshots. Or else I'm getting old. :) :) Or both So far so good, and will enjoy having my main computer at home not drop internet anymore. Price: could be a pro or a con, it definitely is pricier than most usb to wireless adapters, enjoying that I can plug the ethernet cable right in Lastly: Requires USB for power (whether your computer or an outlet) So far so good!!!!

This device has several short comings I stumbled upon for usage: 1) (The deal breaker) The device itself has an IP address and that IP address can only be static (this is IOGEAR device I am referring to). I wanted to use this on a WiFi network that only allows dynamic IP addresses and I don't administer this network so I was unable to use this (and I tried giving the IOGEAR device a static IP that made sense on that network and the AP gave that mac address the boot). On my home WiFi network I had no problem with static IPs and the device did work there. To be clear this device is functional if you are on a WiFi network that allows static IPs. 2) In order to get to the devices admin page you needed to temporarily set a static IP address on your client (ex: Laptop) as well. For the particular client I was going to use a laptop that I did not have access to the network settings (this client had to use DHCP). I was able to work around this by using a different laptop that I had access to the network settings and set up the IOGEAR device that way. FYI: Once setup as long as the IOGEAR device can have a static IP on the network in question your client (laptop) can use the network's DHCP sever no problem but you have to be able to log into the wireless network first. 3) This device can remember exactly 1 wireless network at a time. You can't setup multiple networks and have it remember each one, you have to go to the admin page (or use WPS) and setup the SSID and password every time you switch WiFi networks. 4) [Theoretical] If you attempt to setup the IOGEAR device on a WiFi network that requires you agree to Terms of Service or has a login web page (like a hotel WiFi) likely you will probably never get IOGEAR device allowed on the network since those WiFi networks tend to register network devices by mac address. I have never tried this use case but given how this device appears to work, I don't think it can work unless you get into spoofing MAC addresses and using "helper" laptops. If you are planning on using this at home you should be fine but outside a home network you may have issues due to the firmware functional limitation. This is the second brand/model of these Ethernet-2-Wifi I have tried and I haven't seen one of these that meets my needs. My next attempt is going to be use a Raspberry Pi 3 model B running Raspbian (ie: Linux). I know I should be able to make that work on any WiFI network and it will cost me about what this IOGEAR device costs, it might be a little bulkier but it will be functional.

works great. no issue. be careful where to put the device, it gets hot.