TP-Link AC1300 USB WiFi Adapter(Archer T3U)- 2.4G/5G Dual Band Wireless Network Adapter for PC Desktop, MU-MIMO WiFi Dongle, USB 3.0, Supports Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP/Mac OS X 10.9-10.14

Yes this will use a USB port to provide your with a wireless network adapter.

No – the Archer T9UH utilizes WiFi 5 (802.11ac) connectivity.

Yes, a resource CD is included; however, we always recommend downloading and installing the latest driver from our official website for an optimal experience.

"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link"… is true; but, this device along with the ArcherC7 router will indeed transfer data from the wifi router to pc at a faster rate than will an older (re: 802.11 a/b/g/n) wifi router & PC network adapter.

Disk drive is not required. Pretty much…plug and play type.

I was looking for an adapter that supports Miracast, I saw this adapter mentioned in a TP-Link support article so I rolled the dice. Came in today and can confirm it works perfectly with Miracast, Cast from and to devices. Tested with Samsung S21(from), Lenovo Laptop (from and to), and LG 43 in TV(to).
I’m hoping othe… I was looking for an adapter that supports Miracast, I saw this adapter mentioned in a TP-Link support article so I rolled the dice. Came in today and can confirm it works perfectly with Miracast, Cast from and to devices. Tested with Samsung S21(from), Lenovo Laptop (from and to), and LG 43 in TV(to).
I’m hoping others with my use case find this answer, It was a pain finding answers elsewhere.

Well my AC1200 adapter max AC speed was 867mbps and I get 1.3gbps with this one. Granted you need an AC router than can provide those speeds.

The stand is a pass-thru so doesn’t impact speed, but it probably will allow you to put the antenna in a better position which could significantly improve the signal and speed.

Nope

Yes, it is backwards compatible with Wi-Fi networks that utilize previous Wi-Fi protocols and technologies.

No, It is for MacOS and Windows OS.

No, the Archer T3U is designed to provide WiFi connectivity to a computer (Windows, macOS) via an available USB port.

This wireless adapter will work on a USB 2 port. However, you will get reduced speeds on your local network. Internet usage speed was not affected. (Internet speed for me is maxed at 60mbps) When backing up my computer to my NAS, I was only able to get around 220mbps. Compared to over 550mpbs on usb 3. Both tested… This wireless adapter will work on a USB 2 port. However, you will get reduced speeds on your local network. Internet usage speed was not affected. (Internet speed for me is maxed at 60mbps) When backing up my computer to my NAS, I was only able to get around 220mbps. Compared to over 550mpbs on usb 3. Both tested on the 5GHz signal.

I use it to connect my computer to the internet, since it is compatible the the dongle. I am sure it can connect a lot of devices, but they would have to be compatible, as I am sure most PCs are. It is not for use for multiple devices at the same time.

No, this is for PCs only.

Like many who purchased this, I was surprised to find out that TP Link’s driver for this product is incompatible with the Windows 10 Creators update. This causes the T3U to disconnect, and if it does connect at all to the router, it doesn’t recognize the internet connection. This has become a big headache for most of us.

So to help you and anyone else who purchased this that is using Windows 10, I have a solution that I have found is a workaround to using TP Link’s provided drivers on their website.

TP Link makes a slightly different USB Wi-Fi adapter known as the Archer T3U Plus. It has the same chipset as the Archer T3U, and I found these drivers also work on the Archer T3U.

Download them here:
https://static.tp-link.com/2020/202006/20200601/00015960-RTLWlanU_WindowsDriver_1030.38.0712.2019_Drv_3.00.0032.L.zip

Save this in a folder somewhere. Double click on the compressed folder and locate the subfolder “RTWLANU_Driver.” Now copy RTWLANU_Driver into the folder that you saved and remember where you saved that folder.

If you have already installed TP Link’s driver, make sure you uninstall it. You’ll need to manually install this in Windows 10.

To do this, go to device manager by right clicking on the Windows button icon on the far left of your screen. Select device manager. Locate Network adapters and expand it. Now right click on TP Link Wireless USB Adapter and select update driver.

Now select browse my computer for drivers, and select “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.” Then select the Have Disk button.

The Install from Disk window will appear. Now select browse and open up the folder where you saved the drivers, and locate the folder RTWLANU_Driver. Open RTWLANU_Driver up and select the OS that you are using. For most of us that will be WIN10X64 if you are using Windows 10 on a modern 64 bit version of Windows 10(if you’re using a 32bit edition of Windows 10 just use the Win10X86 folder instead.”

Now have Windows select the Win10X64 folder and it will find the driver for the T3U Plus. Select it and Windows will install the driver and prompt you to restart.

Once your computer restarts, locate your Wi-Fi network and provide your credentials and you’ve now got a perfectly working Wi-Fi USB adapter that TP Link intended you to have. Your PC is now ready to use Wi-Fi. Go ahead and test your speeds and I’m sure you’ll be getting what you expect to get.

You’re welcome and enjoy!

Over the years, I have tried cheaper brands of tech equipment, but always was disappointed. I just built a new mid-tower PC for my home office, but the motherboard didn’t have built-in WIFI. I purchased this TP-Link USB WIFI adapter knowing that I have long used TP-Link and Cisco products with great results.
I wasn’t disappointed. I used the driver CD that came with the adapter to install drivers into Windows 10 Professional and the adapter was immediately recognized.
I have a 100MBPS AT&T U-Verse gateway and performed a speed test (att.com/speedtest) after installing the adapter. I got a consistent 70MBPS download and 20-30MBPS upload after every test. I’m sure this adapter can perform even faster with Gigabit broadband (not available in my area).
Yes, you can find much cheaper knockoffs, but they usually are problematic with installation and have poor tech support. TP-Link is always ready to support when the occasional glitch pops up (which is rare). My entire house is fitted with TP-Link smart bulbs and switches that have performed perfectly for over two years now.

So far a solid adapter. Signal strength increased even over the AC1200 Adapter. I am not using the stand but have it connected via 2 6 foot Amazon Basics USB3 extension cables for a better line of sight positioning.

A few Hints and Tips…..runswusb.exe or just swusb.exe are not easy to find info on…it basically decides which connection is best for the USB device you plug in…USB2 or USB3. Do yourself a favor and disable it. This can cause the adapter not to connect at all or experience the constant connect / disconnect problem many people suffer with. Disabling it varies by Windows version…just search for Disabling a Service. Also, unless you are being provided a IPv6 address, uncheck that box in your adapter settings. Again, the location varies by version of Windows. Leaving this checked will also cause the connection to be dropped.

It doesn’t also clearly state it in the product description, but it comes with a 2 year warranty…that’s almost unheard of these days.

After my 8 year old Mac Book Pro stopped receiving Wi-Fi signals, I needed to get it back up and running ASAP. Faced with either taking it to a repair shop and paying an arm and a leg to get it fixed, doing the repair myself, which is really quite easy for someone with steady hands and a lot of patience, or going with a USB Dongle. So considering these 72 year old hands and patience, I decided to go with the USB Dongle, but which one should I choose? After looking at all of the different styles from all of the different companies and reading a whole lot of reviews, I decided to go with the TP-Link AC1300 (Archer T3U). The most intimidating process was the down loading and installation of the driver. Although this looked like it was going to be quite complicated, the prompts walked you right through the process.
Once it was up and running it worked flawlessly. It allows me to operate this laptop from my basement of a two story house with speeds as fast as all of my other three computers that are located much closer to the router.
The worst, and I mean the very worse part of this experience was trying to do an online product registration. After many,many failed tries, I finally had to do an online chat with a rep. and after some time we were able to complete the registration.

I have my dual level Tp router & now I have the wireless adapter for it, both at the 5 gig level, & things are fast! The only restrictions I have are from the cable company with their signal, & other users hogging the wifi. When I upgrade those (modem & router) to MU-MIMO, it should really fly!
This is an old two story house, & I think the cable connection is about as old as Comcast internet cable (in case you ask) in delightful Suburbia, in the town of Mundavia!

This mini wireless TP unit installed without any issues, & once I gave it the passwords I wanted, it connected quickly. It switches back & forth on wifi signals modems or routers, if I need it to, & have only had one real error in connecting. I physically removed the device, reset the computer & plugged it back in. I don’t believe the issue was with it, but with Windows after an update.

How bad is the wifi on your mobo or laptop? Maybe you want to use this wifi to connect better?
Be sure to turn off your other wifi connection when you’re using this, to get the best connection. I have read some reviews that have an issue connecting, & this could be the reason. I don’t believe dual connecting helps or works well in wifi, you’ll have to configure one that yourself.

This won’t connect you any better than what your modem or router are projecting. It will get the 2.4 or 5 Ghz signal that you’re looking for, & make sure it gets to the computer better.
Let me be clear for you, your connection will either be up to 400Mbps at 2.5GHz or up to 867Mbps at 5.0 GHz. Somewhere in there is the same kind of fuzzy math that drive manufacturers use, to come out with 1300. Still better than my last adapter, that’s for sure!

That’s it. It’s small, easy to carry along or leave in place. I have it plugged in the front USB 3.0 rn on my tower, but I don’t unplug it nearly as often (to reset) as I have other wifi connectors, so may move it towards the rear. I have used TP Link for quite some time, use many of their products on the builds I do for other people as well, & look for it exclusively; you should too. Easy & consistent is always good.

Wife’s pci wifi card was failing, getting 14 to 30 mbs. Very unacceptable. Installed TP-link and was happy to see 350 Mbs download speed. We use speedtest dot net to check speeds. Her and my son are roughly 65 feet away and 3 walls in-between them and the wifi box. I was expecting a large pickup in speed, but was very happy with what she got. Her speeds are nearly the same as mine running ethernet cable. She streams and the money spent was WELL worth it.

TP-Link AC1300 Mini Wireless MU-MIMO USB Adapter… definitely does the job.
Download: 160-170 Mbps
Upload: 25-30 Mbps
5 Ghz Wifi Network.
My internet plan is 250 Mbps from Optimum (yes I know that is slow, but it does the job)

It’s small, a bit bulky around the sides, but plugs in and catches internet no problem. Comes with a CD for the drivers for old windows before 1903, however if you have the latest windows 10 version 1909 and newer then you don’t need the CD for the drivers… PLUG AND PLAY! (plug, connect, play)

TP-Link is a well known brand, so in all honesty, I trust what they do.

Review Made on Feb. 9, 2020

My goodness.
This is a savior.
Summary: Getting the full 250Mbps on a 250Mbps isp subscription, when I was previously getting 70Mbps with my internal wifi card. Stable connection, no increase in ping/latency.

I’m used to having direct ethernet fios gigabit connection. So when I moved to a suburban home with old walls etc, I was mortified to see that my laptop’s internal WIFI chip was only pulling 70Mbps.

I thought about switching out my WIFI chip, but seemed a bit like a hassle, and hard to factor in which dbi to use (stronger more reliable vs distance), walls and interference etc. And this adapter was a simple setup, with one driver download and install (without restart. It integrates the wifi control into your Windows 10 default wifi icon, so you can easily switch between Wifi1 (internal wifi card) and Wifi2 (TP-Link adapter).

This worked like a charm! Things to consider before purchasing this adapter though:
~Make sure that the bottle neck of your slow internet connection is caused by your wifi card, not other factors.
~You can test this by connecting a direct ethernet cable from the router to your laptop and testing the speed, AND testing via wifi connection with your laptop right next to the router itself. It should match to the full speed provided by your ISP. If not, the router could be the problem.
~There’s an app that scans the wifi channel signals in your vicinity, to make sure it’s not conflicting. Go into your router settings and change to a channel that is unoccupied to eliminate interference.

This device supports USB 3.0, and I have no doubt that the 5Ghz bandwidth is capable of the full 1300Mbps that it advertises. In which case, the bottle neck would be an ISP’s Gigabit connection, if you have one.
Otherwise, I don’t really see the point in insisting on using it on a USB 3.0 port if you don’t have one. USB 2.0 technically supports up to 480Mbps, which is more than what most suburban ISP packages offer.

I flipped through the instruction book before installing on my almost 8 year old laptop that came pre-packaged with heavy duty extras to keep in humming. The installation mentioned the adapter’s WPS feature that made the one-time step fairly simple.

I’m now able to switch between the legacy and new adapters at will. I’ve run speed tests with both adapters, and found the results similar – a little better with this model. The limiting factor is the passthrough of data from the ISP’s internet-modem and the speed I’m willing to pay for, but I’m consistently measuring 37+MB streams, coming or going.

Chiefly, I got this to assist with doing videos on the computer while concurrently streaming to the TV – its what I understand the newer technology better supports by breaking data into smaller packets. My laptop’s internal adapter will support up to 802.11n, this new one 802.11ac, aka WI FI-5 which my home already has – routers with mesh technology made by the same company.

I have a Surface Pro 3 which suffers from an infamous poor-wifi performance issue. The laptop (Even with up to date drivers) has trouble connecting to 5ghz, and therefore is limited to a more “stable” 2.4ghz connection. The trouble with that comes when 2.4ghz band speeds of 25mb/s are not sufficient. I tried everything i could find, including lots of YouTube fixes — I even specified (in Control Panel) that my wifi adapter connect only to the 5ghz band, but the poor speeds continued. Then i finally fixed it with this gadget.
Word of advice: download the driver BEFORE you connect the device. the instruction manual will tell you otherwise — but the SP3 (and possibly other laptops) will likely attempt to connect to wifi through this device (that’s not configured).
Once i installed the driver, i went into device manager > right click the device and select “properties” > advanced > wireless mode > ” 802.11 ac”
Once i did this, it forced the connection from 2.4ghz to 5ghz and my wifi speed tests shot through the roof.

here are my numbers=
Laptop BEFORE install: 15-24down, 7 up
Laptop WITH install: 25 down, 15 up
Laptop WITH install WITH forced 802.11 ac: 80-115 down, 135 up

This $26 device ended up negating the need for a $100 4-band AX router, so my wife is happy.