Looking for a wireless network adapter for my desktop

I have had good luck with the Belkin Wireless G USB adapter sold at Walmart for $12.

And if it isn't, just get a USB extension cable and put it between the USB adapter and the desktop. The adapter then works as a moveable antenna. []'s

-- Don't be evil - Google 2004 We have a new policy - Google 2012

The WiFi-USB adapter I tried (on a Mac) gobbled about 15% of the 1.25 GHz processor all the time. Plus, from time to time it would forget what it was supposed to do and would have to be re-taught. Maybe that was because the folks who wrote the driver were incompetent at Mac programing; I don't know.

I fixed things by installing DD-WRT on a WRT-54 and using it as a bridge. Stable as a brick.

Isaac

My mac-inclined-friend had a similar experience. USB devices that worked were unstable, and none of them were fast. He didn't mention CPU performance. He went with a Powerline adapter, I think Netgear. I had read that the performance of those was poor compared to WiFi, but "mac" adds another variable.

I have another system where I had been using the Belkin USB, but I wanted "n" speeds. I bought DLink DWA-525 PCI card that works fine.

The USB does offer the advantage that it can be located on a cable for relocation for better reception.