The best USB Wi-Fi adapters 2024
If your laptop’s Wi-Fi is flaky or has stopped working entirely, there’s no need to take it to the repair shop. Just buy and plug in a USB dongle.
It’s also the simplest way to add Wi-Fi to a PC that doesn’t have it.
There are a few different Wi-Fi standards, such as Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6, and different speeds within those.
The confusing part is that Wi-Fi 5 dongles can be at least as fast – if not quicker – than Wi-Fi 6 models. So don’t make the mistake of expecting a huge speed boost if you buy a Wi-Fi 6 dongle. And, of course, remember that to use Wi-Fi 6 at all, your router needs to support this standard as well, otherwise it will use Wi-Fi 5 (or whatever your router supports).
Naturally, the dongles with the best speeds and range cost the most, but the cheapest (which cost as little as $15/£15) could well do the job if you just need to get Wi-Fi working again.
To help you choose a dongle, we’ve rounded up the best adapters to buy, for all budgets. And if you haven’t changed your router for a number of years, you might want to upgrade that as well; here are our recommendations for thebest routersandmesh Wi-Fi systems, with Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 options for each.
Best Wi-Fi USB adapters2024
1. TP-Link Archer T3U – Best for most people
Pros
Cons
The T3U from TP-Link is the best USB Wi-Fi dongle for most people. Its compact size means you can leave it plugged into a laptop instead of removing it when putting it into a laptop bag, which is inconvenient.
It might not support Wi-Fi 6, but it’s capable of speeds faster than many home broadband thanks to its AC1300 rating with theoretical top speeds of 400Mbps over 2.4GHz and 867Mbps on 5GHz.
Of course, what makes it so attractive is the combination of speed and price: it’s more affordable than any Wi-Fi 6 dongle we’ve seen.
Just remember that to get the fastest speeds you’ll need to plug it into a USB 3.0 port. It’ll work if you have only USB 2 ports (and is backwards compatible with older 802.11n routers) but just won’t be as fast.
2. Foktech Wi-Fi Dongle: Best value Wi-Fi dongle
Pros
Cons
You might think we’ve included this one just because of its hilarious name, but that’s only partly true. If you’re looking for a small, unobtrusive way to add basic Wi-Fi to your laptop, then the Foktech dongle is an excellent candidate.
It supports 802.11ac AC600, offering speeds of 150Mb/s @ 2.4GHz and 433Mb/s @ 5GHz. Because of this, it uses USB 2.0 as there’s no need to go any faster.
This means it isn’t the fastest Wi-Fi dongle but as an inexpensive way to get online wirelessly, do some shopping, social media, and streaming video (or making Zoom calls) up to HD quality it will be fine.
The low price is of course the main draw, as is the compact design that makes the dongle something you can leave plugged into your laptop without worrying about breaking it.
US readers can’t buy it under the Foktech brand, but can opt for theUSBNovel donglewhich shares the same design and features.
3. TP-Link AX1800 WiFi 6 USB Adapter: Best Wi-Fi 6 Dongle
Pros
Cons
A Wi-Fi 6 USB dongle like this – with a dock and a folding design 0 – is an excellent choice if you need something for your PC. Being an AX1800 model means it offers 1201 Mbps on 5GHz + 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz.
True, those are theoretical speeds, but if you have a router that also supports AX1800, you have a good chance of getting something like half these claimed speeds, which is still very quick.
On a practical note, the Archer TX20UH (the TX21UH in the US) features a fold-out design which opens to around 150mm long. Unlike the multi-appendage approach of the Asus USB-AX56, this has a hinged edge to the body that can almost fold in half.
As is standard now with higher-end adapters, TP-Link supports beamforming which delivers more consistent performance, ideal for streaming HD and 4K media content, and USB 3.0 is required because of the higher throughput, so you’ll get the best speeds if you connect it to a USB 3 port, not USB 2.
It also comes with a dock that allows it to be connected further away from your PC or laptop. The dock’s 3m cable means you can position the adapter in the ideal place, which is handy if existing Wi-Fi connectivity is spotty in your location.
4. D-Link DWA-X1850: Best-value Wi-Fi 6 Dongle
Pros
Cons
D-Link’s Wi-Fi 6 dongle offers AX1800 speeds, and the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 such as MU-MIMO and OFDMA. This isn’t the place to explain that jargon – you can read more about it in ourWi-Fi 6 guide– and the fact is, while they’re great to have, they don’t really offer much in the way of real-world benefits – yet.
Obviously, you have to have a Wi-Fi 6 router or mesh network for the DWA-X1850 to actually use Wi-Fi 6, otherwise it will fall back to Wi-Fi 5 or whatever standard your router used. And you’ll need to plug is into a USB 3 port on your laptop or PC to get the fastest speeds.
None of this means D-Link’s dongle is bad. It’s good value at this price, offers great speeds that will be far in excess of most homes’ broadband connection and is a good future-proof choice for when your home has lots of other Wi-Fi 6 devices in use.
For those in the know, AX1800 is quite a few steps down from the fastest Wi-Fi 6 speeds, but right now you can’t buy a faster Wi-Fi 6 USB dongle: the DWA-X1850 is the same standard as the Plugable and Asus USB-AX56 below.
Do note that this works with Windows only – not macOS.
5. Plugable USB 3.0 Wi-Fi 6 AX1800 Wireless Adapter
Pros
Cons
Wi-Fi 6 USB dongles are slowly becoming more common – and more affordable. Plugable’s USB Wi-Fi 6 Adapter is an AX1800 device offering up to 573.5Mbps over 2.4GHz and 1201Mbps on 5GHz. Those are theoretical maximums, but with real-world speeds of around 500-600Mbps, it should be a decent upgrade for a lot of PCs and laptops.
Like the D-Link and Asus, the Plugable is for Windows 10 and 11 – it doesn’t work on Macs or Linux.
In the box you get a cradle with a 45in (115cm) cable that’s not just useful for positioning the antenna in the optimal spot but also helps to avoid interference with other ports on your laptop or PC. There’s also an adapter so you can plug the cradle or dongle into a USB-C port.
The folding design means you can adjust the angle or the antenna to face your router, although the fact it’s omnidirectional means it shouldn’t really matter which way it’s facing.
This is a USB 3 dongle, so you should connect it to a USB 3 port for the best performance.
It’s great value at under $40, but it’s only available in the US.
6. Asus USB-AX56: Best Wi-Fi 6 Dongle
Pros
Cons
Alongside the wealth of features that Asus has packed into the sleek frame of the USB-AX56 adapter, there’s also the bonus of feeling like a secret agent on some covert mission thanks to the unfolding design.
Plug the device into your PC then carefully open up the twin gold-antenna arms, or sit the adapter in the included desktop cradle, and it seems like you’re about to send highly classified information back to Control.
Teenage fantasies aside, this Wi-Fi dongle that can bring your humble old laptop instantly up to the Wi-Fi 6 AX1800 standard. Like the D-Link, those speeds may not be the fastest Wi-Fi 6 can deliver, but the standard brings support for MU-MIMO and OFDMA to ensure a strong and stable connection to the network, and supports the latest WPA3 security.
The USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface means you’ll not be slowed down by local data transfer rates – so make sure your laptop or PC has a compatible USB 3 port, otherwise you won’t gain the benefit.
It’s a little bigger than some of its rivals, mainly when the antennas are deployed, but the AX56 is still small enough to put in your pocket.
7. Netgear A6100-100PES: Best Value Big-Brand Dongle
Pros
Cons
Another small-form adapters, Netgear is a well-established name inWi-Fi routersand networking. This diminutive construction houses antennas for 2.4GHz (150Mb/s) and 5GHz (433Mb/s) – that’s the Wi-Fi 5 AC600 specification.
Data transfer, then, is quite a bit slower than the fastest dongles out there and that’s why Netgear has gone for USB 2.0 rather than USB 3.0, but the inclusion of Beamforming+ gives the A6100 the ability to keep solid connections in challenging environments.
It’s affordable, too, but not easily available in the US, sadly.
Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews.
