Even though all my desktop and laptop computers in recent memory have included built in WiFi support, I’ve become to appreciate that external WiFi adapters such as the Newer Technology MAXPower 802.11n/g/b USB Adapter are useful to keep around for troubleshooting wireless configurations, wireless scanning projects and as a quick fix to wireless adaptor failures, incompatibilities and problems with weak signals.

The MAXPower adaptor requires the installation of a driver and an associate application for wireless configuration. These are both straightforward to install. On MacOS X, the MAXPower unit does not use the built wireless scanning or configuration utilities, you must use the utilities provided with the adaptor. The form factor of the unit is compact, although if you have very little room between your USB connectors it could be a tight fit if you have other USB devices. A USB extension cable is included in the box along with a dock that makes it easy to place the wireless adaptor in a location with optimal reception. For individuals with marginal wireless reception this can make a difference.

The old saying that “the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from” is certainly true with WiFi. Not only are there four major 802.11 variants (A, B, G, and N) in reasonably wide use now, but there are also a variety of encryption mechanisms that often must be compatible for your wireless to work. In addition, many wireless vendors released early and slightly incompatible versions of their hardware and firmware prior to the official release of the standards. Needless to say, despite a vast amount of compatibility testing between vendors, things don’t always work right.

I began investigating USB wireless adaptors after listening to friends and colleagues complain about incompatibilities the experienced with certain hardware combinations. In particular, I had heard about incompatibilities between Apple machines running Mac OS X 10.5 and older 2Wire routers where the wireless connection would become unreliable and often fail altogether, especially when using encryption. The 2Wire units are combined DSL modems, routers and wireless access points that are common distributed by phone companies to home DSL users. Newer 2Wire units appear to have solved this problem. Solutions to this problem are haphazard at best and difficult to troubleshoot especially when the failing connection in question is the users primary machine making online research problematic. I typically recommend that people either purchase a new router or buy an external adaptor such as NewTech’s MaxPower for afflicted machines.

One tool that is particularly useful for troubleshooting wireless problems is KisMAC for OS X, inSSIDer for Windows Kismet for Linux and with some work, for Windows. You can find Windows Kismet binaries at from CACE Technologies. For example, if you suspect that nearby wireless networks are causing interference problems, these utilities are an effective way to help you map out nearby 802.11 networks, including hidden networks. These tools can show you what channels the access points are operating on, the relative signal strengths. KisMac and Kismet can even help you plot access points with GPS if you are trying to cover a large area.

The MAXPower 802.11n/g/b USB Adapter uses the Ralink RT2870 chipset. Newer Technology advertises the device to work with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and higher and Windows 2000 through Windows Vista. The most recent driver available from NewerTech is from December, 2007, however it appears to work fine with the latest Mac OS X 10.5.6 on both a MacBook Pro notebook and Mac Pro desktop. Ralink distributes current drivers for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux that you can download directly, but are likely to be unsupported by NewerTech.

Overall, I recommend the device. If you find yourself with wireless troubleshooting problems are weak signal, the MAXPower adaptor is an inexpensive solution that worked as advertised on both on Apple Macintosh and Windows machines. street price for the MAXPower 802.11n/g/b USB Adapter is about $40.