IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub & Adapter Kit
By: Tony Celeste
Searching for a way to free your laptop from a cluttered collection of peripherals, like printers, scanners, and hard drives? The IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub & Adapter Kit could be the answer. The IOGEAR USB Adapter Kit connects up to four USB devices to a wireless communication hub that then sends their signal across the room (in a 30 foot radius) at the top USB 2.0 speed of 480 Mbps, nearly twice the maximum speed for Wireless N.
The IOGEAR USB Adapter Kit obtains its blazing speed by using Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radio technology, which operates differently from the Wireless a/b/g/n that we're accustomed to using. Instead of focusing on range, UWB focuses on speed, so much so that even wireless USB monitors work well with the IOGEAR USB Adaptor Kit.
The IOGEAR USB Adapter Hub is certified by the USB-IF (USB Implementer's Forum, a non profit USB support and promotion group) to be a "Certified Wireless USB 2.0" device, which ensures its compatibility with future Certified devices as they hit the market. The hub may be shared by up to three users, and ships with a USB adapter that connects USB 2.0 to your laptop or desktop PC. And with USB's user-friendly plug-and-play setup, you should be up and running in a fraction of the time required to set up a Wireless N hub.
Normally, the dongle for the wireless hub plugs into a computer, but we inserted into the hub to show all the important parts in a single photo (the compact converter plug is the only thing missing).
| The IOGEAR USB Hub Kit Works with peripherals like the following | |
|---|---|
| Printers | Camcorders |
| Scanners | Personal Media Players |
| External Hard Drives | USB Enabled LCD Monitors and Projectors |
| Flash Memory Sticks | Personal Data Assistants |
| Digital Cameras | Smartphones and Cell Phones |
| The IOGEAR USB Hub Kit does not work with | |
| Webcams | |
| Audio speakers | |
| Bluetooth |
The IOGEAR Wireless USB Hub & Adapter Kit is available for Windows XP and Vista, and sells for between $136.72 and $281.40. It's a real godsend for those who use USB to link up to external keyboards, mice, and such on their laptops when not on the road, or for anybody trying to reduce USB cable snarl into the back of a desktop PC.
