USB 2.0 Devices From D-Link For Less Than $30
Bandwidth-hungry devices such as hard drives, CD writers, DVD drives and 100-Mbps network cards that have been strangled by the existing USB 1.1 standard can finally get all the "ones" and "zeros" they need. No longer do these devices need to ration their bandwidth through a pipe with the capacity of a coffee stirrer; with USB 2.0 products from D-Link, they can now take advantage of pipe capacities that flow freely like a garden hose. USB 1.1 provided 12 Mbps of bandwidth (coffee stirrer), which severely affected the performance of attached devices. USB 2.0 provides 480 Mbps of bandwidth (the proverbial garden hose), which allows peripheral devices to finally perform at optimum levels.
Even with the release of Hi-Speed USB 2.0, there is still a use for the old 12 Mbps standard. Devices such as keyboards, mice and game controllers do not require the capacity of a garden hose. No matter how fast you can type, you will not saturate the 12 Mbps connection. The capacity saturation issue arises with devices that require a large amount of bandwidth; an example would be as discussed in the previous THG article, Toolbox 10/100 Ethernet . As discussed in this article, the Linksys Network Adapter would link up at 100 Mbps, but it would only be able to operate at 12 Mbps, the high-end limit of USB 1.1.
