problem with usb wifi, windows 7

wanted to upgrade my Toshiba's internal N wifi with a 300mb/sec usb external N since I've just upgraded my router. Plugged in usb wifi, disabled, internal wifi, installed driver for usb wifi, device manager says device working ok, led blinks on the usb, but windows not seeing any connection. Ipconfig shows zero info for the usb wifi device. What gives??

In good ole xp, that was enough to do the job. Has windows 7 changed and how can I get it to work? Help pls.

This is important cause 802.11ac is right around the corner and I would like to upgrade to that when that comes.

 

so many views and no reply.

I tried doing the same on an Asus Eee pc with built in wifi and got the exact same results: device manager says device is functioning properly while ipconfig shows no device. installing same into a DIY desktop with no built in wifi went smooth as butter, worked immediately.

maybe I'll rephrase my question in another way: has anybody successfully substituted their laptop wifi with an usb wifi stick on windows 7 by disabling built in wifi and enabling usb stick in device manager only? if mostly yes, perhaps my problem is a bad driver?

I really don't want to replace the wifi mini pcie card if I don't have to.

 

Yes, i did successfully use a Linksys WUSB600N a couple of years ago on my N50 with the wi-fi card still in it. I honestly have no idea what the problem is aside that maybe you didn't install the right drivers. What do you see in the device manager under network adapters?

I'd try to download the drivers directly from the manufacturer's website and also make sure to get the drivers for the right version of windows 7, 64-bit or 32-bit depending on what you have.

 

tks for the response. did you do it under windows 7?

pretty sure not a driver problem per say, under device manager, it shows exactly the same thing as on my DIY i7 desktop and desktop worked and laptop does not.

If you did it on windows 7, then I am pretty sure the driver that the manufacturer provided, TP-Link, is no good, can only work on something with no other wifi installd, disabled or not disabled.

I've emailed the manufacturer, let's see what they say. I'll report back, if for nothing to tell folks not to expect to upgrade their laptop wifi with tp-link usb on windows 7.

 

the usb stick in question is the TP-link WN821N. Got email frm tp-link support asking me to Uninstall anti-virus and try again. Kind of drastic, so tried disabling anti-virus first, no go. even tried uninstalling the anit-virus, still no go. Pretty sure now the problem is in the driver/windows 7 combination. Told tp link support that, now they are just silent.

Lesson learned - don't buy TPLink for substituting an existing internal wifi. I bought cheap, guess what I got was cheap.

 

lesson to be learned. just because a random user can't make a device work as it should, it doesn't mean the specific product or brand is crap.

that TP-link WN821N is one of the best wifi cards in the world. it uses an atheros AR9002U-2NG chipset and works fine from xp to 7 both 32 and 64bits as well as linux.
I known this card very well since I use several ones for wardriving. I've modded some to add an external antenna connector.
This is one of the only 4 usb wifi N adapters that work with injection on windows.

Don't known what your problem is. I use win 7 64bits and linux and it's just almost plug and play. never had a single issue.
If you don't like the card then just sell me yours because I could use more of those.