NIntendo Wi-Fi USB dongle - any views...

[Golgo]

I was thinking of getting one of these to plug into PC and take Wii online.

Does anyone here have any good/bad experience of using/setting up one of these, e.g. compatibility with ISPs, with Vista, or limitations of broadcast area, etc., etc.?

Any advice gratefully received...

(and apologies if this topic has appeared elsewhere - I had a quick scan but couldn't find...)

[Mayhem]

I found it to be unreliable at best. Mind you given my wireless router is set to WPA, I might still need it to use the DS online (which is WEP only). You would probably be better off getting a wireless router or the LAN cable adapter to plug in the back of the Wii.

[MattyD]

I also find it very unreliable and a pain in the ass to get working. I only use mine because I rarely take my Wii online so I can't justify the cost of a wireless router.

[KusoGaki]

It's a bit hit or miss, spent ages trying to get mine to work with my DS when i first bought it and had to plug it into my little sisters PC upstairs whenever i wanted to use it.

Took me a few months to discover the problem was the antivirus program on my pc was blocking it. <_<
Another thing is it overheats if you leave it in for too long.
Other people i know didnt have any problems tho.

Am thinking about getting the wii lan adapter myself, save myself the trouble of having to put in and pull out the adapter everytime i want to go online.

[Golgo]

Thanks fellas - doesn't sound too promising...

[Olly C]

Search Datel WiFi MAX, I have one and haven't had any problems using it with either my DS, PSP, Wii or Xbox 360. I got mine for about ?17.99 from Play.com I think.

Does the job fine for me with all the said devices

Olly.

[kryss]

I use the LAN adapter for my Wii and the dongle for my DS. As KusoGaki said, it overheats and turns off if it's plugged in too long. I found it did that even more with the Wii.

[Tetsuo]

I like it and have been using it for both my DS and Wii for quite a while, so it's "yes, get one" from me.

It's simple to use (plug it into the USB port after downloading the relevant software from Nintendo's website and away you go) without having to faff around with routers and such nonsense.

As for reliability, twice my Wii has failed to connect using it, but, a re-install of the software each time fixed the problem. No problems with my DS.

[Concrete donkey]

I already had an existing Ethernet network for the x-box and 360 and brought the official Nintendo Wifi dongle for the DS. Problem was it disrupted my wired network and had to uninstall the wifi dongle and set up the network again for it to work again. Uninstalling and reinstalling the dongle no end of times was a nuisance but one time it crashed mid install, which destabilised windows to the point where I had to reinstall the entire operating system.

It?s safe to say I?ve never and will never install it again.

[Baseley09]

Pretty dodgy results here, a lot of the time it just doesnt work.

[Alex_976]

It worked the first few times I used it but it kept messing my pc up when it kept crashing so sold I it. A wireless router is the way to go.