D-Link has the distinction of being the first networking hardware vendor with a pre-draft 802.11ac wireless adapter on the market. The Wireless AC1200 Dual Band USB Adapter (DWA-182) ($79.00, street) can connect notebooks and laptops to pre-draft 802.11ac routers and can do so through push-button...

Easy install; Included wireless manager utility gives more network information than provided in an OS; Dual-band; Supports 802.11ac; Backwards compatible with older 802.11 standards

Could not connect via WPS with a non D-Link router; No real performance gains over 802.11n adapter

Will not performs as stated without USB 3.

Finally decided to purchase an ac adapter for my DRI-865L. Easy to install. Files that took some time to transfer and download are breeze and much faster. Definitely recommend this product.

- Build quality. I wouldn't say that it feels flimsy or badly made, but it's light and plasticky. I suspect that the unit would break if you were walking down the hall with a laptop, the AC1200 sticking out, and accidentally banged it into the wall.

This is a good little adapter

- You know how USB ports are often closely packed together? This unit is so wide that it would prevent use of the ports above, below, and to either side; D-Link kindly provides an extension cable with a pretty slick stand which resolves this entirely, but if you are on a laptop, it's inconvenient to...

Connects at 800Mbps on the 5Ghz AC band if you're within close range of your router (max 15-20 feet). After that the performance definitely drops off. If you need the full AC speed on these at a significant distance from the router then you might want to consider adding an additional 5Ghz AC...

In our latest roundup of 802.11ac client adapters, D-Link's DWA-182 didn't take any first- or second-place finishes, and it finished in third place...

In our latest roundup of 802.11ac client adapters, D-Link's DWA-182 didn't take any first- or second-place finishes, and it finished in third place overall. The adapter measures about 3 inches long, not including its USB interface, but D-Link provides a USB cradle that gives you some flexibility in...

The D-link DWA-182 adaptor provided higher performance in our long-range 82 m outdoor test when compared with built-in 802.11n. Short range speed was little different to that of a three-antennae laptop, which is impressive for a two-internal antennae dongle.

This USB Adapter works very well and has a very low price, but did not come with the extension cable and adapter-carriage. I definitely wanted that component in order to be able to optimize the wireless signal strength by positioning the USB adapter in the best possible way.

The DWA-182 would be a good choice for extended range scenarios, or to upgrade basic 11n Wi-Fi in budget laptops. Read our D-Link DWA-182 review to find out more.