ASUS(PCE-N15) maximum performance Wireless-N Network Adapter ( 300Mbps Transmit / 300Mbps Receive) with PCI-E interface, Include Full Height and Low Profile bracket, WPS button Support

For those who do not know, Realtek is notorious for offloading portions of their hardware functionality to the CPU. Effectively, most Realtek NICs (Network Interface Cards) are software-based, providing only the minimum hardware necessary to establish a physical layer connection. The CPU winds up performing tasks (i.e. data link layer and network layer), that many higher quality NICs handle using dedicated hardware.

I opted to include this NIC in my high-end gaming machine because I have CPU cycles to spare; at stock clock rates the reliability and performance is perfect. One interesting caveat I discovered was that if I underclock my system to use silent passive cooling, the software-based nature of this device results in extremely flaky connection reliability and performance. My built-in hardware-accelerated Intel EEPRO Gigabit WIRED Ethernet controller works fine regardless how I clock the system, but of course it requires tethering the machine to an ethernet cable…

I can definitely confirm connection quality correlates strongly with the system’s CPU, since the CPU ultimately performs the majority of this NIC’s responsibilities. Consequently, this NIC may be a poor choice for low-powered systems, or specialty configurations (i.e. my abovementioned attempt to utilize passive cooling). For this reason, I can only give 4 out of 5 stars — the price is right, but if you do not know what you are getting yourself into ahead of time, you may experience poor connection quality.

Straight out of the box and very easy to set up. Installed the drivers and appropriate software included with the wireless adapter and was connected to the internet with five bars within 5 minutes of unboxing. No problems thus far but I will update if necessary. Definitely recommended. I am using this with an Apple router that is located one floor below and about 20-30 feet away. Works very well and is very fast.

I installed this item into a desktop computer that occasionally requires wireless access. The computer and card saw heavy use while setting up my new rig, and has so far performed admirably.

Pros:
-Very low profile, good for airflow. I was able to sandwich this in a PCIe slot above my massive 3-slot GFX card with no problems, other than my fat fingers during the install.
-Connects well and quickly. No required bloatware (which I find important), so you can use windows built in wireless features and not install unnecessary junk. Drivers included on CD or can be downloaded from website.
-Comes with interchangeable short bracket for micro-ATX/low-pro cases.
-Opinions generally state card-style wireless solutions perform better with a lower error rate than USB counterparts, and it keeps USB slots open for other devices.
-Dual antenna
-ASUS

Cons:
-After a crash on my computer unrelated to this device, the device somehow lost connectivity. Had to physically remove card from slot and re-insert, after which it ran perfectly again. I have no real reason to blame this card for these issues however, and haven’t experienced a problem since.

It’s so easy, a lesser evolved human could do it.

1.Insert Network Adapter into PCI-E slot
2.Screw on receivers
3.Boot up system and install drivers
4. Reboot System
5.Internet

Back to Internet.

I just finished building a new computer where I selected this wireless card after some recommendations through a few computer building forums. I must say I am very impressed with the ease of install, stability and overall function of this card. In the past I generally went with Netgear or LinkSys network cards, and have probably used over a dozen. The first thing I noticed after booting up and searching for my Network was the number of other networks the card was able to detect. It found over a dozen other wireless networks, all with great signal strength where my prior Netgear found maybe 6. This leads me to believe that the card should perform well no matter where in the house my computer ends up.

All in all I am very impressed.

I had been using a netgear dongle antenna thing for years to connect to the router. Ever since I got it it was having issues where it would overheat and disconnect at least 10 times in one day. I have no idea why I put off replacing it for so long, but that’s in the past, I bought myself one of these ASUS cards and It is fantastic. I installed it in about 5 minutes, most of that spent looking for the proper screwdriver. It was really simple to install and I have not disconnected from the internet since installation. Totally worth it.

Talk about EASY. Knowing the device was due today, I went to Realtek.com yesterday and downloaded driver RTL8192CE-VA4. When I received the device, I installed it and Windows 7 did the rest. PnP set it up, attached it to the pre-installed driver and all I had to do was click connect and enter my wireless pass key. I was up and running and never used the CD-ROM for anything.

I can’t imagine why some reviewers said they had such a hard time getting it to work. Obviously the device is working properly as I am using it to connect to Amazon and write this review. The only time I really spent was in disconnecting and moving the computer to do the install and putting it back in place after I was done. I would buy this unit again in a heartbeat. Asus remains a very good choice for add-ons.

Ordered 10 of these for 9 lab pc’s just in case 1 didn’t work. All worked without a problem. Did not bother with cd, installed latest utlity from Asus’s website which includes driver.
Getting ready to order 3 more.

I purchased this card for a HTPC project. I have not had any connection issues at all. I used the windows network settings instead of the client application. running this on Windows 7 home Premium 64 bit