Rosewill Wireless-N WiFi Adapter RNX-N180UBE

Manufacturer: Rosewill
Product Name: Wireless N Adapter
Model Number: RNX-N180UBE
Price As Tested:$19.99 at Newegg

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Rosewill.

The world is becoming increasingly wireless. Almost everyone has a smartphone now, which can be connected to a wireless network just like any number of mobile devices, tablets, netbooks, and laptops. Businesses, schools, and even government offices are beginning to transition to wireless networks. Why then, do many of us still rely on wired networks in our home, especially when the price of converting your home network into a wireless network is becoming increasingly more affordable? It is true that, until 802.11n networking was available, a cable was significantly faster and more reliable. The difference between Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) rates at 1000Mb/s and 802.11g rates at 54Mb/s was significant. With the capability to transfer data at up to 600Mb/s, 802.11n closes that gap quite a bit. Wireless N devices are becoming very affordable now. In this article, Benchmark Reviews takes a look at a very affordable wireless network adapter, the Rosewill RNX 180UBE Wireless N Adapter. We are going to attempt to find the best conditions possible for maximum transfer rates with minimal latency. We are also going to put the Rosewill RNX 180UBE Adapter in a variety of places to simulate where you might actually be using it.

Anyone who has shopped at NewEgg.com has probably seen the brand name Rosewill on many occasions. Rosewill is a full-spectrum manufacturer that produces products in nearly every category of electronics and computer hardware, as well as many other categories. Rosewill products tend to be very inexpensive. Where wireless network adapters are concerned, you can pick one up for just about any price. We will take a look here at whether or not an inexpensive solution can increase performance. We also want to see the difference between wireless g and wireless n and, of course, whether or not it is worth it to give up the LAN cables and make the switch to a completely wireless home network.

While wireless n technology allows for transfer rates of up to 600Mb/s, not all adapters are created equal. You'll be hard pressed to find an adapter that offers more than 450Mb/s speeds. The Rosewill RNX N180UBE Wireless N Adapter is rated for transfer rates of up to 300Mb/s, which is pretty average. It is important while discussing these rates that they are theoretical maximums. Because the data is being transferred wirelessly, just about everything can cause interference. Obviously walls, furniture, and other household items will have an effect on the transfer rates. The effect will be even greater if the adapter is on a different floor than the router. Distance has a large effect on transfer rates as well. All of those are very likely candidates for why transfer speeds over a wireless network are lower than the theoretical maximums, but there are other candidates as well. Unassuming inhibitors like air pressure, humidity, atmospheric particles, and a host of other things can affect speeds as well. For that reason, it is nearly impossible to collect a series of similar results during wireless testing. Instead, what we will be looking for is the maximum rate attained under varying conditions.

The real idea here is going to be comparing transfer rates between different types of wireless adapters and through the different wireless technologies. I have to admit that I just upgraded my home network to Wireless N quite recently. I was happy with my Wireless G router and, in all reality, I don't find myself transferring files from one device in my home to another all that often. Since an internet connection boasted download speeds of over 54Mb/s is unlikely (and impossible where I live), I didn't see the need for a faster network. Then I discovered an application on my TV that allowed it to connect to the other devices on the network and stream media directly from those devices. Suddenly, a faster network became a priority. For me personally, I want to see how the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless N Adapter compares with the Wireless N adapters that came included with my laptop and HTPC. While my HTCP remains stationary in my entertainment center, my laptop journeys all over the house and even into the garage and backyard at times. It could be worth it to plug the RNX-N180UBE into either of those machines to improve connectivity.

Closer Look: Rosewill RNX-N180UBE

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE arrived in a small, non-descript, black box. Other than the Rosewill brand name and the device model number, there isn't a lot on there. This is in contrast to many of the wireless adapters that line store shelves and have flashy graphics and colorful designs meant to catch eyes.

Inside the box is the RNX-N180UBE Wireless N Adapter, a USB base, the antenna for adapter, a driver CD and an installation manual.

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless N Adapter is a little bigger than many USB adapters. The reason for this is largely because of the antenna that is screwed onto the back of the device. The antenna itself is a little over seven and a half inches long. The adapter is about two inches long, although half an inch is the USB connector. Overall, when plugged into a USB port, if the antenna is oriented straight out, the total length of the device would be about nine inches.

The adapter itself is roughly square, but it doesn't have any other antenna than the one that screws on to the end. I tried just using the adapter without the antenna just to see how well it would work. It would be more convenient for a laptop or mobile device to carry around just the small adapter body. There are many wireless adapters that are like this, with embedded antennae. The RNX-N180UBE loses a lot of its connectivity without the antenna connected. It's not really worth it to use the device without the antenna.

The RNX-N180UBE also comes with a USB base to connect to. The USB base doesn't aid connectivity at all, but it does give you a method of connecting the RNX-N180UBE to your computer more easily, especially if your machine is in a drawer or under your desk. The base for the RNX-N180UBE has a 50 inch cord, over 4 feet. That should give you plenty of length to put the device in a convenient location.

RNX-N180UBE Detailed Features

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless N Adapter is compatible with both 802.11b and 802.11g standards as well as 802.11n Draft 2.0. As far as I can tell from the driver (I didn't disassemble the adapter), the RNX-N180UBE is built around the Realtek 8712 controller. The maximum transfer rates that the RNX-N180UBE is capable of are 300Mb/s for downloads and 150Mb/s for uploads. That's pretty average for current Wireless N adapters, with some adapters capable of up to 450Mb/s and the 802.11n standard being theoretically capable of 600Mb/s transfer rates.

Security compatibility on the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE is pretty standard as well. You can choose between 64-bit and 128-bit WEP Hex and ASCII encryption as well as WPA and WPA2, including, of course, TKIP and AES encryption. You should be warned, however, that maximum transfer rates are severely hindered when paring 802.11n with WEP or TKIP encryption methods. The maximum transfer rates will drop to 54Mb/s if you use either of these. Keep that in mind as you are setting up your network and ensure that you are using WPA-AES or WPA2-AES as your encryption method.

The RNX-N180UBE operates only in the 2.4GHz frequency band. For this reason, I didn't test anything on the 5.0GHz band, to minimize differences as much as possible. Unfortunately, a lot of wireless devices operate on this band, including a lot of cordless phones. This is just another thing that can interfere with your signal and affect transfer rates. In fact, even your neighbor using their 2.4GHz cordless phone could have an effect.

The transmitting power of the RNX-N180UBE is pretty typical as well for each of the standards. 802.11b transmitted power is up to 20dBm, 802.11g up to 17dBm and 802.11n up to 16dBm. The forward gain of the antenna for the RNX-N180UBE is given as 5dBi, which is pretty middle of the line for wireless antennae. They generally range from about 2dBi to 9dBi or so. To harness the complete power of the 5dBi antenna, Rosewill recommends using the USB base.

Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Features

- Supports MIMO technology with 1 transmit antenna and 2 receive antenna
- Provides max. 300Mbps download rate and 150Mbps upload rate
- The easiest way to upgrade your system into wireless N network.
- Connect your PC/NB to a wireless network in minutes using high speed USB2.0 interface.
- Supports 20MHz/40MHz frequency width
- Supports WMM for Multimedia Applications with Quality of Service in Wi-Fi Networks
- Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) support
- 5 dBi Antenna with Extended USB Base for best signal receive and provide further coverage, less dead spot and higher throughput.
- Systems support Windows 2000, XP/VISTA32 and 64 bit/Win7 32 and 64 bit, Mac 10.4/ 10.5/ 10.6, Linux Kernel 2.6.x

* The IEEE 802.11n Draft prohibits using High Throughput with WEP or TKIP as the unicast cipher. If you use these encryption methods (e.g. WEP, WPA-TKIP), your data rate will drop to 54 Mbps. Rosewill recommend setting your router's wireless encryption as WPA-AES or WPA2-AES or update the latest firmware, in order to keep your wireless transfer rate at N speed.

Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Specifications

Testing & Results

Testing Methodology

To test the performance of the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless N Adapter, I will be using NetPerf. I will also use the old-fashioned method of transferring files directly from a "server" machine across the network. The server shares a wired connection with the router so there are no bandwidth restrictions or bottlenecking issues from that end.

For the testing setup, I first tested the RNX-N180UBE using a laptop placed in my office, the same room where the router is located. I then moved into my bedroom and tested again. The final tests were conducted using my HTPC in my entertainment center in the living room. Each of the tests was conducted at least five times, but most were conducted many more times than that. The idea behind this was to get the very best results for use. Keep this in mind as you look at the results. They will not likely represent the performance you will experience day and in and day out with the RNX-N180UBE or any other adapter for that matter. The reason I chose not to average the results was that they were widespread and inconsistent based on all those factors we talked about earlier. The only fair way of assessing one adapter against the others is to use the best results.

Laptop System:

• MSI A6200 MS-1681
• Intel Core i3 M330 (2.13GHz)
• 3GB DDR3 RAM 1333MHz
• Atheros AR9285 Wireless N Adapter
• O/S: Windows 7 Home 32-bit

HTPC System:

• Motherboard: ASUS P8H67-I Deluxe mini-ITX
• CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 (3.1GHz)
• RAM: 2x4GB Kingston DDR3 1333MHz
• WiFi: AR9002WB-1NG Wireless N Adapter
• O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Server:

• Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth P67
• CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K (3.3GHz)
• RAM: 2x4GB Kingston DDR3 1600MHz
• O/S: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
• Wired to router through GbE Connection

Router:

• Rosewill RNX-EasyN4 Wireless N 2T2R Router
• Chipset: Ralink 3052
• Data Rates: Up to 300Mb/s
• Frequency Band: 2.4GHz (2.4 - 2.484GHz)
• 11 Channels at 20MHz or 40MHz Bandwidths

Close Proximity Test

In this first test, I sat my laptop down on top of the desk that the "server" machine resides under. The router was located in the same room, less than 10 feet away. None of the systems or the router moved throughout the testing. Each test was conducted several times until an ideal transfer speed and latency could be found.

In the single file test, the transfer speeds are pretty impressive on all counts. The Atheros internal adapter takes the show.

The small files transfer test is much closer, with the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE nearly matching the laptop's internal adapter.

Using the NetPerf utility, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE pushes ahead of the Atheros adapter.

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE makes a great showing in terms of latency, with much lower numbers than either of the other two adapters.

Obstructed Distance Test

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't always use my laptop in my office on the same desk as my PC. In fact, that is almost never the case. I do use the laptop in other rooms in the house pretty often, however. For this test, I set the laptop on my nightstand in my bedroom for the tests. Then I played Angry Birds on my phone while they were running. Here are the results.

As you can see, obstructed file transfer speeds over a distance are much slower than when the laptop was in the same room as the router. That being said, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE, which was slower in the unobstructed tests, was faster in the obstructed tests. This is significant because it is the more likely of the two scenarios.

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE wins again in the small files transfer test when the laptop is located in a room seperate from the router. The speeds here are not very impressive, but RNX-N180UBE pulls ahead nonetheless.

NetPerf shows the same ordering as the previous two obstructed tests. When the laptop is not extremely close to the router, the RNX-N180UBE gains the advantage.

Latency again prefers the RNX-N180UBE and at only a slightly increased time from the unobstructed tests. In reality, even 11ms is very low latency and it is unlikely that you would be able to differentiate between the two.

HTPC Obstructed Test

One of the things I love about Windows 7 is the Homegroup. All of the systems on my home network are connected to the Homegroup and for me, it makes sharing things between them significantly easier. Now, because my external hard drive has been deemed an eye-sore by my wife, it has to stay hidden in the office. It holds all of our digital copies of movies, home videos, pictures, and music, among other things. Through Windows Media Center and the Homegroup connection, I constantly stream this media through my HTPC on to my TV. Because of that, it was important to me to see how well the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE fared against the built in wireless adapter on my HTPC.

The living room is a little farther away from my office than my bedroom is and the results here are a little bit slower, likely because of that. The Atheros AR9002WB-1NG outperforms the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE in the large file transfer test here. The Atheros adapter also has two antennae that are significantly longer that the Rosewill antenna. Of course, those two antennae are also behind the entertainment center, yet another obstruction between them and the router. The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE was plugged into the front of the HTPC and was thus in front of the enterntainment center.

Again, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE falls behind the Atheros adapter, but only very slightly here.

Oddly enough, using the NetPerf utility, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE shoots ahead of the Atheros adapter.

In terms of latency, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE adapter has taken the show every time.

RNX-N180UBE Final Thoughts

With the rapid increase in the amount of wireless devices we use, it is very common to to use a wireless netowrk in your home. Add to that the availability of streaming and shared content amongst your various devices and the need for a fast wireless network starts to grow. Wireless G networks have been common for a long time now, offering bandwidths up to 56Mb/s. Now that the number of wireless N devices is multiplying and their costs are going down, it's easy to double or even triple that bandwidth. Wireless N networks can theoretically offer speeds up to 1000Mb/s, although the theoretical maximum of devices readily available now only reaches about 450Mb/s. 300Mb/s is pretty common now, and it is the maximum for all of the devices we tested in this article.

Of course, those theoretical maximums are just that, theoretical. As we saw in the testing, even in close proximity and under ideal conditions, none of the adapters were able to achieve much higher than 150Mb/s. Still, that's nearly three times the maximum that you could ever hope to reach with a wireless G device. In our tests, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless N Adapter performed on par with, and often better than similar adapters that are found built in to laptops and other systems. For it's price, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE is definitely worth it if you have a device that doesn't come with an adapter already installed. Whether it be a laptop or a desktop computer, if you want to start using a wireless network in your home, the RNX-N180UBE is a good choice. That being said, if your device already has an adapter, I wouldn't recommend buying the RNX-N180UBE as a replacement. While the data transfer rates and latency was better than that of the adapter in my laptop, it wasn't hugely so. To replace a G or B adapter, it would be great, but not to replace another wireless N adapter.

Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Conclusion

IMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. Benchmark Reviews begins our conclusion with a short summary for each of the areas that we rate.

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE wireless adapter performed well enough against the competition we brought against it. Compared to the other Rosewill adapter, the RNX-N100, the RNX-N180UBE really shined. It outperformed the earlier version Rosewill adapter in every single test. The RNX-N180UBE also outperformed the built in Atheros AR9285 in my laptop in every test other than the close range, unobstructed tests. This is probably due in part to the setup with the base station and the seven inch antenna. The RNX-N180UBE did very well in the latency tests, performing better than any other adapter we tested.

The Rosewill RNX-N180UBE stands on a USB base, or it can be plugged directly into a USB port. I like the look of the adapter much better when it is plugged into the base, as it takes up quite a bit of space plugged directly into a laptop or the front of a computer. Also, Rosewill suggests using the USB base for better performance. Even without the base, I can't complain much about the appearance of the RNX-N180UBE. It doesn't really stand out in a crowd of wireless adapters, although the antenna sets it apart somewhat. Overall, I'd say the RNX-N180UBE is pretty average in its appearance.

I can say for certain that the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE is very well constructed. After testing, I had the device sitting on my desk. My three year old daughter thought it looked a lot like a magic wand apparently, because I found her running around the house with it. She would tap things with it and say "bopity-boo". She dropped it no less than five times, stepped on it, kicked it around, and the dog even got ahold of it once. After all of that, the device still functioned perfectly and didn't take too much damage from the abuse. Overall, I'd say that's pretty impressive.

The RNX-N180UBE is pretty standard in it's functionality. It supports 802.11b/g/n with maximum download rates up to 300Mb/s and upload rates up to 150Mb/s. The antenna is exactly average in it's decibal rating at 5dB. It runs on a 2.4GHz frequency band only, it has 11 channels at either 20 or 40 MHz. As far as a wireless adapter goes, it tows the line, offering everything you would expect and pretty much nothing you don't. To give it a little more functionality, Rosewill could add a 5GHz band, or offer up to 450Mb/s, but that would also come at an increased price.

As of October 2011, the Rosewill RNX-N180UBE Wireless Adapter cost $19.99 at Newegg. That's very inexpensive, and near the bottom of the price barrel for any wireless N adapter. There are a few less expensive than that, but not many. The performance that the RNX-N180UBE posted during testing proves it to be well worth that price.

If you are in the market for a wireless N adapter to upgrade the G or B adapter that you have, or to start off fresh with a wireless network, the RNX-N180UBE would be a great choice. If you already have a wireless N adapter, this won't likely be a noticeable upgrade for you.

Pros:

+ Very inexpensive
+ 7.5" 5dB Antenna
+ Up to 300Mb/s download speeds
+ Good performance compared to other adapters

Cons:

- No 5GHz Band
- No 450Mb/s speeds

Ratings:

• Performance: 8.50
• Appearance: 8.00
• Construction: 9.00
• Functionality: 8.00
• Value: 9.00

Final Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Recommended: Benchmark Reviews Seal of Approval.

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