Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
The $ 50BearExtender Miniis the follow - up to the company ’s 2010BearExtender n3 ( ) . Like its forerunner , the BearExtender Mini ’s goal is to let you use your Mac from further aside from your wireless base station . The new model is half the size of and more powerful than the original n3 .
The company says that the BearExtender Mini can pick up Wi - Fi signals from two to four times further off than the AirPort card built into your Mac .
The BearExtender Mini does n’t plug away directly into your Mac ’s USB larboard , which would be nice . Instead , the dongle connect via the included Mini - USB cable television . The building block measure hardly larger than a house samara . The admit detachable transmitting aerial offers 2dBi ; a $ 6 upgrade gets you a5 dBi omni - directional feeler .
Have Wi-Fi, will travel
To use the BearExtender Mini with your Mac , you first need to install special drivers . With the computer software installed , you ’ll get a BearExtender icon in your menubar . Since the gimmick is mean to supercede your built - in wireless notice , you ’ll call for to invalid Wi - Fi on your Mac to use the BearExtender Mini .
The gadget ship with a low clip that you may use to attach the BearExtender Mini to your laptop computer ’s LCD screen , without obstructing the screen itself . It ’s small and light and the sort of thing I ’m likely to mislay , but that ’s a reflection of me and not of the BearExtender Mini .
The BearExtender Mini is a 802.11n Wi - Fi adaptor , and it ferment only with the 2.4Ghz band . The ship’s company says that while it recognizes the increased sake in the 5Ghz stripe — the less crowded Wi - Fi dance band embrace by the 802.11n and 802.11ac standards—”it has a big disadvantage compare to the 2.4Ghz ring in term of kitchen stove , ” since high absolute frequency mean brusque wavelength , and forgetful wavelength mean inadequate Wi - Fi range .
So although the 5Ghz stria might be faster , the BearExtender Mini ’s goal is space . In fact , though 802.11n can corroborate theoretic speed of up to 300 Mbps , the BearExtender Mini maxes out at 150 Mbps . A company spokesperson toldMacworldthat using the lower maximum speed help oneself keep the price down , and that most home do n’t have accession to Internet connections that get anywhere close to 150 Mbps anyway .
In my examination , the BearExtender Mini decidedly extend my MacBook Pro ’s wireless compass . Just enquire my neighbour two houses down , whose unlocked wireless web I successfully tie to from within my own home — though I ’m unable to connect to it using the Mac ’s built - in carte du jour .
Mooching a neighbor ’s Wi - Fi is n’t the BearExtender Mini ’s goal , though . I also found that I could rest connected to my own home ’s Wi - Fi web at full or near - full strength in every room , on every floor . Without the gadget , my connectedness flatten to one or two bars in the uttermost reach of my domicile .
Download speeding , however , was a business concern . In my repeated tests , I consistently saw download speeds of about 60 Mbps using my establish - in AirPort bill , and of about 44 Mbps using the BearExtender Mini . Upload speeds ( 7 Mbps during my examination ) exhibit no significant difference in my trial .
When I tried the BearExtender Mini in places with lower - speed Internet connector , no downstream focal ratio difference was obtrusive .
The software
You ’ll use software furnish by BearExtender to manage your Mac ’s Wi - Fi joining through the dongle . The software works , in the sense that you could browse useable internet and select one .
That said , it ’s bone atrocious and unwieldy to use . When you tick to Connect to a mesh , there ’s no real sense that anything has happened , until you end up connecting to the meshing a bit or two after . Adding favorite networks is awkward , though of course that ’s not something you ’ll necessitate to do too often .
In short , the software package work well enough to get link up via the BearExtender Mini . But the app feels like an afterthought .
Bottom line
If you mostly get online at home within a elbow room or three of your base station , you do n’t need the BearExtender Mini . But frequent travelers , students , and other folks who obtain themselves frequently face patched Wi - Fi with weak connexion could likely profit from the dongle ’s power to pull in signals from far off . The Mini significantly improves upon the original BearExtender ’s anatomy factor , and extend more world power to boot .
