In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 29 Jul 2018 10:27:47 -0500, Char
Jackson wrote:

On Sun, 29 Jul 2018 04:10:05 -0400, micky
wrote:

At a hamfest today, I bought a 11AC USB Wireless Adapter, so I could use
my phone as a hotspot if my home internet goes out again.

I overpaid for a generic adapter, and I coudl just take my loss and buy
a new one, but I really reallly really want to learn from this.

You've been burned at hamfests before. I'd think the lesson to be
learned is obvious. ;-)

I can only remember once in 30 years. A phone modem that was broken
physically. Maybe there was a second time. (If so, maybe I'll think of
it in my sleep tonight.)

And there was a router just like my router that I bought as a spare
without noticing it had no wifi. But that wasn't the vendor's doing.
The router was complete and in its original box. (I ended up using its
power supply when my original power supply failed, and then its power
supply failed too a year or two later. D-Link. For the last few years
I've been using a universal power supply with voltage settings and
multiple plugs at the end of the wire. it appears to be more reliable
than the original ones. )

Plus, I see this vendor all the time, and I can probably return it,
But, I'd rather learn from the experience and maybe get it working.

I'm kidding, but only partially. If you purchase from a reputable
retailer such as Amazon, Newegg, and tons of others, you're more likely
to get something that's complete, current, and working. If it falls

Of course, but this was right in front of me, just 48 hours after I had
trouble with my net connection.

short in any of those areas, you have easy returns or exchanges at your
fingertips.

I find mailing things back to be a real pain in the neck.

I know, the hamfest approach is more fun because it's more
of a gamble, but gambling has risks.

Not explicitly stated, but I assume you bought that WiFi adapter for a
PC that doesn't already have WiFi capabilities.

Right

If you have an unused
WiFi router that can operate in client mode (versus AP mode), you can
also use that as your WiFi adapter. Connect to it via Ethernet cable,
and have it connect to your phone's hotspot.

I've never used the router to receive wifi. I didn't even know it could
do it! Well that's sort of stupid to say. If a laptop is connected to
the router, wrt the laptop, the router trnansmits when I'm downloading
and receives when I'm uploading. But I never thought about that before.

I'll start on this in a few minutes. thanks.

One advantage is that the
single 'adapter' can provide WiFi connectivity to multiple PCs.

So it could receive wifi from the phone and retransmit it to a laptop at
the same time? Almost like a phone does when acting like a hotspot.