What is with USB 802.11ac adapters using USB 2.0?

[Razor512]

I have been looking for a decent 802.11ac adapter that is not the oil company bankrupting priced ASUS PCE-AC66, and have mostly been seeing USB 2.0 based ones.

From the benchmarks that I have seen, 802.11ac can offer 500mbit/s+ performance while USB 2.0 can only realistically do 32MB/s (256mbit/s)

And yet, it is common to see 802.11ac USB adapters that can connect at 867mbit/s (and if not for a USB 2.0 bottleneck, offer speeds in excess of 400mbit/s

Why is it so rare to find a nice PCI or PCI-e 802.11ac wifi adapter, and why are companies using USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0 with the USB based wifi adapters?

 

[thiggins]

Two reasons: keeping the cost of the adapter low and chipset availability.

There isn't much interest in making PCI-e adapters because desktops are fading away. If you have non-mobile gear to connect and can't run Ethernet, powerline or MoCA, then a wireless bridge is a better way to go. It can connect multiple devices and provides a lot more flexibility in placement.

Would be nice to see a mini PCI-e adapter for upgrading laptops. But there is little demand for them. Bigger push will be 1x1 AC and MU-MIMO.

 

[Fraoch]

why are companies using USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0 with the USB based wifi adapters?

I saw that earlier and thought it was the most stupid thing ever. The company goes on an on and on about the speed of 802.11ac in its marketing materials for the adapter yet saddles it with a severe bottleneck. It can NEVER achieve the speeds they hype for it.

And it's not as if the adapter is cheap, either...

 

[stevech]

and as well, what's wrong with this picture

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FOWHTI/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[Relative]

Newegg has a couple USB3 models now.

Looks like the Trendnet one had a firmware update since the reviews came in, but can't speak for either of them directly.

I wondered why they'd even bother with USB2 myself, but things look to be improving.