Is it necessary to buy a wireless adaptor from the same brand as the router?

Question

Is it necessary to buy a D-Link wireless adaptor for D-link router for good performance or can I buy any adaptor of any brand?

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I have a D-link DIR-655 Wi-fi Router and I need to buy a Wi-fi adaptor for my Desktop. D-link's website has a tab for this router named "Work with", which suggests some router for the desktop.

But for suggested adapter I found very negative reviews.

So Is it necessary to buy a wireless adaptor from the same brand as the router for good performance or can I buy any adaptor of any brand which has positive reviews?

Answer 1

Not at all. Except for the odd case here and there, it should not matter whatsoever what brand it is, as long as they are compatible from a Wireless B/G/N point of view.

I myself have numerous brands throughout my network and have had no compatibility issues to this point. And I know many others for whom it is the same case.

Answer 2

You can use any adapter/router combination you like, as long as they use the same standard (A/B/G/N). Sometimes they'll work a bit better together if you use the same brand, but this is more in third-party features, like connecting the adapter to the router, or some software tool you probably don't need.

Also, some of the superboost (among dozens of other names) Wireless-G adapters could be brand-specific; another brand might only connect at "normal" Wireless-G speeds. But since N is superior to superboost G, and no real price difference for the devices, I would just go with that.