What is a wireless adapter?

A wireless adapter is a hardware device that is attached to a computer or laptop and allows it to connect to a wireless network. Typically, they come in the form of a USB dongle device that you input into your computer. There are two main types of wireless adapters, based on the network type they help you connect to:

• Wi-Fi adapters: they help you connect to Wi-Fi networks nearby.
• Cellular / mobile broadband adapters: they connect to 3G or 4G / LTE cellular networks.

Learn more about wireless Wi-Fi adapters: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/usb-wifi-adapter-guide,4108.html

Why you need a wireless adapter

Usually, you need a wireless adapter connected to your computer if:

• you don’t have a built-in Wi-Fi adapter on your computer / laptop 
• you have a built-in Wi-Fi adapter, but you need to connect to multiple Wi-Fi networks
• you need to connect to the Internet from your computer using cellular data

How Connectify uses a wireless adapter

Connectify can use a wireless adapter to share Internet through it or connect to the Internet. In the case of a Wi-Fi adapter, Connectify Hotspot can both connect to the Internet and share the Internet with other devices. If you’re using a 3G, 4G / LTE cellular broadband adapter, Connectify Hotspot can use that as the Internet connection to share with other devices.

Learn more about setting up Connectify Hotspot with different adapters here: https://support.connectify.me/article/195-how-to-setup-connectify-hotspot.