Can I use a 802.11ac Wifi USB adapter for a 802.11n Wifi network?

Question

I'm planning to purchase an USB Wifi adapter to connect to my wifi which uses 802.11n mode. Can I connect a 802.11ac Wifi adapter to this network or do I need to find specifically a 802.11n USB adapter ?

Answer 1

Generally, WiFi is as compatible as possible. Meaning you can connect to older networks with newer devices and use older devices in newer networks. (There are performance implications to using 11b devices in newer networks though.) Also, you need to consider encryption. WPA2 is mandatory with 11n and probably with 11ac, too. The only alternative is going entirely unencrypted, which is, of course, a considerable security risk.

That being said, there’s also the fact that WiFi can use both the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz band today. 11ac is limited to the 5 GHz band. So what you really need to look for is an adapter that does both. Although I haven’t heard of adapters only supporting 5 GHz, it doesn’t hurt to check.