Generic Wireless Adapter?

[tomsliwowski]

So I just got my Telo and so far I think it's pretty awesome. It's hardwired in my office but I would like to move it to a common area like the kitchen.

I know that there is a $50 wireless adapter but I was wondering if there is a cheaper generic alternative USB adapter I could use instead.

Thanks!

[lbmofo]

Only wifi adapter from ooma would work.
You can get a wifi bridge like D-link dap-1522 as an alternative. But expensive unless you get it used from eBay. Got my last few used for $20 to $30.

[tomsliwowski]

Only wifi adapter from ooma would work.
You can get a wifi bridge like D-link dap-1522 as an alternative. But expensive unless you get it used from eBay. Got my last few used for $20 to $30.

I was trying to avoid getting a wireless bridge just because I don't want yet another thing to plug into the wall.

It's weird that I can plug in a generic bluetooth usb dongle and have it work but not a Ralink-based USB adapter. I may just buy the adapter from Ooma

[mcbleu]

I'm sure If you find the Ooma USB WiFi HardWare ID
You can flash some generic USB Wifi dongle and get them compatible with Ooma
I was in same kind of situation with some LCD TV that had a " proprietary" expensive USB WiFi dongle
But honestly not worth the time and hassle

[tomsliwowski]

Just as a final update, I went with a cheaper and pretty nice solution which was to purchase a TP-Link TL-WR702N for about $20. This thing is tiny (think half the length and width of a credit card) and about as thick as an ethernet connector. I am able to power it off of the USB port on the Telo and get a very good signal 1 floor and several rooms away from the wifi router.

[sdlockyer]

Does anyone happen to know of a corrected website for the setup of the wireless adapter? I cannot seem to access it through setup.ooma.com??

[murphy]

Does anyone happen to know of a corrected website for the setup of the wireless adapter? I cannot seem to access it through setup.ooma.com??

Are you using a hard wired computer connected to the Telo's Home port?
If the computer has wireless capability it must be disabled.

The actual IP address is 172.27.35.1.

[AlexR]

I want to second tomsliwowski's recommended solution.

First, the Telo will only work with Ooma's proprietary wireless USB dongle, not with a generic (Netgear, Linksys, etc.) I tried two that were known-good on other devices, and the Ooma recognized neither.

But Tom's suggestion of the TP-Link TL-WR702N is inspired. I live in Canada, and up here the Ooma dongle costs more on Amazon.ca than the Telo box: the Telo is $109.99 and the cheapest available dongle is $125.98 as of this writing.

But you can get the little TP-Link nano router for $18.58, and it's Prime eligible. Better yet, if you don't want to wait, the local Staples in my area (near Calgary) had four of them for $20 each.

Setup is pretty simple: I connected to the TP-Link via Ethernet cable on my laptop, typed 192.168.0.254 into my browser to access the setup menu, and set the TP-Link to Client mode. (The one complication showed up at this point: it will ask for not only your main router's WiFi password, but also its MAC address.)

Then, disconnect the Ethernet cable, power cycle the TP-Link, plug it into the Telo's "Internet" port with the shortest Ethernet cable you have, and plug it into the Telo's USB port for power.

Wait five minutes, and you're done. The Telo has been working great ever since.

[wiz722]

I know this thread is old, but I ran across it now that I have my own Ooma.

Working in IT, I have lots of hardware, so I experimented a bit. I just plugged in a Netis WF-2111 adapter and it worked just fine. It has a Realtek RTL8188CUS chipset, so if you find another Wi-Fi adapter with that kind of chipset, then it'll probably work also.

It's a tiny thing, so it doesn't work real far away, but a room or two over from the router it works.

This is all unofficial, though, so it could change at any time.

[domm]

I know this thread is old, but I ran across it now that I have my own Ooma.

Working in IT, I have lots of hardware, so I experimented a bit. I just plugged in a Netis WF-2111 adapter and it worked just fine. It has a Realtek RTL8188CUS chipset, so if you find another Wi-Fi adapter with that kind of chipset, then it'll probably work also.

It's a tiny thing, so it doesn't work real far away, but a room or two over from the router it works.

This is all unofficial, though, so it could change at any time.

I also plan on setting up my telo with the ooma wireless adapter. Is your Netis WF-2111 adapter still working fine? I asked in another Ooma thread if I needed to use the Ooma wireless adapter or could I just use a generic one & a moderator said only an Ooma adapter would work. I googled your adapter & it is way less expensive. If your Netis WF-2111 adapter is still working fine I will just buy it. thanks