If you don’t have much money to blow on tech this year but want to feel included in Black Friday, you can pick up this ASUS USB Wi-Fi adapter for $0.01. Yes, that’s a single penny. You’ll have to brave the inconvenience of a mail-in rebate to get $10 off, but if you go through the hassle of wasting a few cents on paper and ink, finding a stamp in a drawer you haven’t opened in three years, and dropping an envelope in the mailbox, you’ll get a Black Friday deal for the least amount of money you could possibly pay for something.
I’ll be clear: I’m not saying this is a good idea. it’s not even a good USB Wi-Fi adapter for gaming. It’s rated for 300Mbps and has five middling reviews. This isn’t the USB adapter you want to run your Halo Infinite match on, unless dirt cheap PC components give you a thrill.
Instead, you should do yourself a favor and take a look at any one of our favorite USB Wi-Fi adapters. Compare the $0.01 dongle with our budget pick that usually sells for about $50. It’s USB 3.0 and is rated for 1300Mbps. Sure it’s 5,000% more expensive, but that’s the price you pay if you want a reliable internet connection. Buying the $0.01 USB wireless adapter is like buying a lottery ticket, and nobody wants to take a chance on inconsistent Wi-Fi.
There are much better ways to participate in Black Friday this year. We’ve found a ton of good PC gaming deals that are worth taking a look at. Surely you can find something more tantalizing than a USB adapter, though admittedly nothing in there costs a single penny.
If Wi-Fi is your problem, consider picking up a better router or Wi-Fi extender. USB adapters are useful, but they’re never going to match a wired Ethernet connection in raw internet throughput. That’s why we recommend a LAN connection for any sort of serious online gaming.
Even if this USB adapter was a good deal, it’s not worth fussing with a mail-in rebate. If there’s one thing that kills a deal, it’s a rebate that you have to physically send out and wait weeks or even months to come back. The time it takes for the whole process to complete is barely worth the $9.99.
But if you did go through all that trouble, you’d have a bona fide Black Friday story. You just can’t get a story with a good, reasonably priced Wi-Fi adapter. So there’s that.
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